

| Château
de Brézé 49260 BREZE Tél. 00 33 2 41 51 60 15 Fax 00 33 2 41 51 65 15 visite@chateaudebreze.com |
||
The castle of Brézé is listed ancient monument
since 1060.
It has been transformed during the 16 th century and the 19 th.
Today it's
the residence of descendants of ancients lords.
Some history...
5 famous families will live in the castle.
The Brézé : Louis
married the very beautiful Diane de St Vallier, more known as Diane de Poitier
The Maillé –Brézé : They
are the first to modify considerably the castle.
From 1948 Gilles de Brézé obtains
from king René the authorization
to fortify the castle and to dig ditches 10 to 12 metres deep, but not completely
all around the castle.
In 1558, Arthur de Maillé-Brézé built the renaissance castle
with Italian style. The domain is erected "en Marquisat" in 1615 by Louis XIII
and Urbain de Maillé Brézé becomes
the first Marquis. He married Nicole du Plessis, the sister of the Grand Richelieu
and had 2 children: Armand, Grand Amiral de France, who died tragically without
issue in Tuscan when he was 27 years old, and Claire-Clémence.
The Condé : Claire
Clémence de Maillé Brézé, the only heiress
of the domain married Louis II de Bourbon Condé (called Grand Condé in
history) and passed this fabulous patrimony on Condé in 1650.
The same year, le Grand Condé took charge of princes Fronde and milited
against the regency during the minority of the young Louis XIV.
In 1653,
while the Prince Frondeur is in Spain, trying to allied the Philippe IX army,
the castle is occupied a whole year by 500 men from royal troops.
In 1682,
Condé exchange Brézé castle with another domain
located near Nantes, the "Galissonière" which was the property of Thomas
de Dreux.
Les Dreux-Brézé : In
1682, Thomas de Dreux, the new owner of Brézé, senior member
of the Paris parliament, becomes Marquis de Brézé under Louis
XIV.
In 1701, the family bought the post of great master of ceremonies, they
had it until 1830. We can't forget the name of Henri Evrard de Dreux-Brézé,
great master of Louis XVI ceremonies, who was at the heart of a revolutionary
upheaval.
It is the same Henri Evrard who extended the Renaissance part of
the castle.
His
son Pierre, bishop of Moulins, and his grandson Henri Simon, under the control
of the "angevin" architect René Hodé (student of Vilotet
le Duc) transformed the castle to give a neogolitic style. The castle still
have it.
Les Colbert : With her marriage
in 1959
with the count Bernard de Colbert,
Charlotte de Dreux-Brézé passed
the
domain to this non less renowned family,
who always resides at the castle.