REVOLUTION

Paray survived the centuries well preserved, whereas other Chateau were defaced, dismantled, or even burned.

Built in it’s present form in 1624, Paray Castle was over 150 years old at the time of the Revolution

The current structures of the Chateau were built in 1624. The family crests above the door and Fireplaces are of the original owner, and reflect marriage and family alliance. But the original owners didn’t stay long. Indeed, Paray has not stayed in one family for more than several generations. Current owners are still engaged in research to find all of the families who owned Paray during those years prior to the Revolution, and to verify what sort of bad luck befell them, if indeed there is a common thread. One thing is certain: Since antiquity, and prior to the Revolution, there were more than a few Seigneurs / Châtelains of Paray.

WHEN REVOLUTION COMES CALLING

On the night of May 13, 1794, Soldiers arrived here at Paray on the orders of Antoine Fouquier-Tinville, Chief Accuser of the Revolutionary Tribunal in Paris.

Jacques Amable Rollet D’Avaux was the top Judge of the highest Court in the land. A politically powerful man who had administered the Justice of the Crown directly, for many years. He had many enemies.

As Seigneur Of Paray, he is reported to have been ill-tempered, harsh, unforgiving, and was, by what accounts exist, widely hated. Now the revolution arrived at his doorstep. He found himself denounced by strangers - and now stood accused of crimes against the state. The soldiers arrived to effect a search warrant.

The soldiers kept a secret though – they had been advised of exactly where to find incriminating evidence of D’Avaux’s betrayal - by two recently discharged house servants.

Soldier’s investigation and discovery of evidence revealed that D’Avaux was in correspondence with non-sworn priests and members of the catholic clergy – now enemies of the state – and that he had given priests shelter and provided for their needs, and had received and made known papal bulls and manifestos of certain princes. He was arrested on the spot as an “Enemy of the Revolution”. His wife was disconsolate, and she protested loudly enough that they arrested her too.

Husband and wife were driven to Paris, where upon the morning of their arrival, they faced the Tribunal – where they were sentenced to death. Husband and wife faced the Guillotine and were executed the very same day.

Their properties, all of them, – including Chateau Paray – were confiscated as national property.

And thus, Paray became property of the state. And because of this, it was spared the degradation experienced by many other homes at the hands of the disenfranchised.

It became common in those months and years, for local peoples to visit with pitchforks and torches and to burn and dismantle the markers of class division, to smash the turrets, the monumental fireplaces, the stained window glass, to burn the roofs, and to take hammers the blazons and Coats of Arms, turning anything symbolic of Royalty – into dust.

Because Paray was state property, it was spared.

Eventually Paray was sold by the state at auction. Since then it passed from many families hands, both French and foreign, served as soldiers’ barracks, as a Gendarmerie station, into and out of more private hands, and eventually to the current owner, who hopes to pass it down and finally keep Paray in the hands of one family for generations.

Current owners are still doing the research, but one thing is clear: Paray has seen a great many masters. It seems it is much easier to attain the Seigneury Of Paray than it is to keep it.