Châteaubriant's history began in the 11th century when Brient (an envoy of the Count of Rennes) constructed a Castle on a moat bording la Chère. He later founded the Priory St Sauveur de Béré. A city developed around the Castle and was called Châteaubriant. The fortress was a part of the Brittany defensive line along with the other townships, Vitré (Ille-et-Vilaine), and Fougères, which formed the first line of defense against the French Kingdom.
After the Revolution, Brutus Hugo, and young Republican lieutenant, met a young Castelbriantaise, Sophie Trébuchet. They had a son: Victor Hugo. The house of Sophie Trébuchet still exists and is located near the Maison de l'Ange which currently houses the Tourist Information Office.
In October 1941, 27 Communist hostages (imprisoned by the Republican government during the run-up to WWII and by the Vichy police in the fall of 1941) in the Châteaubriant Internment Camp were handed over to the Nazis and shot by a firing squad in revenge for the murder of the German lieutenant-colonel Karl Hotz on October 20, 1941 in Nantes. The youngest of the 27 hostages, Guy Môquet, was 17 years old. The place of execution, known as the Carrière des Fusillés is one of the principal memorials to the Nazi occupation in the region.
Carrière des Fusillés : Memorial dedicated to those executed by Germans in revenge for the assassination of their Lieutenant-Colonel Karl Holtz in Nantes on October 22, 1941.
