The Charette family represents a , classified as . The family's origins are in Brittany.
The group includes mayors, seneschals, and magistrates from Nantes, as well as other magistrates from the Parliament and Chamber of Accounts of Brittany. It also comprises a State Councillor, military officers, the Vendée leader François Athanase Charette de La Contrie, and Hervé de Charette, a minister under the Fifth Republic.
The Charette family is documented in the province of Brittany, specifically in the city of Nantes and its surrounding areas, including the communes of Sautron and Couffé.
However, studies by authors and genealogists differ regarding its origins and the source of its nobility. (1938) notes that the family has been known since the 14th century.
In their respective works, (1977), Roger Coindreau, and André Borel d'Hauterive posit that in 1370, Jean Charette, a resident of Trévignet in the vicinity of Plermoël, was knighted on the battlefield at Chisey in Poitou by Constable Bertrand du Guesclin (1320âÂÂ1380). Additionally, Borel d'Hauterive (1851) posits that the family may have originated in Italy, descending from a son of Galeas , Marquis of Finale, who settled in Brittany in 1240. This ancestor is said to have married Jeanne Dubois de la Salle, a lady-in-waiting to Alix, Duchess of Brittany. In addition, he is believed to have received lands in Trévignet from Pierre de Dreux, who was known as Mauclerc. Their descendant, Guyon Charette, Lord of Trévignet, is thought to have adopted the French name "Charette" and to have served as seneschal of Nantes.
In the 1840 publication Nobiliaire et armorial de Bretagne by , a genealogist of Breton nobility, the following is written: In 1508, Pierre had a son, Jean, with Jacquette de Barlagat, a native of the Auverné region. Jean married Mathurine du Beyzit, a native of the parish of Saint-Dolay, in 1535. Their union resulted in the establishment of the Charette family, which would go on to encompass numerous branches. Since 1572, this family has produced an auditor, two masters, and the first president of the Chamber of Accounts; provosts, magistrates, seneschals, and seven mayors of Nantes; twenty deputies from Nantes to the Estates of Brittany, several of whom were presidents of the Third Estate; and six counselors in Parliament. "A page of Louis XIII, who was killed at the siege of Gravelines in 1614 while fighting alongside Marshal de la Meilleraye; a knight of the Order in 1646; an abbess of the Trinity of Poitiers in 1692; and three since 1762." Furthermore, the same source indicates that "This family appears to have originated from the same lineage as the lords of Trévignet, in the parish of La Chapelle, and Penhoat, in the parish of Fégréac, known as Charette. They are documented in the Reformation and Musters of the Nobility between 1426 and 1543 in La Chapelle-sous-Ploërmel and Fégréac."
wrote in 1911: "[...] It is generally supposed, though without certain evidence, that the currently existing Charette family shares a common origin with a family of the same name that, during the Middle Ages, owned the noble house of Trévignet, in the parish of La Chapelle-sous-Ploërmel." He continues: "There has also been an attempt, again without any proof, to trace the Charette family of Trévignet back to the family, which held a distinguished position in Florence." He further adds: "[...] The Charette family of Trévignet is known starting with a certain N. Charette, lord of Trévignet, who lived in 1334. The descendants of this gentleman appeared in the reformation and musters of the nobility of the Saint-Malo diocese from 1426 to 1543 and became extinct around the mid-16th century." Chaix d'Est-Ange begins the lineage of the Charette family with Guillaume Charette, who married Mathée de Nault and, around 1400, owned the estate of La Thomazière in the parish of Sautron, in the Nantes diocese. He lists the key family members up to the 16th century and writes: "(...) The nobiliary status of these various individuals does not seem to have been very elevated. One might wonder whether, despite the judgment of confirmation of nobility in 1668, the Charette family did not derive its noble status merely from the mayoralty of Nantes or the offices its members held starting in 1572 at the ."
Regarding the nobility of the Charette family, (2002) writes: "extraction, confirmed in 1668."
The family obtained two :
Since the sixteenth century, numerous members of the family have occupied a variety of roles in Nantes. Two family members were appointed as counselors at the Parliament of Brittany.
The principal alliances of this family are:
Montmorency (1752), Cornulier, , Rohan, , La Trémoille, , Aubigny, Bedford, L'ÃÂpervier, , Jochaud du Plessix, La Bourdonnaye, Monti, , , Sapinaud de La Rairie, Becdelièvre, Bourbon (1827), Montesquiou-Fezensac (1851), von Hanau, , , Fitz-James (1862), (1863), Bourbon-Busset (1866), Durfort Civrac de Lorge (1872), (1909), Guigné (1910), Tardif de Moidrey, Bardon de Segonzac, Montmorillon, Harcourt (1960), (1977), Maupeou d'Ableiges (2018), Le Tourneux de La Perraudière, among others.
Arms
Blazon: Argent, a lion sable armed and langued gules, accompanied by three canettes (alternatively aiglettes or aigrettes) sable, beaked and membered gules, arranged 2 and 1 (or in point).
Support: Two crowned lions.
Title: Regular baron since 1823.
Ornament: The escutcheon is surrounded by a mantle of a Peer of France.
The arms of this family vary according to branch and herald.
Recent works and the 2023 film Vaincre ou mourir commemorate François Athanase Charette de La Contrie.