Manoir de Launay

The Manoir de Launay was King René's favourite residence, where the legendary "Joyeuse Garde" tournament was held in 1446. The monument is a perfect illustration of the transition from defensive to pleasure architecture during the Renaissance.

After spending three years in his kingdom of Naples (1435-1442), "Good King René", Duke of Anjou, acquired this late fourteenth-century manor house in 1444. Expansion and embellishment made Launay a favourite residence for René and Isabelle de Lorraine, his first wife, and then Jeanne de Laval, his second wife, where the legendary "Joyeuse Garde" tournament was held.
This pivotal period at the end of the Middle Ages can be seen in its architecture, where moats and turrets are merely symbolic rather than defensive. René introduced the spirit of the Renaissance to the Italian way of life, where aesthetic pleasure and a taste for nature took precedence over court life.
The chapel, lords' flats, gallery, retiring rooms, dovecote, kitchen, main courtyard and colonnaded lower courtyard have retained their 14th/15th century integrity.
On the death of René in 1480, Launay became the property of Louis XI, then of his son Charles VIII, and finally of Louis XII, and later of a Claude de Bretagne.
Exhibitions: "L'Outil, Poésie Ouvrière" on wood, iron and stone, collection of tools from 2 to 3 centuries, collection of busts by the talented Yann Grégoire.