Governor of the Bastille he wrote to the Lieutenant-General of Police: "The head of Monsieur La Riviere is always heated and I begin to despair that his poor head may not heal without the remedy ... With profound respect ... " On the sidelines the magistrate wrote: "To hang" Bernard-Rene Jourdan de Launay was the last Governor of the Bastille and took his post in October 1776. He paid Jumilhac 300,000 livres for his post as governor. The Marquis de Launay was born in the Bastille in 1740. His father, René Jourdan de Launay, had already been governor for twelve years and died there
Chateau and Seigneurie de Launay the wealthy du Gronchay family. For the first time in its history, the transfer of the chateau, its lands and title was through sale rather than inheritance or marriage. Over the next three generations, seven members of the du Gronchay clan held the title and property at one time or another. In 1607 the surviving children of Jérôme de Gronchay, Jacquine (b. 1578) and Catherine (b. 1579), Dames de Larières and Launay inherited. When Jacquine married Jehan de Breton, Seigneur de la Calabriere, a few months later, Jehan became Seigneur de Launay, as well as Vaibesnard and Pouvray. Jehan died