Seneschalsies of Anjou

The Anjou is divided into several seneschalsies or bailliages, gathered under the name of " Seneschalsies of Anjou" or " Bailliages of Anjou".

General presentation

Lists of the principal seneschalsies of the Anjou (or bailliages principal), followed number of deputies to elect and name of the bailliages or seneschalsies secondary:

principal Seneschalsy of Angers, 16 deputies,

secondary seneschalsies: (Wallow, Beaufort, Castle-Gontier and the Arrow);

Seneschalsy of Loudun, 4 deputies;
Seneschalsy of Saumur, 4 deputies.

Seneschalsy of Angers

In 1551, Angers becomes the royal Seat of the principal Sénéchaussée of the Anjou and Présidial of the jurisdiction of Angers. (1551-1790)

The jurisdiction of the seneschalsy of Angers extends on all the Western part of Anjou since the Mauges in the South to the country of Craon in North.

In this XVIesiècle, the king of France Henri II institute seventeen general receipts or General information S, entrusted to general treasurers: (Edict of Blois in January 1551). The Généralité of Turns was the seat of one of these general receipts. The Anjou, the Maine and the Touraine joined within this general information whose seat will be fixed at Tours. This Généralité of Turns reconstitutes the territory of the " Large Anjou " of Foulque Nerra.

In 1611: Share attributions between prévôté and the seneschalsy of Angers. " By judgment of the Court in December 1611, the criminal lieutenant and prosecutor of Roy in the seneschalsy of Anjou and seat présidial of Angers, and the judges, lieutenants and prosecutor of Roy in prévôté of the known as place, bearing payment for the division of the exercise of their loads. Lu and published in the audiance of the aforesaid seats the mercredy 4 day of January 1612. With an ordinance made in the aforementioned seneschalsy of Anjou and seat présidial of Angers the mercredy fourteenth day of November to that the year for the execution and entretenement of known as the arrest".

In 1618, Old financial district in XVIesiècle, Angers became administrative unit under the direction of an intendant having full authority on the " subdelegated " of the six grounds of elections of the province of Anjou (Angers, Wallow, Beaufort, Castle-Gontier, the Arrow and Saumur). (Loudun being still under the authority of the governor of Saumur).

In 1657, this authority royal reaches the municipal level since the king names the mayor and the aldermen. Courts royal, présidiaux, and specialized rooms increase their competences at the expense of the seneschalsies.

Under the Old Mode, the principal Seneschalsy of Angers (called " Anjou" seneschalsy;)is represented by 16 deputies resulting also from secondary seneschalsies angevines: (Angers, Wallow, Beaufort, Castle-Gontier, Craon, the Arrow, Lude).

16 deputies of the seneschalsy of Angers (known as " Anjou" seneschalsy;) are distributed as follows:

3 deputies of the Clergy: Chatizel, Martinez and Rangeard.
4 deputies of the Nobility: Choiseul-Praslin, Dieuzie, Galissonière and Ruillé.
9 deputies of the Third-State: Allard, Patent of Beaujour, Chassebluf-Volney, Desmazière, Revellière-Lépeaux, Maignan, Milscent, Pilaster and Rich person.

The seneschalsy of Angers keeps its prerogatives on almost the whole of Anjou which will become the future Département of Maine-et-Loire, like on the whole of the Mayenne angevine (Castle-Gontier and Craon) and on the major part of Maine angevin (the Arrow and Lude) less the baillage independent of Castle-of-Dormouse attached to the principal seneschalsy of the Mans.

Seneschalsy of Saumur

In May 1544, by the Edict of Saint-Germain-in-Bush hammer, François 1st creates " the office of Seneshal of Evening gown with Saumur, to exert Justice in all civil actions and criminal " . The act is important, because it concretizes the old subdivisions of the Anjou and delimits the legal spring of the seneschalsy of Saumur (very wide by long outgrowths towards the East and the South), for two centuries and half (until the French revolution).

Under the Old Mode, the Seneschalsy of Saumur directed by a governor, manages a territory which includes Bourgueil until Gizeux in North, extends beyond Loudun, towards South-east until Mirebeau, to the East to the town of Richelieu, in the South until Face-Loretz and Nickle silver-the Church, finally in the West to the borders of the Mauges.

The Loudunais and the Mirebalais belonged of origin to the province of Anjou. The Sénéchaussée of Loudun depended on the governor of Saumur, Mirebeau raised of the Seneschalsy of Saumur.
the triangle Loudun, Mirebeau and Moncontour, constituting Loudunais and Mirebalais, remains detached of the Poitou and will depend on the government of Saumur and the Resident of Saumur until the French revolution and the creation of the French departments.

At the time of the French revolution, the Sénéchaussée of Saumur is represented by four deputies:

Representing Clergy: Mesnard.
Representing of the Nobility: Tool bags.
Representatives of the Third-State: Cigougne and Bizard.

Principal cities of the seneschalsy of Saumur: (Saumur, Gifted, Mirebeau, Moncontour, Montreuil-Bellay, Richelieu).

The Resident of Saumur always constitutes a seneschalsy independent of that of Angers but which integrated nevertheless the Département of Maine-et-Loire, on the other hand the Resident of Saumur still keeps for some time its authority on Mirebeau, Moncontour and Richelieu. Loudunais, which separates the seneschalsy from Saumur in two distinct zones, also forms a seneschalsy independent of that of Angers.

November 11th 1789, the Constituent Assembly orders to the deputies old French provinces to act in concert, in order to set up a network of new departments of approximately 324 square miles, that is to say 6.561 km2 current.

At the time of the French revolution, the representatives of Saumur propose the creation of a department of Saumur including/understanding Loudunais. But the opposition of the representatives of Angers and the dissensions within the Saumur-native delegates (between those of the Nobility of the Clergy and the Third-State) will ruin this attempt. The representatives of Loudun, however of agreement with this idea, end up moving away in front of confusion at the Saumur-native representatives.

Into 1790, the seneschalsy of Saumur is divided on several departments.

the Département of Maine-et-Loire preserves the central part of the Resident of Saumur around her stronghold of Saumur which becomes sub-prefecture of the new department.
the department of Indre-et-Loire is seen granting a fringe of the Anjou-Resident of Saumur Bourgueil until Gizeux, plus the country of Richelieu.
the department of the Vienna is seen allotting Loudunais, plus Moncontour and Mirabelais.
the department of the Two-Sevres recovers the following communes belonged to sénéchaussé of Saumur: Face-Loretz, Face-Saint-Paul, Cersay, and Saint-Pierre-with-Field, as well as the parishes raising at the same time of the steps of Anjou and the Poitou: Nickle silver-the Church, Bagneux, Brion-près-Thouet, Genneton, Louzy, Massed, Saint-Leger-with-Montbrun, Saint-Martin-with-Mâcon, Saint-Martin-with-Sanzay, Saint-Cyr-the-Moor, Tourtenay.

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