Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay Bernard René Jourdan, marquis de Launay (1740–1789) was the French governor of the Bastille, the son of a previous governor, and commander of its garrison when the prison-fortress in Paris was stormed on 14 July 1789 ("see Storming of the Bastille"). The marquis Bernard-René Jordan de Launay was born on the night of 8/9 April 1740 in the Bastille where his father, René Jourdan de Launay, was governor. At the age of eight he was appointed to an honorary position in the King's Musketeers ("mousquetaires du roi"). He subsequently entered the French Guards ("gardes-françaises"), a regiment
Chateau and Seigneurie de Launay repeated in 1654. The oath was taken up by Catherine le Balleur in 1666 and again in 1671, having inherited from her husband, Robert. Catherine's son, Henri, signed the oath in 1683. In 1694 Henri le Balleur, in the presence of Le Mans notaries, Victor Siger and Guillaume Foin, sold to Monsieur and Madame André Guyonneau, king's councillor and lieutenant, Seneschal of Le Mans, The sale was transacted at a price of 150,479 livres. The new Seigneur de Launay, André Guyonneau, was king's lieutenant, magistrate of Le Mans and advisor to the king. In 1692 he married the very wealthy