Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Buleu mansion, located in Marcillé-la-Ville in Mayenne, is a former seigneury with high justice, vassal of Aron and in the rear-fief of Mayenne. Its history dates back to at least the 12th century, as evidenced by the records of H. de Bullo in 1189 and G. de Bulou in 1367. The site includes a conserved seigneurial motte, ponds, a forest, and a mill, reflecting its economic and strategic importance. A Gallo-Roman millstone discovered nearby suggests a much older occupation, perhaps linked to an establishment of that time.

In the 15th century, the manor house is described in detail in the confession of G. de Pannard (1469): courtyard, accommodation, ponds (including the pond of the Contendars), stationer, forest of two leagues long, and heather. The lords, like the Chappedelaine family, exercised feudal rights there, including the presentation of the chapel Saint-Jean-Baptiste, founded in 1483 by Guillaume de Pannard and Jeanne de Chantepie. This chapel, rebuilt in the 16th century, remained at the end of the 19th century, despite secular uses.

The decline of the mansion began at the end of the 18th century, as Pierre-François Davelu notes: "Everything is mined, castle and chapel". In 1790, the forest and the moors of Buleu were awarded to Marie Paillot (widow of René de Bazogers) and Jean-René de Chappedelaine, last known lord. In the 19th century, the house, partially demolished, was abandoned to farmers. He then kept a stone staircase, low towers with corbellation, and a fragment of a tuffle statue representing Saint John the Baptist. The site also inspires Frédéric Soulie's eight-day novel at the château (1844), evoking rivalries and the adventurous life of Chappedelaine.

The Buleu mansion illustrates the evolution of a medieval seigneury, marked by its judicial role, its natural resources (wood, ponds, land), and its post-revolutionary decline. Its landscape of mounds and forests, as well as architectural remains (motte, chapel, towers), make it a rare testimony to the feudal and rural history of Mayenne. The mention of a Gallo-Roman wheel and medieval archives highlight its historical depth, well beyond the seigneurial period.

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