A little history of Châteaubriant castle
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Is there a link between the famous French writer ChateaubrianD and the castle of ChâteaubrianT? Yes it is! The famous French author of Les Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe derived from this family: story began with Briant, in 1040...
The first mention of our fortress dates back to 1040; then it fell to the Dinan family in 1383 then at the end of the 15th century to the Laval family. The building called château neuf ("new castle") was raised by Jean de Laval in 1532.
In 1488, king of France Charles VIII ordered the demolition of the fortress, when the guerre folle ("the Mad War") ended. By the way, did you know king Francis I signed, in the castle of Chateaubriant, the treaty which linked Brittany and France, in 1532?
Fortunately, the fortress wasn't demolished during the war and Jean de Laval transformed it into a Renaissance dwellingHenri II of Bourbon-Condé restored it between 1634 and 1638, after wars of Religion's destructions.
Abandoned by its owners, Châteaubriant was bought by the department in 1853. It nowadays houses the Loire-Atlantique sub-prefecture.