to that of its castle and its lords.
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History of Boullay Thierry and its castle
to that of its castle and its lords.
The word Boullay in itself indicates a sylvan place where birch trees once predominated.
The original name would be Bolleto-Terrici.
Titled, the lords of Boullay are therefore vassals of the châtellenie of Nogent to which they owe armed or financial service, in particular for the ramparts, in these times of war of a hundred years. They are found in 1389 notably in the person of Hue du BOULLAY taking part in a combined action against the robberies of warriors.
Over the years, our lords have been able to place themselves with the king and by marriage or inheritance enlarge their possessions. Thus Jacques de TRIE (1418-1432) becoming lord of Boullay by inheritance, was the holder of lordships as well in the region as near Nantes or Amiens. However on the death of Philippe de TRIE in 1487 by inheritance in the family, the castle passed to the PILLAVOINE family, whose coat of arms was found above the entrance door of the church, as were the coats of arms of the houses de TRIE and PILLAVOINE are associated in the framework of the church.
It was therefore William of PILLAVOINE (1489-1508) who quickly became the lord of these lands, and had the rights of high and low justice there. It was probably around this time that the church tower was erected.
We notice one of the descendants of the PILLAVOINE family, Quentin, who was killed at the battle of Jarnac in 1569, fighting on the Catholic side against the new heresy, while these religious conflicts were going to degenerate within his family. Indeed it was Antoinette de MAROLLES who was in charge of the supervision of the too young heiress of the land of Boullay, Anne de PILLAVOINE. But his remarriage to a proven Protestant led to the withdrawal of the child from his guardianship. Anne’s marriage to a Catholic lord created conflict between branches of the family. The whole ends with a trial, for the benefit of the Catholic side but without much profit since it quickly loses the land to the benefit of the FAVIER family.
Jacques I FAVIER, wealthy merchant, took advantage of the venal and ennobling loads by obtaining important posts. He then bought the land of Boullay-Thierry, Boullay-Mivoye, Fonville, Mesnil Ponceau and the fief of the viscount of Nogent-le-Roy.
His descendant Jacques II FAVIER acquired the lands of Serazereux and then of Borville, however he seems to have come only a little to Boullay, retained by his charges of adviser to the parliament of Paris, and intendant of the generality of Alençon where he won the reputation of a skilled and selfless administrator.
The only son of Jacques FAVIER not having lived, the estate fell to one of his daughters, Angélique-Elisabeth FAVIER who married in 1671 Denis TALON. This illustrious husband is one of the glories of the century of Louis XIV.
He comes from an old noble family and his father, Omer TALON III, had been a general counsel in parliament and a brilliant speaker. Denis TALON, his son, was successively prosecutor of the king at the châtelet of Paris then lawyer general following his father whom he takes over at his death in 1652. He was the attorney general at the trial of his rival FOUQUET , without knowing how to benefit, he ended his career as a mortar president and died in 1695.
Only his heart rests at Boullay; his wife Elisabeth FAVIER is buried in the Church. She had been able to enlarge the domain of the seigneuries of Ecluzelles and Lunt and made a large donation to the factory in the village to erect a school. The grandson Louis Denis becomes according to the old family tradition adviser to the Parliament of Paris, then general counsel and president with mortar at the age of 30 years, his death from the age of 44 years breaking a brilliant career.
However, he had provided the village with a home to attend the parish school and house the master there.
His wife, Françoise Madeleine Chavelin, shows the extent of his possessions in her titles in 1762 since, in addition to Boullay-Thierry, Minières, she owns Boullay-Mivoye, Fonville, Tremblay le Vicomte where she is marquise and Nogent-le-Roy of which she is hereditary viscountess.
An inventory of the generality of Dreux in 1759 thus establishes the state of the parish:
- 160 lights,
- 400 communicants,
- patron St Lubin,
- the cure is worth 1200 pounds,
- She endowed the factory with a rent for the subsistence of a chaplain of her castle who would at the same time act as vicar for the parish.
- It thus provides accommodation for this vicar-chaplain, one side of which gave way to Ormoy and which was previously the accommodation of the hunting lordships of the seigneury.
She died in 1778.
Then followed the revolutionary period when Boullay-Thierry was renamed Boullay-la-société "ci-devant" Thierry and the church became the temple of reason. In 1793, the fleur-de-lis that decorated the church bell tower, ornaments and furniture were removed, and a new door was made to the cemetery. It also removes the beautiful cross of the bell tower and that of Calvary in front of the church, replaced by a tin flag representing freedom. Iron is taken from the church.
We find the TALON family with the direct descendant, Louis Omer Joseph TALON, secret agent of the Count of Provence (future Louis XVIII) during the revolution and whose daughter Zoé Victoire TALON, born in 1785 in Boullay-Thierry (1785 - 1852), after the revolution became Countess of CAYLA by marriage. She was especially the close friend of Louis XVIII who donated the Château de St Ouen to him.
In the successive owners of the castle, a family stands out, that of the BOQUESTANTS, whose coat of arms can be found in the side chapel. This chapel was also that of the castellans and a door allowed to communicate with the outbuildings of the castle.
This noble family thus sees Mister Derougny BOQUESTANT, Baron of empire and Marquis (according to the regimes which succeeded at the time) appointed mayor on several occasions. It also endows the village with a presbytery.
We also find the inhabitants of the village in the censuses:
Thus in 1826 there are 695 inhabitants,
in 1834, 750 inhabitants with woolen blanket factories, drapes and draped fabrics.
This production does not last and then causes the departure of a large part of the population
because in 1836 it fell to 488 inhabitants, a figure which continues to decrease
arriving in 1861 at 417 inhabitants.
In the years around 1846 the construction of a town hall-school took place, the old school being covered with thatch and too old to be preserved. Work continued in the following years with the construction in 1849 of promenade facilities around the water feature of the Grand Marchi and from 1853 the decision was made to build a presbytery.
In 1900 the directory of the district of Dreux gives the following indications on the village: 300 inhabitants, it is specified that the post office is in Nogent-le-roi and the telegraph and station in Villemeux. The trades identified are as follows:
- farmers,
- a saddler,
- 2 coffee makers,
- a shoemaker,
- 2 grocers,
- 2 master masons,
- a marshal,
- 2 carpenters,
- 2 locksmiths,
- one serving,
- a teacher
- and the Sisters of Notre-Dame as teachers.
Minières is a hamlet near Boullay-Thierry but which was not attached to it at the start. This former stronghold was in fact vassal of the Abbey of Coulombs, composed mainly of peasants.
It was in 1660 that the seigniory of Minières was ceded with all the rights related to it to Mr. FAVIER against shares of a farm, but continuing to depend on the powerful Abbey.
If Minières seems to return to the dependence of the abbey in 1777, the hamlet then depends on Boullay-Thierry where it is incorporated in the civil status registers. In 1861, there were 22 houses and 61 inhabitants in Minières.
The story continues; successive owners of the chateau, which was occupied by the Germans during the Second World War, had to sell it to the company USINOR, which set up a holiday center there after the war.
The commons became the property of the municipality which installed the pupils of the educational group there in 1990.
Today the castle is owned by a private individual, the village of Boullay-Thierry has 587 inhabitants including 37 in Minières ...