The surviving information on the Templar, and later Hospitaller, commandery of Arville is very limited. The place (Arida Villa) is first mentioned around the year 1130, in this document appears Guillaume d'Arville, regarded as the first known commander of this house. The Templar house was probably founded in the mid-twelfth century following the donation of these lands to the Order of the Temple by the lords of Mondoubleau. Around the same time, the nearby commandery of Mondoubleau (Loir-et-Cher), located a short distance to the south, was also established.
It was a rural commandery which, after the suppression of the Order of the Temple, passed into the hands of the Hospitallers. During this period, it was united with the commandery of Sours (Eure-et-Loir). At the end of the fifteenth century, the site was still suffering the effects of the Hundred Years' War, but it was restored in the following years. After its suppression during the French Revolution, it passed into private ownership in 1793 and continued to operate as an agricultural estate. At the end of the twentieth century, it became publicly owned and has recently been restored and adapted for new uses.
The scarcity of historical information contrasts with the remarkable group of surviving buildings, most of them intended for agricultural purposes. The simple medieval church is particularly noteworthy for its considerable size and lack of sculptural decoration. Also of note is the entrance gateway to the enclosure, flanked by two towers. Most of the surviving buildings date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and were used for agricultural activities, although some originally served other purposes, such as the commander's residence. A dovecote is also preserved, possibly adapted from an earlier defensive tower.
Church
Church
Church
Church
Church
Dovecote
Dovecote
Illustration from Essai historique et statistique sur le canton et la ville de Mondoubleau (1837)
- BEAUVAIS DE SAINT-PAUL, Pierre-Alexandre-Désiré de (1837). Essai historique et statistique sur le canton et la ville de Mondoubleau. Le Mans: Monnoyer
- FAUCHON, Pierre (2010). La commanderie d’Arville. Vendôme: Cherche-Lune
- FOLLIOT, Pierre-Marie (1983). Les templiers dans la baillie de Chartres. La juridiction de Sours et d’Arville. Bulletin de la Société Archéologique d’Eure-et-Loir, núm. 96. Chartres
- MANNIER, Eugène (1872). Les commanderies du grand prieuré de France. París: Aubry
The commandery of Arville is located in the village of the same name, now part of the commune of Couëtron-au-Perche, between Le Mans and Châteaudun