Château du Plessis de Cosmes en Mayenne

Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of the Plessis of Cosmes, mentioned in 1191 under the name G. de Plesseio, was a medieval fief located in Mayenne, near the village of Cosmes. Originally, he belonged to the Plessis family, with Guillaume du Plessis leaving for the third crusade in 1191. The estate, moving from the Motte-Sorchin, later became the property of Le Cornu, a line of leaguers whose governor Pierre Le Cornu marked history by his battles against Huguenots and royals.

In the 16th century, the castle, then residence of Pierre Le Cornu, was partially destroyed after the Wars of Religion. The latter, refusing to return after peace, built a new castle called Bon-Repos. The current remains include a small seigneurial motte, a chapel transformed into a hangar at the beginning of the 20th century, and a tufted shield embedded in a building. The estate then passed into the hands of the Foucher families, the Cry Haies, and was sold as a national property in 1794.

The seigneury of the Plessis changed hands several times, notably through marriage alliances. In the 18th century, the Haies de Cry family owned the castle before it was sold to Jean des Haies in 1790 and Michel Ory in 1805. Today, there is only one farm at the site of the old castle, bearing witness to its seigneurial past and historical upheavals in the region.

The archives mention key figures such as Jean Le Cornu, married to Marie de Brée, whose descendants formed the branch of the Barons de la Courbe. Urban Le Cornu, close to Urbain de Laval-Boisdauphin, and Henri Le Cornu, grand vicar of the archbishop of Harlay in 1676, illustrate the lasting influence of this family. The site, now modest, keeps a record of the religious conflicts and architectural transformations of Mayenne.

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