Watered by the Courance, the village of Brûlain was in the 12th century in the hands of Lusignan. In 1716, the parish had 43 farms. The subdelegate Laurent Chebrou written in his State of the election of Niort :
A number of ewes are raised there, many broodmares, most of them fit for the carriage... There are the most beautiful horse and donkey studs in the entire province.
The town saw the birth in 1817 Baptiste-Paul Grimaud,inventor of the reversible card with the two-headed portrait, who installed in the village a pump and a washhouse, provides the municipal library with many books. Its name is given to the main street of the village and playing cards are discussed on the municipal logo. The breeding tradition continues even today: two farms transform their milk production into cheese and butter.
De Niort in Paris
His father, Paul, East country guard in Brûlain, a position obtained as a retired non-commissioned officer following Napoleonic war wounds. When he left school, Baptiste-Paul is at the service of a haulage contractor Niort, then moved to Paris at the age of 23 as traffic commissioner (goods carrier).
Grimaud, modernizer of the card game
In Paris, he joined forces with playing card manufacturers Martineau and Bourru who transferred the business to him in 1852. The company Grimaud and Co. was born ! He invented the reversible card with the 2-headed portrait and modernized the card game by filing patents. He bought the card models of the famous Epinal imagery and holds a large share of the capital of its largest competitor, the fabric Camoin of Marseille. His successors are his nephews, the Marteau brothers. Grimaud will be buried at Père Lachaise. The bicentenary of his birth is celebrated in Brûlain in 2017.
What to see in Brûlain?
01. The castle of Mothe-du-Bois
Its first lord, Jean II Gourjault, is mentioned in 1432. The stately home was replaced in 1805 by a vast building. The two imposing wrought iron gates with pillars surmounted by lions come from Vénérand castle, near Saintes. A wide forest path provides access to the residence.
02. Bourgneuf
Le fief, attested in 1405, depended on the barony of Melle. The area is surrounded by dry moats. The oldest part is the main building flanked by a cylindrical tower. The manor house was built later. The old outbuildings are aligned between these two constructions.
03. Saint Martin's Church
Built in the 12th century thanks to the generosity of Lusignan, it came under the chapter of the Saint-Pierre Cathedral of Poitiers. Ravaged during the religious wars, it was restored in the 17th century, then became a decadent temple. Major works at the end of the 19th century changed its appearance.