House and Garden 
of' the day as men of striking peculiarities or 
of depraved lives. We are justified in saying, 
therefore, that at all times Brissac has well 
played its part in the making of that phase 
of the history of France which is to be read 
in the strongholds of its nobles, quite as 
much as in the halls of its royal palaces. 
Though, as we have said, the old feudal 
castle has been more than once razed to the 
ground and has for the most part now given 
way to a seven storeyed product of the 
Renaissance, the towers of Brissac have 
braved the storms of ages and have come 
down to us from those days when it was the 
capital of a country described in the dog 
Latin of the period as Pagus Bragascensis. 
The modern name of Brissac occurs for 
the first time in an account book of 1480; 
but it is more than probable that Bracaceo- 
rum, Bracosachs and Bracasae as the forti¬ 
fied stronghold of the tenth century was 
written, was so pronounced by the local 
peasantry. The Counts of Anjou added to 
the old keep from time to time, bridges were 
thrown across the Aubarne and water-mills 
constructed in its immediate neighbourhood. 
In 1068 Geoffroy le Barbu, who was count of 
part of Anjou, rebelled against his brother 
Fulk Rechin and laid siege to Brissac, but was 
taken prisoner with a thousand of his knights 
in front of the stronghold itself. It would 
seem, however, that even at this time it was 
not the habitual residence of the Counts of 
Anjou. In the year 1100 they were repre¬ 
sented by Archalos, later on Seneschal of 
Anjou, who with the consent of Fulk the 
younger surrendered to the Abbey of Fontev- 
rault the right of levying toll at Brissac. 
The Chemilles became hereditary governors 
in course of time. Thus in 1105, Pierre de 
Chemille is described as Lord, or rather as 
Governor of Brissac; but in 1112 Fulk the 
younger led his army there, doubtless to 
show that he was liege lord of the country. 
In October, 1208, Guy de Thouars, who had 
married Eustache de Mauleon, Lady of 
Chemille, became Lord of Brissac and was 
confirmed in its possession by Philip Augus¬ 
tus, who had taken the side of Prince Arthur 
of Brittany and Anjou against his uncle 
John, King of England. The new governor 
did not, however, remain for long in the good 
graces of his sovereign, for in 1204 he trans¬ 
ferred Brissac to Guillaume des Roches, 
and on capturing it on Ascension day, 1206, 
razed its fortifications to the ground. 
1 hough the over lordship of Brissac was 
long debated between the kings of England 
and France, the Chemilles, Pierre, Jean, Guy 
and Thomas were its governors from 1240 to 
1380 when Jean de La Haye-Passavant 
married Thomasine de Chemille. He was 
succeeded by Bertrand de La Haye in 1394. 
In 1416 Jean de La Haye rendered homage 
to his liege Lord for Brissac but ceded it in 
1434 to Pierre de Breze, Lord of Maulevrier, 
in Normandy, who already owned the pond 
and the mills ten years before Louis XI. 
confiscated his son’s, Jean de Breze’s, estates 
when he was convicted of the murder of his 
wife Charlotte the natural daughter of King 
Charles VII. by the beautiful Agnes Sore]. 
The property was, however, restored to his 
son, Louis de Breze, by tbe king on his mar¬ 
riage with Yolande de La Haye-Passavant, 
a descendant of the former owners. Louis 
de Breze, Grand Seneschal of Normandy, did 
homage for Brissac on September 9th, 1498; 
but sold the castle and its appurtenances to 
Rene de Cosse on January 29th, 1502. At 
that time the whole estate consisted of the 
castle, the ponds, four water- and two wind¬ 
mills, some farms and the feudal dues raised 
on the surrounding country. Its importance 
was, however, far less then than a few years 
later on, as it was only then a chatellenie. 
The Cosses who shortly exchanged their 
name and title of Cosse Lords of Brissac for 
that of Cosse-Brissac claim descent from 
Cocceius Nerva. This may or may not be 
true; but the fact remains that they can 
trace their pedigree back to the thirteenth 
century when they held Cosse-le-Vivien in 
Poitou. Fiatre de Cosse was Gentleman of 
the Wardrobe to King Philip Augustus, 
whilst Roland de Cosse accompanied Louis 
IX. to the Holy Land. 
Rene de Cosse made very considerable 
additions to the property, which he had pur¬ 
chased, and commenced the restoration of 
the village church. He was Lord High 
Baker and Grand Falconer of France, and 
was appointed Governor of Anjou and 
Governor of the children of King Francis I., 
whom he accompanied when they were 
despatched as hostages to Spain in 1530. 
164 
