Chouan family
Encyclopedia
The descendents of Pierre Cottereau, called Chouan, a lumberjack, and of his wife Jeanne Moyné lived in la closerie des poiriers at Saint-Ouën-des-Toits
in Mayenne
, and gave their surname to the Chouannerie
:
, with numerous stories, sometimes without any foundation. The history of Jean Chouan contains a great deal of legend. Nonetheless, his role in the counter-revolution should not be underestimated.
and Saint-Ouën-des-Toits
, that he had inherited from his parents, along with other pieces of land.
In the acts of baptism for his children, Pierre Cottereau is given as a homme honorable, then a marchand sabottier, then as a sabotier, then as a closier, doubtless after he had arrived at the Closerie des Poiriers.
and the location of the closerie des Poiriers, we can see a region deep in misery. In several birth records, we read né sur la lande (died on the lande) of parents on only casual work. The misery of the forge workers at Port-Brillet
, owned by the prince of Talmont, duc de la Trémoille, was such that they took part in the French Revolution
, armed the National Guard and became ardent Republican patriots, like the workers of La Brûlatte
.
Without doubt their father's prolonged absences deprived the Cottereau children of an authority figure and teaching (their mother was illiterate, as was common in this era). Their father died in 1778 when Jean Chouan was still young. Pierre, the elder son, called himself a sabotier. To survive, Pierre and his three brothers and even his sisters went into salt smuggling (salt was then under a heavy gabelle
tax). René, the youngest child, was a house roofer.
. They exceeded in blows against two employees, Pierre Bériteau and John Guitton. A surgeon from Laval
declares that one of the two could not be carried to hospital. The Chouan brothers and their accomplices were condemned to to pay for the medicines and the necessary foods for the injured, who were transported to an inn at Saint-Ouën-des-Toits
.
Of a rare brutality, the Cottereau children managed to cripple almost all their neighbors, for meaningless reasons, and to bring several court proceedings and ruinous demands for compensation, which ruined the family.
Jean Chouan and his brothers François and René dodged the faux-saunage and, though they well-knew the hidden places of the regions' forests, were often stopped on several smuggling trips.
: François died after injuring himself with his rifle, though at least he was not killed by the forge workers of Port-Brillet. Pierre was arrested, condemned and guillotined, as were his two sisters. The only survivor was René, who died in 1846.
│
└──> Pierre Cottereau (Olivet 9/1/1732 - Saint-Ouen-des-Toits 16/9/1778 ) x (Olivet 3/8/1754) Jeanne Moiné (Saint-Ouen-des-Toits 28/11/1735 - Le Mans 13/12/1793)
│
├──> Pierre Cottereau (Brains-sur-les-Marches 30/9/1755 - Laval 11 June 1794)
├──> Jean Cottereau
(Saint-Berthevin-lès-Laval 30/10/1757 - Saint-Ouen-des-Toits 24 July 1794)
├──> François Cottereau (1760 - Olivet 3 January 1794)
├──> René Cottereau (Saint-Ouen-des-Toits 26/3/1764 - Saint-Ouen-des-Toits 7/4/1846)
│ ├──> René Cottereau (1793-1857)
│ ├──> Jeanne Cottereau (1795-1833)
│ ├──> Louis Cottereau (1795-1796)
│ ├──> Marie Cottereau (1798-1844)
│ ├──> Pierre Cottereau (1800-1826)
│ ├──> Jean Cottereau (1807-?)
│ ├──> Dominique Cottereau (1808-1816)
│ ├──> Julien Cottereau (1810-1865)
│ ├──> Renée Cottereau (1811-1884)
│ ├──> Lucie Cottereau (1813-1893)
│ ├──> Angélique Cottereau (1814-1816)
│ ├──> Étienne Cottereau (1815-1892)
│ ├──> Jean Cottereau (1819-?)
│ └──> Dominique Cottereau (1824-1879)
├──> Perrine Cottereau (17/10/1769-1794)
├──> Renée Cottereau (11/11/1776-1794)
├──> Marguerite Cottereau (1778-1778)
└──> Marie Cottereau (1778-1794)
Saint-Ouën-des-Toits
Saint-Ouën-des-Toits is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.-References:*...
in Mayenne
Mayenne
Mayenne is a department in northwest France named after the Mayenne River.-History:Mayenne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. The northern two thirds correspond to the western part of the former province of Maine...
, and gave their surname to the Chouannerie
Chouannerie
The Chouannerie was a royalist uprising in twelve of the western departements of France, particularly in the provinces of Brittany and Maine, against the French Revolution, the First French Republic, and even, with its headquarters in London rather than France, for a time, under the Empire...
:
- Jean CottereauJean CottereauJean Cottereau was the royal treasurer to Louis XII of France. He rebuilt the ancient Château de Maintenon. Later the old château-fort was remade into a fashionable country house for Madame de Maintenon, the second wife of Louis XIV. Clément Marot's verse epitaphs, "De Messire Jean Cotereau,...
, called Jean Chouan (1757-1794), one of the leaders of the counter-revolutionaryFrench RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and royalistHouse of BourbonThe House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
insurrection that developed in MayenneMayenneMayenne is a department in northwest France named after the Mayenne River.-History:Mayenne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. The northern two thirds correspond to the western part of the former province of Maine...
in 1793 ; - François Cottereau (1750-1794), his brother ;
- Pierre Cottereau (1756-1794), his brother ;
- René Cottereau (1764-1846), his brother.
Caution
Much of what we know of Jean Chouan's biography rests on a partisan work written by Jacques Duchemin des Cépeaux in 1825 at the request of Charles XCharles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
, with numerous stories, sometimes without any foundation. The history of Jean Chouan contains a great deal of legend. Nonetheless, his role in the counter-revolution should not be underestimated.
History
His grandparent, as well as his father Pierre Cottereau, were clog merchants, crossing the forested regions of France, from the forest of Le Pertre to the forest of Concise. His first two sons were born in the course of one of his travels. Pierre Cottereau had married Joan Moyné, daughter of Pierre Moyné, who had in 1751 been let les Poiriers by the children of John Anjuère: house and room, a closet, the Noë du Four, the lande of Le Chemin. Half of it descended to Joan Moyné, who, widowed in 1778, bought the other half from John Lamy, weaver at Olivet.The Closerie des Poiriers
In 1760, Jeanne Moyné settled down at the closerie des Poiriers, a fermette situated on the road halfway between le Bourgneuf-la-ForêtLe Bourgneuf-la-Forêt
Le Bourgneuf-la-Forêt is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France....
and Saint-Ouën-des-Toits
Saint-Ouën-des-Toits
Saint-Ouën-des-Toits is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.-References:*...
, that he had inherited from his parents, along with other pieces of land.
Family context
Jean, the second of the boys, also had two sisters, and their mother was left in charge of these six children. It seems that Pierre Cottereau was away on business for he would not have missed signing the acts of baptism for his children if he was present. Thus, none of them are signed in his hand.In the acts of baptism for his children, Pierre Cottereau is given as a homme honorable, then a marchand sabottier, then as a sabotier, then as a closier, doubtless after he had arrived at the Closerie des Poiriers.
Situation
Reading the parish registers for this area at this time, particularly those of the parish of Olivet, the town next to Saint-Oüen-des-ToitsSaint-Ouën-des-Toits
Saint-Ouën-des-Toits is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.-References:*...
and the location of the closerie des Poiriers, we can see a region deep in misery. In several birth records, we read né sur la lande (died on the lande) of parents on only casual work. The misery of the forge workers at Port-Brillet
Port-Brillet
Port-Brillet is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France....
, owned by the prince of Talmont, duc de la Trémoille, was such that they took part in the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, armed the National Guard and became ardent Republican patriots, like the workers of La Brûlatte
La Brûlatte
La Brûlatte is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France....
.
Family
The Chouan family belonged to a milieu of merchants, notaries and priests, and Pierre was literate. His children, grandsons of notaries or merchants, were violent, quarrelsome, untaught, broken to all fatigues, were not at all disposed to regular work.Without doubt their father's prolonged absences deprived the Cottereau children of an authority figure and teaching (their mother was illiterate, as was common in this era). Their father died in 1778 when Jean Chouan was still young. Pierre, the elder son, called himself a sabotier. To survive, Pierre and his three brothers and even his sisters went into salt smuggling (salt was then under a heavy gabelle
Gabelle
The gabelle was a very unpopular tax on salt in France before 1790. The term gabelle derives from the Italian gabella , itself from the Arabic qabala....
tax). René, the youngest child, was a house roofer.
The faux-saunage
The Cottereau family often worked in the Misedon woods, beside their house. Well before 1780, Jean Chouan was surprised, with his brother René and others, drinking alcohol in breach of the laws of OlivetOlivet, Mayenne
Olivet is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France....
. They exceeded in blows against two employees, Pierre Bériteau and John Guitton. A surgeon from Laval
Laval, Mayenne
Laval is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.It lies on the threshold of Brittany and on the border between Normandy and Anjou. Its citizens are called Lavallois.-Geography:...
declares that one of the two could not be carried to hospital. The Chouan brothers and their accomplices were condemned to to pay for the medicines and the necessary foods for the injured, who were transported to an inn at Saint-Ouën-des-Toits
Saint-Ouën-des-Toits
Saint-Ouën-des-Toits is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.-References:*...
.
Of a rare brutality, the Cottereau children managed to cripple almost all their neighbors, for meaningless reasons, and to bring several court proceedings and ruinous demands for compensation, which ruined the family.
Jean Chouan and his brothers François and René dodged the faux-saunage and, though they well-knew the hidden places of the regions' forests, were often stopped on several smuggling trips.
French Revolution
The family came to a tragic end during the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
: François died after injuring himself with his rifle, though at least he was not killed by the forge workers of Port-Brillet. Pierre was arrested, condemned and guillotined, as were his two sisters. The only survivor was René, who died in 1846.
Genealogy
Pierre Cottereau (1696 - Olivet 4/2/1768 x (Olivet - 12 June 1725) Jeanne Chauvin (13/8/1698 - after 1768)│
└──> Pierre Cottereau (Olivet 9/1/1732 - Saint-Ouen-des-Toits 16/9/1778 ) x (Olivet 3/8/1754) Jeanne Moiné (Saint-Ouen-des-Toits 28/11/1735 - Le Mans 13/12/1793)
│
├──> Pierre Cottereau (Brains-sur-les-Marches 30/9/1755 - Laval 11 June 1794)
├──> Jean Cottereau
Jean Chouan
Jean Chouan was the nom de guerre of the Frenchman, Jean Cottereau, who was born at Saint-Berthevin, near Laval, in the department of Mayenne on 30 October 1757 and died 18 July 1794 at Olivet, also in Mayenne...
(Saint-Berthevin-lès-Laval 30/10/1757 - Saint-Ouen-des-Toits 24 July 1794)
├──> François Cottereau (1760 - Olivet 3 January 1794)
├──> René Cottereau (Saint-Ouen-des-Toits 26/3/1764 - Saint-Ouen-des-Toits 7/4/1846)
│ ├──> René Cottereau (1793-1857)
│ ├──> Jeanne Cottereau (1795-1833)
│ ├──> Louis Cottereau (1795-1796)
│ ├──> Marie Cottereau (1798-1844)
│ ├──> Pierre Cottereau (1800-1826)
│ ├──> Jean Cottereau (1807-?)
│ ├──> Dominique Cottereau (1808-1816)
│ ├──> Julien Cottereau (1810-1865)
│ ├──> Renée Cottereau (1811-1884)
│ ├──> Lucie Cottereau (1813-1893)
│ ├──> Angélique Cottereau (1814-1816)
│ ├──> Étienne Cottereau (1815-1892)
│ ├──> Jean Cottereau (1819-?)
│ └──> Dominique Cottereau (1824-1879)
├──> Perrine Cottereau (17/10/1769-1794)
├──> Renée Cottereau (11/11/1776-1794)
├──> Marguerite Cottereau (1778-1778)
└──> Marie Cottereau (1778-1794)
Source
- Léon de la Sicotière, La mort de Jean Chouan et sa prétendue postérité, Mamers, G. Fleury et A. Dangin, 1877, 38 p. (tiré-à-part from the Revue historique et archéologique du Maine) http://www.lamayenne.fr/uploadfiles/publications/8004/FR-AD53-BN-0006.pdf.V17.aspx.
- "Famille Chouan", in Alphonse-Victor Angot, Ferdinand Gaugain, Dictionnaire historique, topographique et biographique de la Mayenne, Goupil, 1900-1910 ([détail édition]), t. IV, p. 243-244.