Jean Cottereau, better known by his nom de guerre Jean Chouan (Saint-Berthevin, 30 October 1757 – Olivet, 18 July 1794), was a French royalist and counter-revolutionary during the Chouannerie. Jean was the second-born of four brothers (Pierre, Jean, François, and René). His nickname came from his father who fondly called him chouan ("the silent one"). Others say his nickname came from an imitation of the call of the tawny owl (the chouette hulotte) he customarily used as a recognition signal. Less flatteringly, Jean's young comrades nicknamed him "the boy liar" (le Gars mentoux or le garçon menteur). The 1926 Luitz-Morat film Jean Chouan starred Maurice Lagrenée as Chouan.

Reliability of sources

Much of the biographical material on Jean Chouan is based on the work of Jacques Duchemin des Cépeaux, in a work written in 1825 at the request of the king, Charles X, who ruled France from 1824 until 1830. Cépeaux was considered to be a royalist partisan, and the claims that he presents may be unfounded or influenced by his perceived bias. Therefore, the story of Jean Chouan likely could consist more of legends of the revolution than facts. The persistence of the legend can be explained by the fact it has been continuously nourished by a small faction of Catholics and royalist-legitimists who have remained active up to the present day. Chouan's presence in history is mostly barren and archives, even those belonging to aristocrats living in the region, indicate that he was completely unknown prior to the Bourbon restoration in 1814. One thing is certain: the republicans, in their effort to quell the insurgency, contributed to the birth of the legend. The name, Jean Chouan, may, in fact, have been invented by republican authorities who were unable to name the true leaders of the insurrection against their own 1789 revolution, the revolution that had unseated the royal house of Bourbon in the first place. There is, in much of the Jean Chouan material, that is reminiscent of Robin Hood and his merry men. Chouan was a romantic hero who, with a small band of devoted followers living in the forest, stage courageous raids against a hated regime. How much of this is romantic legend and how much is historically factual will probably always be open to debate. The tales, true or not, have proved to be a rich source of literary inspiration. Most notably, Honoré de Balzac drew from this history in writing the last of his series of novels, La Comédie humaine—a work called "The Chouans". Nonetheless, it should be remembered that there is a history, indisputably true, associated with the figure of Jean Chouan; it is the history of a bloody and costly civil war in western France.

Origins

Pierre Cottereau, a lumberjack and maker of wooden shoes (sabots), lived with his wife, Jeanne Cottereau (born Jeanne Moyné), as a tenant at la Closerie des Poiriers (literally, the "pear orchard enclosure"), a farm halfway between the villages of Saint-Ouën-des-Toits and Bourgneuf-la-Forêt in Mayenne, France. (An 'enclosure' is, in fact, a small farm, usually less than twenty acres in extent, and the name comes from the need for farmers to enclose their properties with fences or hedges to prevent cattle, sheep, and other domesticated animals from running free.) Tenancy on this piece of property had been established by the Moyné family about 1750. The elder Cottereau, like his father before him, made his family's living by criss-crossing the wooded regions of western France, from the forest between Mondevert and Le Pertre to the forest of Concise, felling trees, stacking and seasoning the timber, and making wooden shoes, which he sold in the villages of Mayenne. From the local parish registers, particularly those of the parish of Olivet, where the Closerie des Poiriers was located, it is clear that this was a region deep in economic misery throughout the second half of the eighteenth century. For example, in several birth records, there is the notation, "né sur la lande" (born on the land), indicating that the child's parents were likely to have been casual workers sleeping rough. So great was the misery of the forge workers at Port-Brillet, owned by the prince of Talmont-Saint-Hilaire, Antoine Philippe de La Trémoille, that they took part in the French Revolution, joined the National Guard and became ardent Republican patriots. Workers in La Brûlatte behaved similarly. The Cottereau family came from a line of merchants, notaries, and priests, and, unlike most of his neighbors, Pierre was literate and respectable. His children, however, were violent, quarrelsome, lazy, and resolutely ignorant. Without doubt, their father's prolonged absences, cutting timber in distant forests, carving shoes, selling his sabots over a wide swath of Mayenne, deprived the Cottereau children of an authority figure. Further, since their mother was illiterate, as was common at that time, the Cottereau children were also largely unschooled. Their father died in 1778 when Jean Chouan was twenty-one years old. Pierre the younger, Jean's only elder brother, proclaimed himself a sabotier like his father, but he was neither so skillful nor so industrious as his father had been. To survive, all six Cottereaus, four brothers and two sisters, became involved in salt-smuggling. Before 1790, the gabelle was a very unpopular tax on salt. Traditionally, France has been composed of a collection of regions, former duchies, principalities, or independent kingdoms, most of which enjoyed long periods of sovereignty, periods when they were all-but-completely divorced, politically, from the rest of France. Well-known examples of the regions are Normandy, Burgundy, Brittany, and Aquitaine. As an accident of the historical development of an integrated France, these regions had different tax rates for commodities like salt. Whenever there is a disparity in prices or taxes between two neighboring jurisdictions, there will be smuggling. For example, La Croixille is a town in the department of Mayenne, which was (and is) a part of the region of Maine, in the eighteenth century, a high-salt-tax region. Across the River Vilaine, the neighboring town of Princé, was, with respect to salt, in a tax-exempt region, Brittany. The huge disparity between the price of salt in the two towns prompted active smuggling, with salt purchased cheaply in Brittany being moved across the river and sold for a high price in Mayenne. A perpetual guerrilla war between customs officers and salt-smugglers simmered in the valley of the Vilaine. Those who engaged in this tax-avoidance traffic were known as "false-salters". The term, "false-salter", referred to criminal attempts to falsely represent lightly taxed salt as salt that had already been heavily taxed. An unarmed person caught "false-salting" was subject to condemnation to the galleys and deportation; by law, an armed false-salter could be executed. Between 1730 and 1743, 585 salt-smugglers were deported to New France (Quebec). Jean Chouan and his brothers, François and René, were actively involved in this kind of commerce, and, although they knew the territory intimately, including all of the places in the forests of the borderlands where illicit salt might be hidden, they were stopped on several smuggling trips and narrowly avoided arrest. Aside from their smuggling activities, the Cottereaus conducted a number of shady enterprises in the Misedon woods that surrounded their house at the Closerie des Poiriers. Sometime before 1780, Jean Cottereau, in the company of his brother, René, and a few others, were in the forest drinking moonshine alcohol, in breach of the laws of Olivet, when they were surprised by two local constables, Pierre Bériteau and Jean Guitton. A brawl ensued. When it was over, a surgeon from Laval declared that one of the two was so badly injured that he could not stand to be transported to hospital. Instead, he was transported to an inn at Saint-Ouën-des-Toits, where he remained for several weeks. The Cottereaus, called before the bar of justice, were ordered to pay for the injured man's medical treatment, and for his room and board during the period of his confinement. This episode was just one of a large number of transgressions engaged in by Jean and his brothers. The thuggish Cottereaus, over a period of several years managed to injure or cripple almost all their neighbors, usually for nonsensical reasons, and, inevitably, one or more of them was brought to court and forced to pay compensation to their victims in order to avoid imprisonment or deportation. This ruined the family financially.

Before the French Revolution

In 1780, when he was twenty-three years old, Jean Chouan was a wanted man. He was being hunted down for having beaten a man named Marchais, who, he suspected, had informed the authorities about his salt-smuggling activities. He was also wanted for a more serious crime: with his friend, Jean Croissant, Chouan was alleged to have killed a customs agent, Olivier Jagu, with repeated blows of a billy-club, in a Saint-Germain-le-Fouilloux inn. Sentenced to death in absentia, his execution took place in effigy, along with that of his accomplice, Jean Croissant. He had gone into hiding by fleeing the area where he was well-known and enlisting, under a false name, in the 37th Infantry Regiment in Turenne in central France. Other sources indicate that his mother, suspecting that he had been abducted by the crown and summarily imprisoned (or executed), went to Versailles to ask for his pardon from the king. This is doubtful. In fact, the possibility that Chouan was already in custody is contradicted by the fact that the proceedings initiated against him in 1780 were resumed in 1785. From family recollections and papers gathered by Jacques Duchemin Cépeaux, he concluded that Jean Chouan spent his time of absence in a distant garrison of the king's army. Jean Chouan was arrested on 18 May 1785 in Bourgneuf-la-Forêt. Under interrogation, he denied any participation in the murder of the customs agent, but he was sentenced to a year in prison anyway. He was more fortunate than his friend, Jean Croissant, who had been apprehended, tried, and convicted earlier. Chouan was not confronted by key witnesses; some were dead, others had recanted, and others were excused from testifying. Therefore, the prosecutor, Enjubault-Laroche, was unable to cobble together a strong case, and when it was heard on 9 September 1785, the result was a disappointing sentence, a single year in prison. Freed on 9 September 1786, Chouan was immediately rendered to the Dépôt de Mendicité in Rennes, under a decree postmarked 2 August 1786, and he stayed there three years. Upon his release, he took work as a servant in the household of Marie Le Bourdais, the widow of Alexis Ollivier, a cousin, then living in Chouan's home parish of Olivet. The widow's son was a priest, Alexis Ollivier, so Chouan took on an air of semi-respectability that helped to deflect any new suspicions about his criminal character.

Discontent

The French Revolution broke out in 1789, and it soon became apparent that the victorious republicans intended not only to overturn the monarchy but to redefine relations between the State and the Roman Catholic Church as well. Laws were passed by the new National Constituent Assembly (Assemblée constituante) to reform the Church and, little by little, to erode its traditional powers and prerogatives. For example, on 11 August 1789, tithes were abolished. On 2 November 1789, Catholic Church property, chiefly farmland and other real estate, held for the purpose of generating church revenue, was nationalized. On 13 February 1790, monastic vows were forbidden, and all ecclesiastical orders and congregations were dissolved, excepting those devoted to teaching children and nursing the sick. On 19 April 1790, the administration of all remaining church property was transferred to the State. The final stroke was the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (Constitution civile du clergé), passed on 12 July 1790, which entirely subordinated the Roman Catholic Church in France to the French government. Going forward, bishops (known as constitutional bishops) and priests were to be elected locally, and those casting ballots, the 'electors', were required to sign an oath affirming their loyalty to the constitution. There was no requirement that the electors be Catholic, so this created the ironic situation that Protestants and Jews could elect nominally Catholic priests and bishops. Under the Civil Constitution, new bishops were required to swear their loyalty to the State in far stronger terms than they ever had under any prevailing religious doctrine. From the beginning of 1791, landowning priests were forced from their parishes, and they were replaced by elected priests, without property, who had sworn an oath to the Civil Constitution. More importantly, the possessions of the clergy, and other property which had been owned by the Church for centuries, were put up for sale in order to refill the coffers of the royal treasury, which, as had become painfully obvious during the crisis of the Estates-General, were virtually empty. Naturally, reactions to these new laws were strong and varied. A substantial number of French citizens heartily approved, and even the reformist faction within the Church could not find fault with some of the measures, especially those that denied the Church the right to continue to operate like a business, rather than as a spiritual institution. Others were adamantly, even violently, opposed. Predictably, those who abhorred the ecclesiastical reforms were also those who, most doggedly, supported the monarchy. Reactions also varied geographically. An interesting indicator of local sentiment was the percentage of priests who were willing to swear allegiance to the new Constitution. In dioceses near Paris and in the southeast, more than nine of ten priests were willing to take the oath. On the other hand, the percentage of swearing priests was lowest in Brittany, in some small pockets in the northeast, and in Nîmes and Toulouse in the south, all between one-third and one-half. Jean Chouan, given his situation as a displaced employee of the abbé, Alexis Ollivier, could not remain passive.

<!-- # Disturbances The trouble started long before the draw of August 1792. Thus, the sisters of John Chouan took it with other women, the priest Pottier, priest sworn St. Ouën-of-Roofs, then said intruder. They threatened to roast or drown in the pond. One of the two sisters is trapped with others during a month. In September 1791, the mayor of Bourgon, acquired nationalized property, saw the pile of firewood leaning against his house burnt down by unknown. On St. Peter's Day, 29 June, in 1792, in a public meeting of the entire parish, minds inflamed by drink it again took the mayor of Bourgon they ransacked the house. John Chouan and the Pinçon brothers - all known to band birds - settled in the cabaret Francois Fortin and oversaw the operations conducted by François and Gilles Blanchet Bertier. According to contemporary accounts, the troops of Jean Chouan only had that day with 15 men. When he joined the Prince of Talmont in Laval, he confessed that his reinforcements had only 17 men, he and his brother Francis understood. The Col de Pontbriand, in his memoirs , he recognizes not only 20-40, which is probably already an exaggeration. The Rouairie [edit] The Marquis of Rouairie organized in Britain the conspiracy that gave birth to directly Chouannerie. 11When the marquis came from his cousin de Farcy, in Launay-Villiers , where he spent three months (May, June, July 1792), he found in cantons bordering Britain minds prepared for action. In April 1792, John was seen to Chouan Bourgon in a demonstration in support of refractory priests. There is no evidence, however, that John Chouan met the Marquis, and it is almost impossible that he received any command, who can neither read nor write. All this is within the literary fiction. The conspiracy Breton [edit] The timing was that the draw, which was scheduled for 15 August 1792. On the whole edge of the border between Brittany and Mayenne, the concert was unanimous popular protests following the same slogan.12 The 15 August 1792, at St. Ouën-of-Roofs 13, near Laval, Jean Chouan stirs farmers during an attempted recruitment of volunteers, and is shaking up the police tape.14 Main article: Battle of Bourgneuf-la-Foret. On 27 September, the armed force of Laval had to suppress the insurrection, it was met at the pond Channel in a gunfight when Jean Chouan took no part, having already fled to Britain with the brothers Pinçon of Bourgon.15 Since then, the insurgents are Chouans; their battles with the escorts, with Republican positions, with the National Guards of Andouille, the Baconniere, with blacksmiths of Port-Brillet, recur at intervals. Meanwhile, John Chouan will hide in Brittany, near St. M'Hervé to establish correspondence with the emigrants, and anastomoses with the other chefs. One wonders what role it could play in the "correspondence", who can neither read nor write. Chouannerie [edit] Active [edit] It plays an active role in the revolution-cons, promotes migration. His head was a price he tried unsuccessfully in March 1793to win the England. It seems he went to Granville to leave France. But careful monitoring was put in place and he found neither boat nor fisherman. Starting in April, John and his band are Chouan be daily concerns of the Board. The National Guard of the Brûlatte is for two days in search of appointed Cottereau Chouan said, and works to dispel the crowds that formed at Saint-Ouen. It is recognized by the administration with his brother as leader of the coalition. 16On May 13 1793, the brothers Chouans seized two dozen rifles stored in the town of Genest. Accused of mobs Bourgneuf of La Gravelle, Saint-Ouen, and especially Bourgon, the Executive immediately decreed the arrest of COTTEREAU said Chouans , mother, widow of Alexis Ollivier, their aunt, named Salmon suspected of giving them refuge. It also stopped people from home Fresnay, suspected of also giving them things they need. The executive department believes that the principal chief of gatherings called Pontavice and east of the town of Fougeres and decides to prevent Ferns and district to arrest or to monitor exactly the appointed Pontavice. 17. On May 26 1793, an expedition against the lack Chouans near La Gravelle. Chouan John and his companions took refuge in the woods Effretais. The county administration, completely panicked, arrests of family members Cottereau and several of their friends. Rene Cottereau is actually arrested Bridier with Jeanne, his wife, but it is hard because he is only guilty of being a brother of Cottereau. Perrine, his sister, Guy and Pierre Ollivier Gauffre are kept in prison, 1first in June. Salmon, copiously looted by Chouans is also released and placed under control of Guerchi, commanding the National Guard La Gravelle. The 18 June 1793, after disarming the patriots Bourgneuf the Cottereau Pinçon and won the moors and Saudrais Brossinière (or Brécinière) and there intercepted eight soldiers returning from Republicans Nantes on Ernee. They killed one, wounded another and took two prisoners. Main article: Affair of the Brossinière. It is believed that one of the brothers Francis Cottereau was wounded by a gunshot, and it is hidden in the village of Saint-Roch Changed, but we will seek in vain, July 10. On the same day and with the same success they searched the cellars of the castle of Saint-Ouen, where should be the weapons of Chouans. Beurin, Adjutant Major, 31 th battalion of the reserve, stationed in the rectory of Bourgon, has for several days with his men in pursuit of the band Cottereau Chouan said , July 27. Guerchi, commander of the National Guard of the Gravelle searches the moor Olivet, wood Misedon, Port-Brillet, etc. Lair League of COTTEREAU, 17 August 1793. The National Guard Courbeveille is looking for Cottereau said Chouans to Loiron, Montjean , etc.., August, September. It is difficult to believe that Chouans have been operating on a vast range, all they are also found in the municipalities located between Vitre and Fougeres : This is the legend of Scepeaux Duchemin. The trip to Galerne [edit] In October 1793, he joined the army of the Vendee in Laval 18. His intervention contributes effectively to the victory of the army at the Battle of Entrammes .. He participated in the trip of Galerne until the bloody defeat of Le Mans, the 13 December 179319 The decline in Misedon [edit] He then folds his Misedon wood, where he continues to fight on terrain that is more favorable than that of a pitched battle. Chouan Jean called especially great zeal to save the priests, and it has protected the leakage a large number, it has led many to Granville to facilitate the means of escape. . He tries to save the Prince of Talmont, on the way to Vitre in Laval, a hand aborting 20. But the supply is difficult in a country crisscrossed by the Republican troops.21 Royalist uprising [edit] His two sisters, Renee and Perrine Cottereau are arrested, conducted at Laval, where they are tried and guillotined on 20 April 179422,23. Francis Cottereau seriously injured with his rifle. The 5 April 1794, he captured the town of La Baconniere, disarm the National Guard, entered the church and the Angelus sounded. The royalist insurrection of the Netherlands to Maine began in May 1794 and formed six divisions, which took the names of their chiefs, but the troops kept the name generic Chouans. The circumstances of his death [edit] His death has been told in different ways, which proves that some are inaccurate, if not all24,25,26,27. Alphonse de Beauchamp repeated the story of Renouard, and adorned with a few new circumstances28. Some thirty years after the fact, in his Letters on the origin of the Chouannerie, Duchemin-Descépeaux, who lived in the country, which had been collected from the mouths of old Chouans lot of interesting details, gave death Jean Chouan an entirely different story [Expand] Text-Duchemin Descépeaux In July 1794, he is recognized on a farm called the Babinière belonging to the family Ollivier and the residence of his brother Rene, married in 1792 continued, he drew upon himself the fire of the forge of Republicans Port-Brillet, to allow his sister, pregnant, to escape. Jean Cottereau hang back and guard gets shot in the abdomen. He managed to hide and is transported into the bushes where he died 28 in July 1794. His tomb has not been found 29. However we do not find the trace of the child which her sister was pregnant. The story Duchemin Descépeaux suffers from its first line, a lack of critical thinking and analysis: Rene Cottereau had been married for two years to Jeanne Bridier and they lived at the farm of Little Babinière, which is not located a wood timber Misedon. The chase would have been long enough and this error gives the story a somewhat surreal turn. Almost all historians, almost all biographers 30have also accepted the version of Descépeaux-Duchemin, always without citing the source from which they borrowed: Cretineau Joly 31, Théodore Muret 32, Dr. de la Sarthe Lepelletier 33, Albert Lemarchand 34, Veuillot Eugene 35, the ' Father Paulouin 36, the Supplement Biography Michaud 37. The family of Jean Chouan knows a lot so tragic Francis died after being injured with his gun, unless he has been killed by the smiths of Port-Brillet. Peter was arrested, tried and guillotined, and his two sisters. Only survived Cottereau Rene, who died in1846. Novels and posterity alleged [change] Arthur de Gobineau, in the rhymed Chronicle of John Chouan and his companions 38had returned a poem on the death of John Chouan. [Expand] Text of Arthur de Gobineau Victor Hugo published in The Legend of centuries 39, a poem about the heroic death of John Chouan struck victim of his devotion by protecting at the cost of his life and that of her sister pursued by the Blues and, heavy and exhausted, would fall into their hands. [Expand] Text by Victor Hugo A young student, claiming " the only direct descendant of John Chouan ", decided to send a letter to Victor Hugo of thanks and political support, for his part, Victor Hugo sent a congratulation on his conversion light. Both were naturally given to the public, they had been written for this purpose,40. The same type of attempted fraud will take place on the character of Rene Chouan, brother of John Chouan at the end of xix th century. In this regard, his descendants, the ladies Lelievre and Courcelle, Rene Chouan girls, had advertised in the Independent West in October 1879, it was alone that should address those desiring obtain information on their family. An etching of Abraham Tancredo 41represents the tree near which was killed Jean Cottereau (says Chouan)42 See also [modify] John Chouan never behind only a very small number of devoted men, even in the days of his greater authority 43. [edit]Genealogy Pierre Cottereau (1696 - Olivet 4/2/1768 x (Olivet - 12 June 1725) Jeanne Chauvin (13/8/1698 - after 1768) │ └──> Pierre Cottereau (Olivet 9/1/1732 - Saint-Ouen-des-Toits 16/9/1778 ) x (Olivet 3/8/1754) Jeanne Moiné (Saint-Ouen-des-Toits 28/11/1735 - Le Mans 13/12/1793) │ ├──> Pierre Cottereau (Brains-sur-les-Marches 30/9/1755 - Laval 11 June 1794) ├──> Jean Cottereau (Saint-Berthevin-lès-Laval 30/10/1757 - Saint-Ouen-des-Toits 24 July 1794) ├──> François Cottereau (1760 - Olivet 3 January 1794) ├──> René Cottereau (Saint-Ouen-des-Toits 26/3/1764 - Saint-Ouen-des-Toits 7/4/1846) │ ├──> René Cottereau (1793-1857) │ ├──> Jeanne Cottereau (1795-1833) │ ├──> Louis Cottereau (1795-1796) │ ├──> Marie Cottereau (1798-1844) │ ├──> Pierre Cottereau (1800-1826) │ ├──> Jean Cottereau (1807-?) │ ├──> Dominique Cottereau (1808-1816) │ ├──> Julien Cottereau (1810-1865) │ ├──> Renée Cottereau (1811-1884) │ ├──> Lucie Cottereau (1813-1893) │ ├──> Angélique Cottereau (1814-1816) │ ├──> Étienne Cottereau (1815-1892) │ ├──> Jean Cottereau (1819-?) │ └──> Dominique Cottereau (1824-1879) ├──> Perrine Cottereau (17/10/1769-1794) ├──> Renée Cottereau (11/11/1776-1794) ├──> Marguerite Cottereau (1778-1778) └──> Marie Cottereau (1778-1794) at Saint-Ouën-des-Toits in Mayenne, and gave their surname to the Chouannerie Jean Cottereau, called Jean Chouan (1757-1794), one of the leaders of the counter-revolutionary and royalist insurrection that developed in Mayenne in 1793 ; François Cottereau (1750-1794), his brother ; Pierre Cottereau (1756-1794), his brother ; René Cottereau (1764-1846), his brother. The family came to a tragic end during the French Revolution: François died after injuring himself with his rifle, though at least he was not killed by the forge workers of Port-Brillet. Pierre was arrested, condemned and guillotined, as were his two sisters. The only survivor was René, who outlived them all and died in 1846, leaving a huge family. Romantic view [edit] "[...] There were two Vendee, which was the Great War Forest, Little, who made war bushes, and here is the distinction between Charette Jean Chouan. La Petite Vendee was naive, Great was corrupt, Little was better. Charette was made a marquis, lieutenant general of the armies of King and Grand Cross of Saint-Louis , Jean Chouan remained. Charette confined to the bandit, John Chouan the Paladin ........ The Rochejaquelin is that Achilles, John Chouan is Proteus ..[...] " Victor Hugo's, Ninety-Thirteen44 " The proscription of the princes were not destroyed religion for Chouans pretexts of looting, and the events of that internecine struggle contracted something of the savage fierceness What manners in these countries. When the true defenders of the monarchy came to recruit soldiers among the people ignorant and belligerent, they tried in vain to give the white flag, some grandeur to these companies who made the odious Chouannerie Chouans and remained as a memorable example of the danger of stirring up the masses of a few civilized countries (...) Religion or rather a fetish of these ignorant creatures disarmed the murder of his remorse. " Honore de Balzac, The Chouans (1829) Closerie of Pear (Closerie des Poiriers) The Croft has been restored by the municipality to the same of what it must have been the time of John to become Chouan Museum Jean Chouan and peasantry of the xviii th century the town. The Museum of the Revolution Chouannerie and consists of an inner and an outer part. The interior offers several rooms with showcases displaying documents and period clothing and a film on fashion docu-drama chronicling the life of John Chouan. The outer part consists of a garden with contemporary cultures to John Chouan, a recreation of life at the time with the furniture, tools and models in the Lilas itself and finally a cobbler's hut as those used Housing at this time. Bibliography [edit] Bibliography former [edit] You can see the various books published on the Vendee and Chouannerie, such as the History of the War of the Vendee and Chouans by Beauchamp, and Letters to the origin of chouannerie and the bottom Chouans Maine , 2 vols. 8vo, by Jacques Duchemin of Cépeaux. Mr. Boblet made lithograph portrait of John Chouan in 1852, 4to format.45 In 1926, Luitz Murten- directed the film Jean Chouan with Maurice Lagrenee in the role of Jean Chouan. Arthur de Gobineau, rhymed Chronicle of John Chouan and his companions. 1846, Studies gobiniennes the xxi th century. Calvados. 2004; Jacques Duchemin of Cépeaux, Memories Chouannerie , 1855; Emile Souvestre, Scenes Chouannerie. Michel Levy, Paris 1856 46; Leon Sicotiere of, John's death and his alleged descendants Chouan , Mamers, G. A. Fleury Dangin, 187738 p. (Taken to share the historical and archaeological review of Maine ) [1]; Arthur Bernède, John Chouan, Volumes I: The Battle of Hearts and Volume II: The Citizen Maryse Fleurus. . Jules Tallandier 1926; Ernest Laurain, Chouans and cons-Chouans. Laval, Editions Arts Meeting, 1928; Drault Jean, Jean Jean Chouan Cottereau said. SPES. 1927; The beautiful story of John Chouan. Comics. Series: Collection " In French "No. 3. Designer: Pierre Rousseau. Writer: Job of Roincé. 1942. Bibliography modern [edit] John Chouan, hero of legend. of M.-C. Meaux. 1977. John Chouan and his companions, peasants mayennais. Andre April. Association Memories of chouannerie Mayenne 1979 John Chouan, The Peasant Rebel Insurgent Royalist Prime. Jean De Silve Ventavon. Albatros Paris1985 John Chouan the disobedient. Show Castle Lassay. 1988. General History of chouannerie, Anne Bernet , Perrin,2000.47 Notes et références [modifier] ↑ Son acte de naissance figure dans le registre paroissial de Saint-Berthevin (consultable en ligne sur le site des Archives Départementales de la Mayenne)B. (Baptême) Jean Cottereau. Aujourd’huy trente-un d’octobre mil sept cent cinquante-sept, a été baptisé par nous vicaire de cette parroisse soussigné Jean né du jour d’hier, fils issu du légitime mariage de Pierre Cotereau sabottier et de Jeanne Moyné son épouse. Ont été parrein Pierre L’Amy, cousin de l’enfant, et mareinne Marie Crouillebois, coussinne dudit enfant, laquelle a signé avec nous avec le père dudit enfant et autres présens à la cérémonie, et a ledit parrein déclaré ne sçavoir signer enquis. (Signatures : ) Marie Croulbois, P. Cottereau, J. Le Bourdais, M. Gallot prêtre ↑ En faisant la contrebande, Jean Chouan montrait de l'énergie et du courage. Lorsqu'il voyait ses camarades s'intimider, son habitude était de leur dire : Ne craignez point, il n'y a pas de danger. Ces mots, il n'y a pas de danger, étaient sa devise ; et comme il les répétait quelquefois sans raison, elle explique son surnom. ↑ "Et sera la présente sentence à l'encontre dudit Cottereau dit Chouan contumax exécutée par effigie en un tableau qui sera attachée à laditte potence par l'exécuteur de la haute justice" précise le jugement. ↑ Arrivée près du prince, elle oublia la leçon qu'on lui avait apprise, et demanda la vie pour son fils dans les termes que lui inspira sa tendresse. Le roi accorda la grâce... ↑ Qu'on ne retrouve à Lille ou ailleurs ni son nom de famille ni son nom de guerre sur les rôles, le fait est trop naturel pour qu'on s'en étonne. ↑ sur l'avis de M. l'Intendant de Tours ↑ Cet établissement accueillait des individus originaires de Bretagne, du Maine, de Normandie et même de Touraine. Les pensionnaires n'y étaient détenus toutefois qu'en vertu d'un jugement prévôtal ou sur ordre du roi. Jean Chouan est donc bien condamné à une peine privative de liberté, mais qui ne peut être purgée dans une prison ordinaire, seulement dans un établissement de réinsertion sociale. À La lecture de la liste des détenus en 1787, et après consultation des archives municipales de Rennes, on peut aller jusqu'à dire qu'il s'agissait d'un asile d'aliénés. ↑ Marie Le Bourdais, fille de notaire, était la femme de Alexis Ollivier, aussi fils de notaire. Elle achetait à peu près tout ce qui était à vendre dans sa paroisse. Son fils, l'abbé Alexis Ollivier, protecteur de Jean Chouan était propriétaire de plusieurs métairies sur Olivet et le Genest. Son frère, Jean Le Bourdais, parrain de Pierre Cottereau était marchand tissier. Du côté de la mère de Jean Chouan (Jeanne Moyné), on trouve un Pierre Anjuère, prêtre curé de Saint-Pierre-la-Cour, ainsi qu'un Nicolas Moyné, prêtre curé de La Croixille, lequel avait de nombreuses terres sur sa paroisse et celle de Bourgon, dont certaines étaient louées à Julien Pinçon et Pierre Huet, chouans notoires. ↑ De fait, les prêtres devenaient des fonctionnaires payés qui devaient consacrer la totalité de leur temps à leurs tâches sacerdotales, ce qui bouleversait totalement le mode de vie des ecclésiastiques habitués à vivre de leurs terres. ↑ L'abbé Alexis Ollivier possédait plusieurs métairies, à Olivet et au Genest. Jean Chouan se retrouvait sans travail et son bienfaiteur oisif sans moyen de subsistance, les terres des ecclésiastiques étant généralement donnée à bail à colonat paritaire (métairies), soit à ferme, au plus offrant et dernier enchérisseur. ↑ Les Tuffin de la Rouairie étaient alliés avec la famille de Farcy, dont les deux frères habitaient l'un le château de Mué, en Parcé, l'autre le château de Launay-Villiers. M. de Mué avait encouragé un royaliste sûr de sa paroisse de Parcé, Jean-Louis Gavard à prendre les fonctions de maire. Il le mit plus tard en rapport avec le conspirateur, qui le chargea spécialement d'organiser la coalition sur la lisière de la Bretagne. ↑ Qu'on nous rende nos prêtres ; nous ne partirons point pour faire la guerre au roi et à la religion ; que les acquéreurs de biens nationaux aillent défendre le gouvernement ↑ des gardes nationaux et des gendarmes de Laval vinrent pour engager les jeunes gens à s'enrôler. Ces émissaires se rassemblèrent dans l'église de Saint-Ouën ; un d'entre eux prit la parole et vanta la liberté dont jouissait la France, devant une foule de spectateurs accourus pour voir ce qui allait se passer. On écouta tant bien que mal ce discours sur la liberté ; mais quand l'orateur en vint à la péroraison, et qu'il parla d'engagement et de volontaires, on entendit murmurer de tous les côtés. Les gendarmes reçurent l'ordre d'arrêter les perturbateurs. Alors tout le monde se soulève, et le désordre est à son comble. Le tirage au sort devient impossible. Le Directoire du département délibère sur cette affaire le 19 août et le rapport note que, parmi les jeunes qui s'étaient présentés, plusieurs avaient dit audit commissaire (Tellot) qu'ils souhaitaient que les Français fussent battus et que les Autrichiens entrassent en France ; que bientôt ils viendroient enlever les prêtres et mettre Laval à la raison ; qu'après la lecture de la Loi et le détail des mesures pour son exécution, les bancs de l'église avaient été cassés à coups de bâtons et la vie du commissaire et de ses adjoints menacée; que la paroisse de la Brûlatte avoit offert de fournir son contingent, pourvu qu'elle qu'il lui fut permis de se rendre chez elle, ne pouvant opérer en sûreté à Sant-Ouën; que les habitants de laditte paroisse de la Brulatte avoient bientôt après été attaqués en s'en allant par plus de deux cents personnes à la tête desquelles étoient Cottereau dit Chouan et Morlière, tous les deux demeurant paroisse de Saint-Ouën, dans laquelle attaque le maire et le commandant de la garde nationale ont été dangereusement blessés; que ledit Morlière était revenu peu de temps après armé de fusil et de pistolets et ayant sa chemise ensanglantée offrir ses services au Maire de Saint-Ouën;(…)les nommés Dupont, Tambour au Genêt, Cottereau dit Chouan, Morlière et Colombier dit la jeunesse, seront dénoncés à M.le juge de paix du canton de Saint-Ouën, pour être poursuivis sur les charges du procès verbal du sieur Tellot fils du 15 du présent, dont copie lui sera remise, et que copie de la présente sera envoyée à laccusateur public du Département de la Mayenne et au Ministre de la justice.(Archives départementales de la Mayenne, L.504.) Menacé de poursuites, Jean Chouan, qui avait déjà goûté à la prison n'avait d'autres possibilités que se réfugier dans la fuite : telle est l'origine de la chouannerie. ↑ Jean Chouan, était bien obligé de tirer au sort, comme tous les hommes de 18 à 40 ans, et risquait donc de devenir soldat. Formé depuis longtemps par Gavard, mis en relation avec la Rouairie, plus directement aussi sous leur influence immédiate, il était mieux préparé aux évènements. ↑ Il prenait les ordres de Gavard, connu seulement de quelques-uns des chefs. Telle est la version officielle de la légende des chouans. Pour qui connaît les lieux, un simple maire ne pouvait faire preuve de tant de qualités stratégiques. L'endroit est particulièrement bien choisi : la troupe doit passer sur un pont très étroit, sans possibilité de passer au nord (dans l'étang) ni au sud (en bordure du bois de Misedon et dans les marécages.) Le stratège sera reconnu officiellement un an plus tard, en septembre 1793: il s'agissait de Charles Gaspard Elisabeth Joseph de Bailly, supposé émigré, mais que même la rumeur publique disait réfugié dans la région. (Archives Départementales de la Mayenne, L.2043). ↑ Il y a à leur tête, écrit le procureur syndic d'Ernée, le 28 avril 1793, deux hommes qui se nomment Cottereau, dit Chouan. Nous avons promis une récompense à qui les arrêtera, mais il faut y aller avec précaution car ces deux individus sont très braves et très déterminés. Si de votre côté vous pouviez vous en saisir, ce serait rendre à la chose public un vrai service ↑ Arrêté relatif aux chouans et autres,19 mai. ↑ Le 20 octobre 1793, il apprend du prêtre qui dit la messe au Genest que les Vendéens ont passé la Loire, et le 23, en conférence avec Puisaye et Boisguy dans la forêt du Pertre, il entend le canon qui tonne à Laval. Sans prendre désormais aucune précaution, il réunit ses hommes et marche sur la ville. ↑ . Ses hommes constituent un corps à part et ne reconnaissent que lui pour les conduire. Au Mans, la mère de Jean Cottereau est écrasée accidentellement par une charrette. Sa troupe est décimée. ↑ Parce que personne n'a su lire la dépêche dans laquelle on l'avertit que l'itinéraire de l'escorte avait changé. ↑ Il s'unit avec Jambe d'Argent, et Moulins pour attaquer les postes qui cernaient le bois de Misedon, et on commence par celui de Saint-Ouën-des-Toits qui est enlevé vers le 20 avril 1794. ↑ Convaincues porte la sentence de la Commission révolutionnaire, d'avoir servi d'espions à leurs frères, chefs des rassemblements de Brigands, de les avoir alimentés, et enfin d'avoir endossé la cuirasse et participé à leurs massacres (Duchemin, p. 211, Théodore Perrin, Les martyrs du Maine, 1832, 2 volumes in-12, t.II p. 36., Dom Piolin, L'Église du Mans pendant la Révoltution, t.II. ↑ Voici leur sentence : « Condamnées à mort comme sœurs des Cottereau, dit Chouans, chefs de brigands, convaincues de leur avoir servi d'espions, de les avoir alimentés et approvisiionés, enfin d'avoir endossées la cuirasse et participées à leurs massacres. » ↑ On ne trouve aucun détail dans les guerres des Vendéens et des Chouans par Savary, ni dans l'Histoire de la Révolution dans les départements de l'ancienne Bretagne, par A. du Chatellier, Paris, Desessart et Nantes, Mellinet, 1836, 6 volumes in-8. ↑ Mais le numéro du Moniteur du 8 février 1794 contient une lettre du général de division provisoire Beaufort, au Président de la Convention nationale, datée de Vitré, le 14 pluviôse (2 février) et ainsi conçue : « Nous venons de découvrir un repaire de cinquante-deux brigands ; un de leurs chefs a été tué en se sauvant ; il se nommait François Chouan ; c'était de lui que cette horde infâme tirait son nom. Comme il se sauvait dans les broussailles, des volontaires de la Manche ont fait feu dessus, l'ont tué et ont apporté sa tête à la Gravelle ; les autres brigands sont livrés à la Commission militaire. » Nous ne savons si les volontaires de la Manche portèrent en effet à la Gravelle la tête d'un rebelle tombé sous leurs coups ; c'eût été une abomination, assez commune du reste à cette époque, que cette mutilation d'un cadavre ; mais il est certain que cette tête n'était ni celle de François Chouan, qui n'était pas le chef de son parti et dont les détails de la mort sont bien connus, ni celle de Jean qui ne mourut qu'au mois de juillet suivant. Ce récit doit avoir été complété par quelques autres publications du xixe siècle. Ainsi, suivant les uns, les Chouans dont il s'agit auraient été rencontrés au milieu d'un champ de genêts, dans la commune de Launay-Villiers, près des bois des forges de Port-Brillet, et non dans la forêt de Pertre (Darmaing, Résumé de l'Histoire des guerres de la Vendée, Paris, Lecomte et Durey, 1826, in-18, p. 357) ; suivant d'autres, leur bande aurait été commandée par les frères Cottereau, et ce serait sur la route de Vitré à la Gravelle, en essayant de résister aux troupes de Beaufort, que Jean Chouan aurait été frappé (Patu Deshautschamps, Dix ans de guerre intestine, Paris, G. Laguionie, 1840, in-8, p. 278). Le même donne comme positive la date du 3 février (15 pluviôse an II) dont ne parlait pas la lettre de Beaufort, date même inconciliable avec cette lettre, qui est du 2. Nous verrons A. de Beauchamp ajouter quelques autres détails. ↑ S'il fallait s'en rapporter à Pierre Renouard, ancien curé d'Izé, bibliothécaire du Mans, (Essai historique sur la province du Maine, t. 2, p. 270), un détachement cantonné dans le bourg de la Gravelle aurait surpris, dans une reconnaissance, une compagnie de cinquante-deux chouans, commandés par Jean Chouan en personne, qui fut tué dans cette affaire, ajoute Renouard ; la tête de ce trop fameux insurgé fut séparée de son corps, portée en triomphe à la Gravelle et exposée ensuite à un piquet sur la grande route de Laval à Vitré. ↑ Pierre Larousse a bien soin d'écarter cet odieux détail. Il suit d'ailleurs le récit de Renouard, tout en fixant la mort de Jean Chouan au mois de juillet, c'est-à-dire en avouant qu’il a connu la version rectificative de ce récit. (Grand Dictionnaire Universel du XIXe siècle. V° Cottereau.) ↑ « Le détachement cantonné à la Gravelle poussant une reconnaissance, surprit une cinquantaine d'insurgés armés, à la tête desquels marchait Jean Chouan, en personne. Les Républicains, plus nombreux, fondent sur les Royalistes qui se dispersent. Jean Chouan cherche aussi son salut dans la fuite, et serré de près dans les broussailles, il étend un tirailleur à ses pieds. A l'instant même, un grenadier du 6e bataillon de la Manche le met en joue et le frappe de deux balles. Jean Chouan tombe, et sa tête, bientôt séparée de son corps, portée en triomphe à la Gravelle, est exposée sur la grande route. » Histoire de la Guerre de la Vendée, t. III, p. 210, 4e édition, 1820. ↑ Le dernier survivant, Jean Gahéry, n'a jamais voulu plus tard révéler l'endroit parce que tous les témoins s'étaient engagés à en garder le secret. ↑ Berthre de Bourniseaux, dans son Histoire complète des Guerres de la Vendée, 1837, Paris, Brunot-Labbe, 3 vol. in-8°, reproduit le récit de Renouard (t. III, p. 135.) La première édition publiée sous le titre de Précis historique de la guerre civile de la Vendée, Paris, 1802, in-8, ne parlait pas de Jean Chouan. Patu Deshautschamps, p. 278, reproduit aussi ce récit. Darmaing, p. 357, fait de François, et non de Jean, la victime de l'affaire de Pluviôse. ↑ Histoire de la Vendée militaire, t. III, p. 168, 2e édition, 1843. Crétineau Joly ajoute ce détail, que les Chouans seraient revenus à la charge, auraient dispersé les Bleus et enlevé du champ de bataille le corps de leur chef. ↑ Histoire des Guerres de l'Ouest, t. III, p. 281, 1848. — Le Bon Messager pour 1847. — Biographie Hoëfer. ↑ Histoire complète de la province du Maine, t. II, p. 393. M. Lepelletier reproduit l'addition de Crétineau Joly. ↑ Album Vendéen, Angers, 2 vol. in-fol., 1854–1856 ; t. I. p, 90. ↑ Les Guerres de la Vendée et de la Bretagne, 1790–1802 ; 2e édition, Paris, Sagnier et Bray, 1853, in-12. ↑ La Chouannerie du Maine et pays adjacents, 1875, t. II, p. 240. L'abbé Paulouin, tout en critiquant amèrement l'ouvrage de Duchemin Descépeaux et en contestant à Jean Cottereau, l'importance et la priorité de son rôle dans l'insurrection de la Chouannerie, suit la version donnée par son devancier Seulement, il supprime le trait héroïque de ce vaillant homme attirant sur lui les coups pour protéger la fuite de sa belle-sœur, et c'est au passage de la haie qu'il le fait tomber. Il place aussi sa mort au 18 juillet au lieu du 28 : erreur typographique probablement. ↑ V° Chouan. L'article est de M. Badiche qui déclare en avoir recueilli les éléments sur les lieux mêmes, notamment les détails de la mort de Jean qu'il donne entièrement conformes à la version de Descépeaux. Il a été reproduit dans la seconde édition de la Biographie. ↑ Paris, Franck, 1846, in-12. ↑ 1877, t. II, p. 233. Ces vers furent publiés en feuilleton, avant la mise en vente du volume, dans le Temps du 26 février 1877. ↑ Les journaux radicaux se pâmèrent d'admiration. Les feuilles royalistes flairèrent la supercherie, sans la démasquer complètement. C'en était une, en effet, ou si l'on veut une gaminerie, une mystification indécente à l'endroit du grand poète, une usurpation effrontée vis-à-vis de la famille de Jean Cottereau dit Chouan. L'étourdi qui se permettait ce procédé, ou à qui on l'avait soufflé, et qui ne savait même pas son âge, — il se donnait quinze ans, quand il n'en avait que treize et demi ! — ni son nom véritable — il prenait le nom de Georges CHOUAN DE COTTEREAU, au lieu de celui de Georges-Auguste CHOUAN que lui donne son acte de naissance, — n'était ni le fils, ni le petit-fils, ni l'arrière petit-fils, ni le neveu, ni le petit-neveu, ni l'arrière petit-neveu, ni même, selon toute apparence, le parent à un degré quelconque, du fameux Jean Chouan. Les journaux qui l'avaient poussé ou soutenu dans cette triste campagne, avaient été les instigateurs ou les dupes d'une fraude si grossière qu'elle devait frapper tous les yeux. Il fut facile pour Léon de la Sicotière de le démontrer par la production d'actes de l'état civil et de pièces authentiques, qui étaient à leur disposition. ↑ Publiée chez Cadart vers 1870. ↑ Cet arbre, chêne ou châtaignier, est placé sur une éminence, au pied de laquelle coule un ruisseau. Il se ramifie, à une petite hauteur, en grosses branches qui s'étendent horizontalement de tous les côtés. Toutefois, Tancrède Abraham, a indiqué que cette gravure avait été exécutée d'après un croquis d'origine assez incertaine, et en dehors de toute étude personnelle des localités. ↑ Billard de Veaux, dans ses Mémoires d'un ancien chef Vendéen (Paris, 1832, 3 vol. in-8o), prétend tenir de Jean Chouan lui-même qu'il n'aurait jamais eu que dix-sept hommes avec lui : affidés et toujours sous sa main, le fait est possible ; mais il en réunit souvent bien davantage. Duchemin-Descépeaux donne le chiffre, peut-être un peu grossi, de ceux qu'il commandait en diverses rencontres. ↑ T. II, p. 112-113. ↑ On y voit que ce chef d'une nouvelle croisade portait au revers de son habit une croix et un Sacré-Cœur. Un chapelet et une médaille sont suspendus à la boutonnière de son gilet. Il devait faire partie de la collection des chefs vendéens dont les portraits auraient été tirés en pied. Douze seulement ont paru : les événements de juillet 1830 ont arrêté cette entreprise. ↑ Ce livre est intéressant à consulter. Journaliste, Émile Souvestre fit une enquête auprès des survivants et sans trop prendre parti entre deux thèses qui resteront toujours diamétralement opposées, nous permet de mieux comprendre ce mouvement de la Chouannerie qui prit naissance dans ce Bas-Maine, à la frontière de ce qu'on appelait alors, la province de Bretagne. ↑ À partir d'un travail de compilation de 88 ouvrages, sans aucun respect pour les archives, l'auteur a écrit une histoire de la chouannerie très romancée. Histoire générale, car l'auteur intègre les chouanneries mayennaise, normande et bretonne et elle associe le soulèvement vendéen. Original, car à partir de ces inventions historiques, elle fait vivre les personnages en mettant en scène certains moments de leur vie. En fin de livre, 2 index (16 pages de noms propres et 9 pages de noms de lieu) et quelques illustrations dont… un portrait-robot de Jean Chouan, réalisé récemment et sans tenir compte des caractéristiques physiques contenues dans les archives ! -->