Creances History: The Lords
Before the year 1064, the date of the founding of the Abbey of Sainte-Opportune De Lessay, the history of Creances can hardly be distinguished from that of all of the Cotentin. No documents mentioning Creances was known. After 1064 the known history of Creances concerns essentially the Lords who ruled over the village. We know hardly anything of the life of the Creancais; no doubt it was, as for all peasants, a tough and difficult life.
From the 14th century on, French Kings began to create titles, initially dukes and counts, at first mostly members of the royal family, and starting in 1505, marquis as well. Whereas the old titles had arisen by custom centuries before and originally corresponded to an administrative function, the new titles were a status attached to certain fiefs, which conferred only a small fraction of the powers and privileges that went with the old offices.
The new titles were created by a written act of the king called "letters patent," which specified the rights and duties of the new titled person, and the mode of transmission of the title to his heirs. The letters of patent had to be registered by the court (parliament) of the region were the fief was located, as well as by the "Chambre des Comptes," a fiscal auditing body, before they could be valid.
It is important to understand that a created title is nothing but a fief (that is, a particular type of real estate in the feudal system), to which the king has given a special status. Ordinary fiefs could be shared and a family might possess several titles that the head of the family might distribute among his heirs, as he would share his inheritance between his children. Titles were also a form of property that could be bought or sold freely before the abolition of the feudal regime in 1789. The term " lord" as found in Normandy was not a title. The owner of a lordship, even a commoner, was its lord. Lord meant only " the possessor of a certain kind of property" in the feudal system, a mixture of actual real estate and rights over people in the form of rents and fees.
All titles, whether feudal or created, were attached to a specific piece of real estate, governed by the rules of the feudal system. The legal term was, "pas de seigneur sans terre, pas de terre sans seigneur": no lord without land, no land without lord. And a titleholder was nothing but a particular type of lord. The owner of the land to which the title was attached, if noble, had the exclusive right to bear that title. If he lost or sold the land, he lost the title. The land and with it the title, followed special rules of inheritance of noble fiefs, but the remainders could be modified by the will of the owner. The inheritor or purchaser of a land could use the title after payment of a tax and the automatic authorization of the sovereign, if he was noble. It was also a custom that, for commoners, the 4th generation of possessors of a titled land could use the title. But the ordinance of Blois in 1578 made it impossible for a commoner who purchased a titled fief to acquire that title
From the 14th century on, French Kings began to create titles, initially dukes and counts, at first mostly members of the royal family, and starting in 1505, marquis as well. Whereas the old titles had arisen by custom centuries before and originally corresponded to an administrative function, the new titles were a status attached to certain fiefs, which conferred only a small fraction of the powers and privileges that went with the old offices.
The new titles were created by a written act of the king called "letters patent," which specified the rights and duties of the new titled person, and the mode of transmission of the title to his heirs. The letters of patent had to be registered by the court (parliament) of the region were the fief was located, as well as by the "Chambre des Comptes," a fiscal auditing body, before they could be valid.
It is important to understand that a created title is nothing but a fief (that is, a particular type of real estate in the feudal system), to which the king has given a special status. Ordinary fiefs could be shared and a family might possess several titles that the head of the family might distribute among his heirs, as he would share his inheritance between his children. Titles were also a form of property that could be bought or sold freely before the abolition of the feudal regime in 1789. The term " lord" as found in Normandy was not a title. The owner of a lordship, even a commoner, was its lord. Lord meant only " the possessor of a certain kind of property" in the feudal system, a mixture of actual real estate and rights over people in the form of rents and fees.
All titles, whether feudal or created, were attached to a specific piece of real estate, governed by the rules of the feudal system. The legal term was, "pas de seigneur sans terre, pas de terre sans seigneur": no lord without land, no land without lord. And a titleholder was nothing but a particular type of lord. The owner of the land to which the title was attached, if noble, had the exclusive right to bear that title. If he lost or sold the land, he lost the title. The land and with it the title, followed special rules of inheritance of noble fiefs, but the remainders could be modified by the will of the owner. The inheritor or purchaser of a land could use the title after payment of a tax and the automatic authorization of the sovereign, if he was noble. It was also a custom that, for commoners, the 4th generation of possessors of a titled land could use the title. But the ordinance of Blois in 1578 made it impossible for a commoner who purchased a titled fief to acquire that title
In order to get an idea of the situation of the Creancais prior to the 1789 Revolution, it is useful to state exactly that one part of the territory belonged to the Abbey of Lessay, the other part, the bigger part, was under the government of the Lords of Creances.
The Abbey of Lessay possessed particular lands on the border of the harbor. Studies made until now within local archives do not permit being precise about the extent of these properties. We only know, thanks to the receipts delivered by Brother Cellerier, that the property of the Abbey was rented in lots to the Creancais, and that the rent was based partly on character and partly on whims of the Abbot.
A fief as important as Creances could only have servants who belonged to distinguished families of the Norman or other nobility, and it is true, as the avowels reveal to us quite early, they never became unemployed in this occupation.
The first person about whom one has knowledge is a De La Haye: Thurstin Haldup, Baron De La Haye Du Puits, of an illustrious family from which one of its members went, in 1066, to take part in the Norman Conquest of England. Indeed, while founding Lessay Abbey, he gave to it, among other gifts, the Creances church with it various repairs. He was owner of it, and through the Lord of the Parish, it was indeed the religious center.
We are not in a position to say for how long the Creancais supremacy lasted. Since 1204 all of Normandy, which had never ceased to be part of the kingdom of France, was attached directly to the Crown. There were more than 775 years when Creancais were French subjects. In 1272, the fief of Creances belonged to DeMontrevil (of the Ile De France). The last member of that family who had possession of the fief of Creances was Raoul, Bishop of Beauvais who sold it to William De Chanteloup. (The Chateau De Chanteloup is located in the south of Cotentin) " The Count of Creances and Lord of Chanteloup was in the company of Duke William at Hastings. He found his service handsomely recompensed by the Conqueror; he received, as a result, immense wealth in the Counties of Dorset, Hereford, and Worcester. Through one of the family branches it stayed in England until it finally faded away at the beginning of the 14th century. The remaining branch stayed in Cotentin with a destiny less brilliant and disappeared with Agnes De Chanteloup who in 1286 married the Lord Foulques Paynel, Lord of Hambye.
There is little data on the period, which is marked by the "Hundred Years" war. At the very most are mentioned some relatives of the Lords of Creances in the records of the Lessay Abbey.
The Abbey of Lessay possessed particular lands on the border of the harbor. Studies made until now within local archives do not permit being precise about the extent of these properties. We only know, thanks to the receipts delivered by Brother Cellerier, that the property of the Abbey was rented in lots to the Creancais, and that the rent was based partly on character and partly on whims of the Abbot.
A fief as important as Creances could only have servants who belonged to distinguished families of the Norman or other nobility, and it is true, as the avowels reveal to us quite early, they never became unemployed in this occupation.
The first person about whom one has knowledge is a De La Haye: Thurstin Haldup, Baron De La Haye Du Puits, of an illustrious family from which one of its members went, in 1066, to take part in the Norman Conquest of England. Indeed, while founding Lessay Abbey, he gave to it, among other gifts, the Creances church with it various repairs. He was owner of it, and through the Lord of the Parish, it was indeed the religious center.
We are not in a position to say for how long the Creancais supremacy lasted. Since 1204 all of Normandy, which had never ceased to be part of the kingdom of France, was attached directly to the Crown. There were more than 775 years when Creancais were French subjects. In 1272, the fief of Creances belonged to DeMontrevil (of the Ile De France). The last member of that family who had possession of the fief of Creances was Raoul, Bishop of Beauvais who sold it to William De Chanteloup. (The Chateau De Chanteloup is located in the south of Cotentin) " The Count of Creances and Lord of Chanteloup was in the company of Duke William at Hastings. He found his service handsomely recompensed by the Conqueror; he received, as a result, immense wealth in the Counties of Dorset, Hereford, and Worcester. Through one of the family branches it stayed in England until it finally faded away at the beginning of the 14th century. The remaining branch stayed in Cotentin with a destiny less brilliant and disappeared with Agnes De Chanteloup who in 1286 married the Lord Foulques Paynel, Lord of Hambye.
There is little data on the period, which is marked by the "Hundred Years" war. At the very most are mentioned some relatives of the Lords of Creances in the records of the Lessay Abbey.
In 1323 there was an agreement between William De Canteloup, Knight, Lord of Creances, and the monks of Lessay, regarding the lowering of the rights that the named monks could claim as a result of their Creances possessions.
In 1388 a statement rendered by Thomas Basston referencing a piece of land from the Lessay Abbey, under the jurisdiction of Foulques Paynel, Knight, and Lord of Creances is recorded. In 1409 a document mentions Colin Paynel, Lord of Creances.
Of all the plagues besetting Lower Normandy during the Hundred Years War, one is less known, but without a doubt one of the most lamentable, was the evacuation of the North Cotentin, ordered by Charles V in 1378 and which lasted almost until 1392. It is indeed, in 1378, that Charles V, having discovered definite proof of the treason of Charles The Bold and of his agreement with the King of England, decided to undertake a large strike against his rival. He proceeded to the arrest of his collaborators, put his hand on the immense properties that he possessed, principally in the Cotentin, and charged DuGuesclin to retake all the forts. The Connetable occupied Avranches without firing a shot on April 29, 1378: for no loss of time, preferred to buy back Gavray with its defenders, on condition of a ransom of 15,300 florins, but it strengthened the walls of Cherbourg. Because Charles The Bold, hard pressed had appealed to the King of England for military aid, for which it would involve crossing the English Channel and occupying Cherbourg.
DuGuesclin therefore was faced with having to besiege Cherbourg, but that operation would prove difficult from the start because the besieger effectively sought a place not to be relieved from the sea and the English would not send troops to reinforce under orders of the Count of Arundel. So although after Charles V despaired of being able to take the city after several months, of starving and isolating the city in a sort of "No Man's Land," he decided on evacuation, "Exodus" was the expression of the times, of all of North Cotentin.
From a history by Robert Blondel: "Finally, for the vanquished of Cherbourg through famine, a royal decree evacuating all the inhabitants and leaving the land uncultivated was issued. It is later that the Cotentin was buried in ruins and depopulated. The City of Cherbourg was surrendered to the Navarrais, not by force or through famine, but for 1000 crowns."
It does not appear that Creances was evacuated. The different documents of the period lead one to believe that the zone of complete evacuation was located just north of a parallel line, which passed through Valognes.
It is not necessary to consider the zone evacuated by force as having definite and permanent contours, because from numerous texts we prove that it was prolonged in the south through a zone of insecurity, periodically devastated by English raids or through pillages of French troops. Thus a record of November 17, 1385, concerning Carquebut, Brucheville, and Blosville, indicates to us that their inhabitants in part left these localities. In Cambernon, near Coutances, only a quarter of a sixth of its inhabitants subsisted, all of the other were gone from fear of their enemies, " As much, those from Cherbourg as those who came by sea day after day and night after night from another country." We learn again that Langronne, the mill area of Lespinay, was laid to waste and the mill itself demolished.
In 1388 a statement rendered by Thomas Basston referencing a piece of land from the Lessay Abbey, under the jurisdiction of Foulques Paynel, Knight, and Lord of Creances is recorded. In 1409 a document mentions Colin Paynel, Lord of Creances.
Of all the plagues besetting Lower Normandy during the Hundred Years War, one is less known, but without a doubt one of the most lamentable, was the evacuation of the North Cotentin, ordered by Charles V in 1378 and which lasted almost until 1392. It is indeed, in 1378, that Charles V, having discovered definite proof of the treason of Charles The Bold and of his agreement with the King of England, decided to undertake a large strike against his rival. He proceeded to the arrest of his collaborators, put his hand on the immense properties that he possessed, principally in the Cotentin, and charged DuGuesclin to retake all the forts. The Connetable occupied Avranches without firing a shot on April 29, 1378: for no loss of time, preferred to buy back Gavray with its defenders, on condition of a ransom of 15,300 florins, but it strengthened the walls of Cherbourg. Because Charles The Bold, hard pressed had appealed to the King of England for military aid, for which it would involve crossing the English Channel and occupying Cherbourg.
DuGuesclin therefore was faced with having to besiege Cherbourg, but that operation would prove difficult from the start because the besieger effectively sought a place not to be relieved from the sea and the English would not send troops to reinforce under orders of the Count of Arundel. So although after Charles V despaired of being able to take the city after several months, of starving and isolating the city in a sort of "No Man's Land," he decided on evacuation, "Exodus" was the expression of the times, of all of North Cotentin.
From a history by Robert Blondel: "Finally, for the vanquished of Cherbourg through famine, a royal decree evacuating all the inhabitants and leaving the land uncultivated was issued. It is later that the Cotentin was buried in ruins and depopulated. The City of Cherbourg was surrendered to the Navarrais, not by force or through famine, but for 1000 crowns."
It does not appear that Creances was evacuated. The different documents of the period lead one to believe that the zone of complete evacuation was located just north of a parallel line, which passed through Valognes.
It is not necessary to consider the zone evacuated by force as having definite and permanent contours, because from numerous texts we prove that it was prolonged in the south through a zone of insecurity, periodically devastated by English raids or through pillages of French troops. Thus a record of November 17, 1385, concerning Carquebut, Brucheville, and Blosville, indicates to us that their inhabitants in part left these localities. In Cambernon, near Coutances, only a quarter of a sixth of its inhabitants subsisted, all of the other were gone from fear of their enemies, " As much, those from Cherbourg as those who came by sea day after day and night after night from another country." We learn again that Langronne, the mill area of Lespinay, was laid to waste and the mill itself demolished.
The collected wealth of Lord Chanteloup and Lord Paynel, Lords of Creances, passed to Estouville when in 1413 Louis d' Estouville married Jeanne Paynel. Henry V of Lancaster landed in Normandy at Touques, August 1, 1417, and invaded the country; Louis d' Estouville, after having heroically defended Coutances under order of the King to then retire to Mont Saint-Michel to bolster its defense. From February 1418, the English were installed at Tombelaine and menacing the Mont. The resistance of the Lord of Chanteloup and Creances was acknowledged by the authority given to William Breton to seize the profits of Henry V; thus all the wealth of Sir d' Estouville was subsequently distributed to those faithful to the King; also the Creances fief of Louis d' Estouville and Jeanne Paynel was given to a certain William Habpedin. When peace returned to the area, d' Estouville recovered the fief of Creances.
An act of the Abbey of Lessay dated 1425 mentions. "A statement rendered by Perrin Machon to Jean DeGray, Lord of Creances, concerning a piece of land located in the said section which is held by the Abbey of Lessay. On other act of this time period is dated 1430 and involved a dispute between Robert de Chanteloup, Lord of Creances, and the monks of Lessay on the subject of board owed the Abbey of St. Michel each year. On the death of Louis d' Estouville on August 21, 1464, the d' Estouville family had attained a great eminence and influence.
Michael, son of Louis, delivered an act of faith and hommage to the King, May 2 and September 16, 1465, for thirty eight principal fiefs (Creances among them) which number increased through his marriage with Marie de la Roche-Guyon. Then the older son, Jacques, received the fief of Creances (with Chanteloup, Hambye, Feuquirre, Apilly, and Mensil Seran).
Jacques d' Estouville contracted an even higher name than his father by marrying Louise d' Albert, sister of Alain LeGrand, who brought to him on paper, an enormous dowry of twenty two thousand and five hundred crowns of gold. From this marriage were four children: Francois in 1482, Jean in 1483, Louis in 1484, and Antoine in 1486, quickly becoming orphans through the death of their father in 1490.
The King of France, Charles VIII, having been told of the love and affection that the Duke of Bourbonnoys and Anne de France, his wife, had for the above said cousin d' Albret and the remaining children, told them through his letters of March 21, 1490, and that of March 25, secured the Beaujens through the care of the Regency, charging them with the mother's responsibility (The king also named two succeeding guardians, Jacques d' Estouville, Lord of Beynes and Provost of Paris, and Jean d'Estouville, Lord of Torcy and Grand Master of Arbaletriers, who, very old, disclaimed competence in favor of Jean Carbonnel, Lord of Creances). Louise d' Albret disappeared from her home on September 8, 1494 and the d' Estouville children were then taken in by their tutors and passed several years in the brilliant and refined aura of the Court of Moulins.
An act of the Abbey of Lessay dated 1425 mentions. "A statement rendered by Perrin Machon to Jean DeGray, Lord of Creances, concerning a piece of land located in the said section which is held by the Abbey of Lessay. On other act of this time period is dated 1430 and involved a dispute between Robert de Chanteloup, Lord of Creances, and the monks of Lessay on the subject of board owed the Abbey of St. Michel each year. On the death of Louis d' Estouville on August 21, 1464, the d' Estouville family had attained a great eminence and influence.
Michael, son of Louis, delivered an act of faith and hommage to the King, May 2 and September 16, 1465, for thirty eight principal fiefs (Creances among them) which number increased through his marriage with Marie de la Roche-Guyon. Then the older son, Jacques, received the fief of Creances (with Chanteloup, Hambye, Feuquirre, Apilly, and Mensil Seran).
Jacques d' Estouville contracted an even higher name than his father by marrying Louise d' Albert, sister of Alain LeGrand, who brought to him on paper, an enormous dowry of twenty two thousand and five hundred crowns of gold. From this marriage were four children: Francois in 1482, Jean in 1483, Louis in 1484, and Antoine in 1486, quickly becoming orphans through the death of their father in 1490.
The King of France, Charles VIII, having been told of the love and affection that the Duke of Bourbonnoys and Anne de France, his wife, had for the above said cousin d' Albret and the remaining children, told them through his letters of March 21, 1490, and that of March 25, secured the Beaujens through the care of the Regency, charging them with the mother's responsibility (The king also named two succeeding guardians, Jacques d' Estouville, Lord of Beynes and Provost of Paris, and Jean d'Estouville, Lord of Torcy and Grand Master of Arbaletriers, who, very old, disclaimed competence in favor of Jean Carbonnel, Lord of Creances). Louise d' Albret disappeared from her home on September 8, 1494 and the d' Estouville children were then taken in by their tutors and passed several years in the brilliant and refined aura of the Court of Moulins.
In 1506, Jean d'Estouville held within his hand all the family domains and among others those which would belong to his brother Antoine: he identified himself as Sir d'Estouville, Count of Creances, Viscount and Baron of Roncheville, of Cleuville, Hotat, and Berneval, Lord of Valmont, Apilly, Neufville-sur-Port, Russy, and Formigny. In 1512, Jean still carried the title of Count of Creances. On January 24, 1515, Antoine d' Estouville sold several of his fiefs and in those acts called himself Count of Creances, Lord of Chanteloup, Apilly, Saint-Brise, Saint-Signier, La Gohonniere and Champeaux.
The life of Antoine d' Estouville remains quite obscure. He does appear again in records of Francis I in 1537,but when on February 3, 1549, the marriage contract of his daughter Jacqueline with Nicholas de Bouille, Lord of Rocher-Mezanger was concluded in Paris, he was deceased. He does not appear in each of the acts concerning the tutoring of the children of his niece, Adrienne d' Estouville, after the death of their father in September 1544, when at that time all the uncles of the paternal line were present. By his wife, Jacqueline Carbonnel, who survived him by several years, Antoine had three children: Jacqueline, Anne, and Antoine, minors in 1549 and placed in the care of their aunt, Jacqueline d' Estouville, widow of Jean. Antoine II, probably born in 1530, reached his majority in 1551 and was with those who became renowned with Francois de Guise in the defense of Metz.
In 1555, a Count of Creances was killed at the siege of Volpiana, in Piemont. According to historian La Morandiere, Antoine I died without male issue in 1536, that the Count of Creances was Nicolas de Bouille. In reality, it is a good question on whether it was Antoine II who, like his father also held the same title. Moreover, his signed testament was dated shortly thereafter and in the same place, July 19, 1556, to a transaction between Jean de Ravallet, representing Nicolas de Bouille and the sister of Antoine, and their cousin Adrienne, Duchess of d' Estouville, and his future son-in-law, Jean De Boutbon, Count d' Enghien.
Anne d' Estouville became Dame de Chanteloup, marrying Francois de Carnavalet by the contract of June 15, 1561. Anne died before July 28, 1564, the date of an order by Catherine de Midici to pay to Diane de Clermont de Monlor a half year of income " and to the defunct (Anne) d' Estouville, wife of Carnavalet, one of the ladies of her house. Chanteloup and Creances came back then to Jacqueline d' Estouville. On the death of Jacqueline, the two Lords of Creances and Chanteloup passed to a new house, which most certainly was not the first such development.
It is of Rene' de Bouille that we see receiving title from the will of his wife, in 1577 and 1579, various avowels were made to Creances of his personal qualifications as a "Captain of fifty men-at-arms from the Ordinances of the King." at his death, his son Rene' II succeeded him. This son died in the year 1600, after having married Jeanne de Laval, who was the guardian of their minor children, and who would die in her own turn in 1615. Rene' II younger son received Creances and his older brother took Chanteloup. From that day forward the two Lordships, Creances and Chanteloup would remain separated one form another.
An action of the Abbey of Lessay, dated in 1617, informs us of the importance of the " Jurisdiction of the Lord of Creances:" an avowal delivered to the King by Urbain de Bouille, Knight, heir in part of Rene' de Bouille and of Renee' de Laval, his father and mother, for the Count of Creances from whom the authority is established in the said parish and extends to the parishes of La Feuillie and of Sainte-Opportune of Lessay, as much within the fief area as in the non-fief area, as which he has the right of Chief Justice. The right of head founder or giver of the benefits of the crops of the said parish of Creances, which taxes are collected by the priest and convent of the Abbey of Sainte-Trinite of Lessay, which presents to the said priest the control of the said collection, the fields of which counting non-fief, contains five to six thousand rods of land, on which there is placed a purity shrine and chapel. Urbain de Bouville probably died by 1646 or early 1647, because in his latter years, his son Philippe, through an act passed in 1646, ratified and qualified him as Count of Creances.
So thus we have a succession of lords under which the LeRoys lived, worked, and died, up to the time of Simeon LeRoy's generation.
The life of Antoine d' Estouville remains quite obscure. He does appear again in records of Francis I in 1537,but when on February 3, 1549, the marriage contract of his daughter Jacqueline with Nicholas de Bouille, Lord of Rocher-Mezanger was concluded in Paris, he was deceased. He does not appear in each of the acts concerning the tutoring of the children of his niece, Adrienne d' Estouville, after the death of their father in September 1544, when at that time all the uncles of the paternal line were present. By his wife, Jacqueline Carbonnel, who survived him by several years, Antoine had three children: Jacqueline, Anne, and Antoine, minors in 1549 and placed in the care of their aunt, Jacqueline d' Estouville, widow of Jean. Antoine II, probably born in 1530, reached his majority in 1551 and was with those who became renowned with Francois de Guise in the defense of Metz.
In 1555, a Count of Creances was killed at the siege of Volpiana, in Piemont. According to historian La Morandiere, Antoine I died without male issue in 1536, that the Count of Creances was Nicolas de Bouille. In reality, it is a good question on whether it was Antoine II who, like his father also held the same title. Moreover, his signed testament was dated shortly thereafter and in the same place, July 19, 1556, to a transaction between Jean de Ravallet, representing Nicolas de Bouille and the sister of Antoine, and their cousin Adrienne, Duchess of d' Estouville, and his future son-in-law, Jean De Boutbon, Count d' Enghien.
Anne d' Estouville became Dame de Chanteloup, marrying Francois de Carnavalet by the contract of June 15, 1561. Anne died before July 28, 1564, the date of an order by Catherine de Midici to pay to Diane de Clermont de Monlor a half year of income " and to the defunct (Anne) d' Estouville, wife of Carnavalet, one of the ladies of her house. Chanteloup and Creances came back then to Jacqueline d' Estouville. On the death of Jacqueline, the two Lords of Creances and Chanteloup passed to a new house, which most certainly was not the first such development.
It is of Rene' de Bouille that we see receiving title from the will of his wife, in 1577 and 1579, various avowels were made to Creances of his personal qualifications as a "Captain of fifty men-at-arms from the Ordinances of the King." at his death, his son Rene' II succeeded him. This son died in the year 1600, after having married Jeanne de Laval, who was the guardian of their minor children, and who would die in her own turn in 1615. Rene' II younger son received Creances and his older brother took Chanteloup. From that day forward the two Lordships, Creances and Chanteloup would remain separated one form another.
An action of the Abbey of Lessay, dated in 1617, informs us of the importance of the " Jurisdiction of the Lord of Creances:" an avowal delivered to the King by Urbain de Bouille, Knight, heir in part of Rene' de Bouille and of Renee' de Laval, his father and mother, for the Count of Creances from whom the authority is established in the said parish and extends to the parishes of La Feuillie and of Sainte-Opportune of Lessay, as much within the fief area as in the non-fief area, as which he has the right of Chief Justice. The right of head founder or giver of the benefits of the crops of the said parish of Creances, which taxes are collected by the priest and convent of the Abbey of Sainte-Trinite of Lessay, which presents to the said priest the control of the said collection, the fields of which counting non-fief, contains five to six thousand rods of land, on which there is placed a purity shrine and chapel. Urbain de Bouville probably died by 1646 or early 1647, because in his latter years, his son Philippe, through an act passed in 1646, ratified and qualified him as Count of Creances.
So thus we have a succession of lords under which the LeRoys lived, worked, and died, up to the time of Simeon LeRoy's generation.