Here is another story where genealogy allowed for a “pretty cool discovery”: a new cousin!
(The links in this post take you to the individuals on my Geneanet tree.)
In June 2022, a woman who lives in France contacted me via Geneanet and mentioned that she and I had several ancestors in common. We exchanged a few emails and very quickly became friends. Since then, we have been exchanging via WhatsApp on a regular basis!
At the time Marie-Laure contacted me, she had built most of her family tree on paper, so I continued mine online on Geneanet to link each other. It turns out that we are 10th cousins of our grandparents Denis Jamain (1598-1670) and Jeanne Gillot (?-†1667)!
Last month, my husband and I went on vacation to France to visit my family and friends. While in France…. David and I finally met Marie-Laure and her husband Paul in person! We met in the beautiful commune of Montaigu, in the Vendée département (85).
The four of us had such a wonderful day… We first had lunch in a restaurant (the galettes (buckwheat crêpes) and cider were absolutely a-ma-zing…), then visited the remains of the castle of Montaigu, and the Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste which recently reopened after 5 years of renovation. It was a very hot day, so we finished the afternoon together having fruit juices on the terrasse of a little café by the church. When we said good bye at the end of the afternoon, it felt like we had known each other for a very long time!
Marie-Laure and Paul are planning to come to the U.S. to visit us within the next couple of years! Ah… the very nice surprises and discoveries brought by genealogy…!
Our day in Montaigu
What a better way to get to know each other than around delicious French food! We were talking and laughing so much than the waiter came back at least three times to get our order! We still hadn’t looked at the menu!
Lunch with Marie-Laure and Paul (right)
At the site of the castle
View of Montaigu from the castle
Remains of the castle of Montaigu
The very first castle was built around 1100. What’s visible today are the remains of the castle rebuilt in the 15th century by Louis Ier de Belleville. Around 1464, King Louis XI had suggested to him to fortify the town of Montaigu to protect it from the Bretons.
Throughout the castle site, you can also see several very old tombstones and coats of arms. Always very touching…
The castle was listed as historical monument in 2011.
Lords of Montaigu
All around the castle site, there are explanations of who was Lord of Montaigu and when. Here are a few of these individuals. (All of them are on my Geneanet tree and accessible by clicking on the picture or their name).
Hugues Ier de Thouars (1146-1230), married to Marguerite de Montaigu (ca 1188-1241/)
Jeanne de Belleville “la Tigresse bretonne” (1300-1369)
Marguerite de Valois “Mademoiselle de Belleville” (1407-1449) (illegitimate daughter of King Charles VI)
Memorial at the site of the castle
The memorial was inaugurated on September 11, 1898. It lists the names of individuals “Morts pour la France” (“died for France”) in Montaigu and other nearby villages during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), WWI (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945).
Marie-Laure looking at the names of individuals listed on the Memorial. In the back, David and Paul communicating very well in Frenglish!
Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste (St. John the Baptist Church)
St. John the Baptist Church closed in January 2018 due to structural weaknesses. After 5 years and more than 10,000 hours of work, the church recently reopened. We visited it right after the castle. Whether one is a “believer” or not, old French churches are just really beautiful… I love their unique “old smell”, the peace, serenity and energy they offer, and the beauty of the architecture and stainless glasses.
The restoration of the church was done by a company called “Les Ateliers de la chapelle”. They specialize in the restoration of historic buildings. This page of their website (in English) explains the work they did and shows much prettier pictures than the ones I took!
Genealogy
On my Geneanet tree, I have created a page called “Origines de la famille” (“origines of the family”). This is where I keep track of the sources I find during my research on different families.
On that page, I have also created other pages/sections (battles/wars in History, castles, timelines of kings and presidents of a couple countries, cemeteries, churches, monuments, orders and military decorations, as well as a “Pêle-mêle” (miscellaneous) page which includes a mix of Saints, musicians, poets, writers, actors, pilgrims of America, Egypt, etc.) I found during my research. Each section links to those individuals and their own place on my tree.
If you are logged in to your Geneanet account, all the links should take you to the actual pages of all individuals and castles, wars, etc. If you don’t have a Geneanet account, I think the links will take you to my “Contact Page”.
(FYI: on Geneanet, the little “green circle” indicates my direct lineage with the individuals).
Here is the page of the Castle of Montaigu on my Geneanet tree.
Below, our 10 times grand-parents! My branch is on the right.
My French Lineage 