Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay permanently stationed in Paris except in time of war. In 1776 de Launay succeeded M. de Jumilhac as Governor of the Bastille. As was the custom with many senior positions under the Ancien Régime, the marquis purchased the office of governor from his predecessor as a form of investment. The thirteen years that he spent in this position were uneventful, though on 19 December 1778 he reportedly made the mistake of failing to fire the cannon of the Bastille as a salute on the birth of a daughter (Madame Royale) to King Louis XVI. In August 1785 he was given
Chateau and Seigneurie de Launay steeped in the events of the last 600 years. The early history is dependent on archival material which is incomplete. Seigneur (lord) Robin de Launay was the most powerful of the 22 vassals to the Count of Bresteau whose lands spanned seven parishes in western France. Much of the count's holdings were lost in the Hundred Years War. The lands and castle of Launay survived the wars though Robin de Launay did not. In 1404 the daughter of Robin de Launay inherited the properties and the associated title. Soon thereafter she married Pierre de Milon, Seigneur de Mortrie and Lavigne,