Joseph and his cousins. From the end of the 14th century, the probable date of its establishment in the county of Nantes, until the eve of the Revolution, the house of Charette branched out on many occasions, so much so that it is difficult to place the last owner of Briord under the Ancien Régime, Joseph de Charette, within the familys more than crowded genealogical tree.
From Italy by way of the Vannes region
It was at the very end of the 14th century that a Guillaume de Charette settled in the Nantes country, precisely at the château of la Thomassière (Sautron). Of these ancestors, we can briefly confirm that his father, living in the vicinity of Ploërmel, was a companion of Bertrand Du Guesclin. Several historians have concluded that the family was of Ligurian origin, the Caretto having emigrated in the 13th century to the duchy of Brittany. This hypothesis, however, lacks sources to support it.
A Nantes house
The Nantes vocation of the house is confirmed by the office of conseiller général, attached to the lieutenant general of the présidial of Nantes, granted by François I to Jean, the great-great-grandson of Guillaume. Residing for his part at the château of la Bretonnière (Vigneux-de-Bretagne), his descendants established themselves around the city of the Dukes, the estates they held automatically giving their name to a branch of the Charette family (La Colinière and Bois-Briant at Doulon, La Chauvelière at Joué-sur-Erdre, La Contrie at Couffé, La Gascherie at La Chapelle-sur-Erdre).
A splendid period for the house, which gave seven mayors to Nantes in the 17th century alone.
The estates of the Pays de Retz
It was in the 18th century that the Charette family set foot on the edges of the former barony of Rais. Thus entered the family fold the lands of Boisfoucault (Saint-Même-le-Tenu), of Moulin-Henriet (Sainte-Pazanne), and of Bois-Chevalier (Legé).
As regards Briord, it was the marriage in 1725 of Jean de Charette[1], lord of la Botinière (Vallet), to Françoise de L'Espinay, heiress of the estate, that brought the latter into the possession of the Charette family and made their eldest son, Joseph, the first and only Charette of Briord. Indeed, only a daughter came of his union with Michelle Portier de Lantimo. A precious line of descent, for it is on this Louise that the future of Briord would soon depend…