The Chateau and Seigneurie de Launay are the estates and Castle of Launay that are situated in western France in the Perche Sarthois. The location of the castle is near the village of Lombron, in the Department of Sarthe.
Middle Ages
The Seigneurie or Châtellenie or Fief of Launay makes casual appearance in documents dating to the early 11th century. Reference to the current Château de Launay first appears in the late 14th century in the form of transfer documents. The history of Launay, at one time one of the most powerful seigneuries in western France, is steeped in the events of the last 600 years.
The early history is dependent on archival material which is incomplete. Seigneur (lord) Robin de Launay was the most powerful of the 22 vassals to the Count of Bresteau whose lands spanned seven parishes in western France. Much of the count's holdings were lost in the Hundred Years War. The lands and castle of Launay survived the wars though Robin de Launay did not.
In 1404 the daughter of Robin de Launay inherited the properties and the associated title. Soon thereafter she married Pierre de Milon, Seigneur de Mortrie and Lavigne, the latter being a royal vassalage. In 1455 the Seigneurie of Launay passed to Jehan de Bernay who, like Pierre de Milon, was Seneschal to Montfort.
Renaissance
Letters from 1509, 1510, and 1527 make reference to Pierre de Bernay (likely the son of Jehan) as Seigneur de Launay. A rather melodramatic history involving Pierre survives in several sources. In 1523 de Bernay hid Gabrielle d’ Harcourt (age 14 years) at Launay on behalf of his friend Comte (count) Charles de Coesmes, Seigneur de Lucé. Charles was widowed when Gabrielle's older sister, his first wife, died a few months earlier. According to several accounts, Gabrielle was more than willing to marry Charles but her mother Anne de St. Germain was strongly opposed. Ultimately, Gabrielle and Charles married in a clandestine ceremony near Château de Launay on 28 December 1523. Anne de St. Germain pursued Charles de Coesmes and Pierre de Bernay relentlessly. She succeeded in obtaining a royal decree (François I) condemning both men to public decapitation. It was specified that their corpses should remain on display in front of the gates to Anne's castle (Château de Bonnétable). Both men, along with Gabrielle and a few attendants fled and remained on the move for the next year and a half. Taking advantage of the imprisonment of François I, following his defeat at the Battle of Paire, Charles appealed to the Duchess of Angoulême. Acting on behalf of François I, the duchess granted a pardon to Charles. No mention was made of Pierre, however.
Charles and Gabrielle were able to return to the region around Bonnétable. They eventually became favorites of François and his court. Charles' Châtellenie of Lucé was eventually elevated to a barony. The couple divided their time between Bonnétable and the royal court in Paris. Charles died at age 54 in 1543; Gabrielle remarried 13 months later. Her second marriage (Seigneur de Pescheray) was a short one. She died in 1546 at age 36.
To a degree Pierre remained a fugitive. Records reveal that he was arrested on 6 October 1525. The death sentence, still in place, was not carried out but he was forced to pay a heavy fine in 1526. Beyond this all that is known of Pierre de Bernay is that he had a son, Jehan de Bernay, who inherited the Seigneurie de Launay.
In 1551 the Seigneurie de Launay passed from the de Bernay family to the wealthy du Gronchay family. For the first time in its history, the transfer of the chateau, its lands and title was through sale rather than inheritance or marriage. Over the next three generations, seven members of the du Gronchay clan held the title and property at one time or another. In 1607 the surviving children of Jérôme de Gronchay, Jacquine (b. 1578) and Catherine (b. 1579), Dames de Larières and Launay inherited. When Jacquine married Jehan de Breton, Seigneur de la Calabriere, a few months later, Jehan became Seigneur de Launay, as well as Vaibesnard and Pouvray. Jehan died sometime before 1640, Jacquine then regained the position of Dame de Launay as well as the other seigneuries that had been controlled by her husband.