Arms awarded in 1427 by King Charles VII of France to Sir John Stewart (c.1365-1429) of Darnley, Scotland, 1st Seigneur d'Aubigny, 1st Seigneur de Concressault and 1st Comte d'Évreux, Constable of the Scottish Army in France: Royal arms of France within a bordure gules charged with eight buckles or. To quarter Stewart of Darnley. The buckles in the bordure refer to the de Bonkyl family of Bonkyl Castle in Scotland, whose canting arms were three buckles.[2] The last in the male line was Sir Alexander de Bonkyll, whose daughter and heiress Margaret de Bonkyl married Sir John Stewart of Bonkyll (d.1298), ancestor of the Stewarts of Darnley
The estate was a dependency[3] of the Seigneurie d'Aubigny-sur-Nère, which was granted in 1423[4] by King Charles VII of France to Sir John Stewart of Darnley, 1st Comte d'Évreux, 1st Seigneur de Concressault, 1st Seigneur d'Aubigny (c. 1380 – 1429) a Scottish nobleman and famous military commander who served as Constable of the Scottish Army in France, supporting the French against the English during the Hundred Years War. He was a fourth cousin[5] of King James I of Scotland (reigned 1406 to 1437), the third monarch of the House of Stewart. La Verrerie was a demeure d'agrément,[4] or secondary residence used for leisure activities, of the Seigneurs d'Aubigny. The surviving structure, including the central corps de logis and chapel, was probably built between 1495-1500[4] by Bernard Stuart, 4th Seigneur d'Aubigny (d.1508) (Bérault, grandson of Sir John Stewart of Darnley), Captain of the Archers of the Scots Guards (an elite bodyguard of the French Kings) and Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom of Naples. The Gallery Wing with the two pavilions and the main entrance were added in about 1520-25[4][3] by his first-cousin once removed and son-in-law and successor Robert Stuart (d.1543), 4th Seigneur d'Aubigny, who married his daughter and heiress Anne Stewart.[6]
Arms granted to Louise de Kérouaille, as 1st Duchesse d'Aubigny: Gules, three buckles or, being the canting arms of de Bonkyll of Bonkyll Castle, common ancestor of both King Charles II[8] and the Stewarts of Aubigny, the king's cousins and her predecessors at La Verrerie
It was purchased in 1842 from the 5th Duke of Richmond by the politician Léonce de Vogüé. In 1892 it was extended by his grandson Louis de Vogüé, to the designs of the architect Ernest Sanson.
Architectural significance
It has been listed as an official historical monument by the French Ministry of Culture since 1987.[3]
Further reading
Gaspard Thaumas de la Thaumassiere, Histoire de Berry, Paris, 1689, pp. 697–702 [3]
^Bryony Coombs, 'Drawing Blood: The Visual Patronage of Robert Stuart d'Aubigny, Maréchal of France, in Relation to James V's French Sojourn of 1536', Études Épistémè, 37 (2020). doi:10.4000/episteme.6622