The House of Maillé is a surviving French noble family of knightly origin, originating from Touraine and later established in Anjou and Maine. The family has produced notable figures, including a Marshal of France, a Grand Master of Navigation, an Archbishop of Tours, a Bishop of Rennes, and the beatified Jeanne-Marie de Maillé.
Origin.
The Maillé family's documented lineage dates back to 1069 with Gilduin de Maillé. The family derives its name from the lordship of Maillé in Indre-et-Loire, which passed through marriage around 1501 to Gilles de Laval and was later renamed Luynes when it was elevated to a duchy-peerage in 1619 for Charles d'Albert de Luynes, who purchased it that year.
Senior branch.
According to the genealogy provided by Anselme de Sainte-Marie in "Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la Maison Royale de France" and reiterated by Henri Jougla de Morenas in 1939, the documented lineage begins with:
Brézé and Bénéhard branch.
Payen I de Maillé (1289–c. 1347), Seneschal of Périgord (recorded 1339, 1341), younger brother of Hardouin VI, married Jeanne de Lestang, Lady of Brézé, in 1318. Their descendants include:
La Forest branch.
The Breton branch of the Maillé family, based at the Château de Maillé in Plounévez-Lochrist (Finistère), was granted the title of Count of Maillé in 1626.
La Tour-Landry branch.
Hardouin X de Maillé (1462–1524), Lord of Benais, married Françoise de La Tour-Landry on 30 July 1494, inheriting her family's name and the lordship of La Tour-Landry. Sébastien de Maillé de La Tour-Landry (b. 1972), Marquis of Maillé, is the current head of the family.
Dukes of Maillé.
The Duchy of Maillé, a peerage of France, was created in 1784 for Charles René de Maillé de La Tour-Landry, from the junior La Tour-Landry branch. The title remains extant.
Titles.
The Maillé family held the following titles:
Legacy.
The Maillé name appears in several French locales:
Arms.
Upon the marriage of Françoise de La Tour-Landry to Hardouin de Maillé on 30 July 1494, Hardouin agreed to adopt the La Tour-Landry arms ("d'or à une fasce de gueules crénelée de 3 pièces et maçonnée de sable"). The king later relieved him of this obligation, but his descendants have since been styled "de Maillé de La Tour-Landry".