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Sunday
Aug302009
House History: 18th Century
Sunday, August 30, 2009 at 10:00AM | Tweet
The 18th century is the probably the most important period in the château’s lifetime, but also the murkiest.
At the end of the 17th century, Jonvilliers was in the hands of the Marconnay family. First there was Charles, then his son Charles and finally Etienne.
We know that the farmland and the chateau were seized by the Chapter of Chartres at the turn of the 18th century. The Chapter was a religious community of clerics who served the Cathedral of Chartres. The farmland was seized in 1699, and the chateau and farm (métairie) were seized sometime between 1707 and 1710. But we don’t know why.
What we do know is that Charles de Marconnay fils coverted to catholocism in 1726 and that Etienne de Marconnay is recorded as being the lord of Beaulieu (not Jonvilliers) and a colonel in the militia of Gallardon.
At this point in time the Marconnays leave the picture and the chateau falls off the historical radar, so to speak. Interestingly, however, the small woods on the road between Jonvilliers and Gallardon are called the Bois de Marconnay.
The chateau resurfaces in 1768 in local parish records. The priest of the church in Ecrosnes, Louis-René Resleur, wrote that he was invited to bless the catholic chapel dedicated to Mary and Saint Francis, which was built by Mr Francois Savin-Dumony and his wife, Marie-Victoire Bégon, at (or in) their château de Jonvilliers. The language is ambiguous. Was the chapel a room in the house or a separate building, perhaps the Protestant chapel that had rebaptized? That too we don't know.
According to our records, Savin-Dumony was a high-ranking legal specialist. He is described as a “former advocate to Parlement, Equerry, Counselor, and Secretary to the King and one of the four former servants to the court of the parlement of Paris.” The Parlement was a tribunal that administered justice in the King’s name.
He was appointed advocate in 1759, just two years before the Parlement of Paris was abolished. His office was in Rue des Cordeliers in Paris. The street doesn't exist anymore. The Ecole de Medecine de Paris in the 6th near La Sorbonne is built on where it used to be.
In the same year that the chapel was sanctified, the estate of Jonvilliers became the possession of the Milleville de Boutonvilliers family.
It was this family, we think, that had the current chateau built. According to a drawing dated from 1775 that hangs in the dining room, the plan was to build a large chateau with two wings.
At the time France was in the grips of a severe financial crisis, due in large part to the cost of France’s participation in the Seven Years War and the American Revolution. Just the year before Louix VVI had taken the throne. The French Revolution was just 13 years away.
Could the troubles of the times have forced the Milleville de Boutonvilliers family to build a more modest chateau?
At the end of the 17th century, Jonvilliers was in the hands of the Marconnay family. First there was Charles, then his son Charles and finally Etienne.
We know that the farmland and the chateau were seized by the Chapter of Chartres at the turn of the 18th century. The Chapter was a religious community of clerics who served the Cathedral of Chartres. The farmland was seized in 1699, and the chateau and farm (métairie) were seized sometime between 1707 and 1710. But we don’t know why.
What we do know is that Charles de Marconnay fils coverted to catholocism in 1726 and that Etienne de Marconnay is recorded as being the lord of Beaulieu (not Jonvilliers) and a colonel in the militia of Gallardon.
At this point in time the Marconnays leave the picture and the chateau falls off the historical radar, so to speak. Interestingly, however, the small woods on the road between Jonvilliers and Gallardon are called the Bois de Marconnay.
The chateau resurfaces in 1768 in local parish records. The priest of the church in Ecrosnes, Louis-René Resleur, wrote that he was invited to bless the catholic chapel dedicated to Mary and Saint Francis, which was built by Mr Francois Savin-Dumony and his wife, Marie-Victoire Bégon, at (or in) their château de Jonvilliers. The language is ambiguous. Was the chapel a room in the house or a separate building, perhaps the Protestant chapel that had rebaptized? That too we don't know.
According to our records, Savin-Dumony was a high-ranking legal specialist. He is described as a “former advocate to Parlement, Equerry, Counselor, and Secretary to the King and one of the four former servants to the court of the parlement of Paris.” The Parlement was a tribunal that administered justice in the King’s name.
He was appointed advocate in 1759, just two years before the Parlement of Paris was abolished. His office was in Rue des Cordeliers in Paris. The street doesn't exist anymore. The Ecole de Medecine de Paris in the 6th near La Sorbonne is built on where it used to be.
In the same year that the chapel was sanctified, the estate of Jonvilliers became the possession of the Milleville de Boutonvilliers family.
It was this family, we think, that had the current chateau built. According to a drawing dated from 1775 that hangs in the dining room, the plan was to build a large chateau with two wings.
At the time France was in the grips of a severe financial crisis, due in large part to the cost of France’s participation in the Seven Years War and the American Revolution. Just the year before Louix VVI had taken the throne. The French Revolution was just 13 years away.
Could the troubles of the times have forced the Milleville de Boutonvilliers family to build a more modest chateau?
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