From Henry IV to the Present Day: Four Centuries of History, Law, the Sea, and Precision

During the reign of Henry IV, the Parliament of Brittany established itself permanently in Rennes and secured royal authorization to build a proper courthouse. Previously itinerant—rotating between Rennes, Nantes, and Vannes—the Parliament had been housed at the Cordeliers convent in Rennes since 1561. Following the submission of the Duke of Mercœur (leader of the Catholic League in Brittany) and the signing of the Edict of Nantes in 1598, the return of peace finally made it possible to envision major institutional and architectural projects in the Breton capital.

Guillaume de Longnonné and Gefrette Ogier (mid-16th century) form the founding couple of the Lognoné family (historically spelled *de Longnonné* or *Lognonné*), one of the richest family sagas in Upper Brittany. Their story embodies a unique destiny divided into two great epics: that of the *noblesse de robe* (nobility of the robe/judicial nobility) and minor nobility of the Rennes region during the 16th and 17th centuries, and that of the master privateers and illustrious clockmakers of the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel.

The family’s documented origins are rooted in the mid-16th century in the region of Rennes—a city that was a “confluence” point in ancient times and served as the capital of Brittany. During this period, the lineage rose socially through the practice of law, administration, and land management. Guillaume was a legal practitioner (notary, lawyer, or *procureur*) at a time when Brittany was modernizing; he accumulated capital and purchased the family’s first landholdings.

At that time, the King put an end to disputes over the rotation of the seat between cities by confirming Rennes as the permanent home of the institution. In 1609, King Henry IV signed letters patent authorizing the levy of a local tax on cider and wine to fund the construction of a palace worthy of the name for the magistrates. Who, then, were these men of law and members of the *noblesse de robe* (nobility of the robe)—dating from the 16th and 17th centuries—within this prestigious family?

Bertrand de Longnonné, *Écuyer* (1599)—son of Guillaume—was the first in the family to officially hold the noble title of *Écuyer* (Squire). In 1599, during the reign of King Henry IV (who had visited Rennes in person in May 1598 to restore peace), Bertrand served as a godfather for the Leroux family, confirming that the Longnonnés had become part of the provincial elite.

Bertrand’s brother, Jean de Longnonné, and his wife Perrine Le Clerc (late 16th century) managed the family’s interests and paved the way for the major alliances of the following century. In October 1602, the marriage of Henry de Longnonné to Anne de Launay (daughter of Jean de Launay and Gillette Quenouard) sealed a prestigious alliance with the de Launay family. Henry’s first name was chosen as a direct tribute to King Henry IV.

Jacques de Longnonné marked the zenith of the Baultier estate (1645): the son of the previous generation, Jacques achieved the noble branch’s greatest coup. He married Julienne Maudet, whose mother, Renée du Bouëxic, belonged to the highest echelon of Brittany’s parliamentary nobility. In 1645, Jacques purchased the Manoir de Baultier in Le Rheu, a property that included a private chapel and seigneurial rights.

Subsequently, Jacques’s son, Pierre de Longnonné, married Françoise Déeslin in 1699. During his generation, Louis XIV mandated the *Armorial Général* of 1696, compelling Pierre to officially register the family coat of arms. In the early 18th century (around 1710), the Baultier manor was sold to the Orain family. The other lands (Montdidier, La Roche) passed to the du Feu family through the marriage of his sister Françoise. The noble particle fell out of use, yet the bloodline and the name endured in the coastal collateral branches.

While the senior branch was active in the Parlement of Rennes, a parallel branch settled facing the sea in the Pays de Dol and the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel.

To distinguish themselves from the countless “Lemonnier” families along the coast, they combined the two names before civil registration records eventually standardized the name simply as Lognoné. Guillaume Le Monnier Lognoné (who died in 1651 in Baguer-Pican) married Guillemette Ginguené; he was the founding ancestor of the Dol-based dynasty. Following Colbert’s Edict (1670), His son Nicolas and his grandson Guillaume (nicknamed “La Riolette”) were registered in the fourth class of Cancale sailors.

The transition from sea to land led to an extraordinary career shift. The skills of ingenuity and high precision required aboard ships—such as adjusting marine chronometers or aiming cannons—evolved into an exceptional form of artistic craftsmanship.

Thus, a dynasty of clockmakers was born: the family established itself on the prestigious Grande Rue des Stuarts in Dol-de-Bretagne.

The family name has therefore endured through the centuries without ever leaving its original home. It is a story etched in the wax of the Rennes parchments, carved into the wood of Dol-made clocks, and carried by the surging tides of the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel.