Last modified: 2012-04-07 by ivan sache
Keywords: ille-et-vilaine | châteaugiron | kastell-geron |
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![[Flag of Châteaugiron]](../images/f/fr-35-ch.gif)
Flag of Châteaugiron - Image by Ivan Sache, 5 October 2011
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The municipality of Châteaugiron (Breton, Kastell-Geron; 6,376 inhabitants in 2008; 270 ha) is located 15 km south-east of Rennes. Until 1971, the municipal territory was mostly restricted to the surroundings of the castle (52 ha); its area dramatically increased with the incorporation of the former municipality of Veneffles and of some parts of the neighboring municipalities of Domloup and Noyal-sur- Vilaine.
Châteaugiron emerged around a castle built in the second third of the beginning of the 11th century. Anquetil, a baron of Brittany of Normand origin, was granted in 1008 by Duke of Brittany Alan III a domain located near Noyal, where he built a wooden donjon. At the time, the place was part of the Marches of Brittany, that is the land borders of the Duchy; the castle was aimed at protecting Rennes from attack from the south-east. Anquetil died in 1093 and was succeeded by his son Giron, who partially rebuilt the castle with stone. Giron joined the Breton troops who fought with William the Bastard in Hastings in 1066 and was rewarded with several domains in England. Giron died in 1096 and was succeeded by his grand son Galeran, who renamed the domain for his grand father, Giron's castle (Châteaugiron).
In the 12th century, Châteaugiron was the seat of a Barony ruling 16 parishes. The local lords remained close supporters of the Dukes of Brittany. Patry II, as an ambassador, brought back the bride of the duke from England (1382) and Navarra (1386). Hervé died in 1404 during John V's visit to his suzerain, the King of France. At the time, the lord of Châteaugiron became the hereditary Chamberlain of the Duke of Brittany. Dame Valence was appointed in 1408 warden of the Duchess' jewels. Her son Armel II commanded one of the three Breton battalions that escorted in 1408 the Queen of France on her way back to Paris from Melun, where she had moved after the murder of the Duke of Orléans by John Fearless. The Châteaugiron lineage ended with Patry II, whose daughter Valence transferred the barony to her husband Geoffrey of Malestroit, lord of Combourg.
In 1451, Valence was succeeded by her elder son John, who was made lord of Derval, one of the nine greater baronies of Brittany. John of Derval married H&ecute;lène de Laval, the grand daughter of the king of France, in 1450, and stayed in the castle from 1457 to 1482. In 1472, the alliance between Brittany and England, set up to prevent incorporation of the duchy to France, was signed in Châteaugiron. John of Derval was fond of arts; his secretary Pierre Le Baud wrote in the castle the first history of Brittany (Compillation des cronicques et ystoires des Bretons, 1480) for Duchess Ann of Brittany, becoming later her chaplain. The original manuscript, dedicated to John of Derval and H&ecute;lène of Laval, includes an illumination (, French National Library) representing a castle. The medievalist Stéphanie Vincent (website) recently solved the "illumination enigma" (L'énigme de l'enluminure, 2009), proving that it represents Châteaugiron, and not Derval, as claimed by other scholars.
After the death of Derval, Châteaugiron was successively transfered to the noble families of Rieux, Laval and Acigné. Judith of Acigné married Charles de Cossé in 1579, so that the barony was transferred to the Cossé-Brissac family. In 1589-1594, Châteaugiron experienced hard times during the War of the Holy League. The Duke of Mercœur, Governor
of Brittany and member of the League, attempted to restore the Duchy
of Brittany for his own profit; the village of Châteaugiron was looted and nearly deserted, while Judith of Acigné had to leave the castle.
Peace was reestablished in 1595 only when the King of France appointed
Charles de Coss&ecute; Lieutenant-General, and subsequently, Governor of
Brittany, after he had defeated Mercœur. Made Duke and member of the
Regency Council by Catherine de' Medici, Cossé left Châteaugiron in 1611. His descenders sent the barony in 1701 to René Le Prestre de Lézonnet, Treasurer of the States of Brittany, who modernized the castle and purchased the Marquisate of Espinay, calling himself Marquis de Châteaugiron. In 1794, the Le Prestre offered the donjon and the clock tower to the new municipality, called for a while Montgiron, and sold the castle. Their lineage ended in 1802 with Hippolyte Le Prestre, a noted officer and diplomat.
A small town developed around the castle, favored by the creation of the Sainte-Croix priory by monks from the St. Melaine abbey in Rennes. As opposed to Fougères and Vitré, this civil settlement did not increase too much and never challenged the lord's rule. Châteaugiron was until the middle of the 19th century a noted center of production of fabric for sails, locally called noyales.
Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 5 October 2011
The flag of Châteaugiron (photo, Hervé Prat) is horizontally divided blue-yellow (1:3).
The flag is a banner of the municipal arms, "Or a chief azure", which were, as expected, the arms of the Barons of Châteaugiron. Dom Morice reports the seal of Patry II, dated 1376, showing these arms. He also reports the seal of Alan II, dated 1306, as bearing the arms "Vair a bend gules charged with three scallops argent".
Ivan Sache, 5 October 2011