Saint-Germain-du-Pinel (France)
This village (population 648, 1999) is found in the Marches de Bretagne area, in the Vitré region, canton of Argentré du Plessis, district of Rennes, in the Ille et Vilaine department of Brittany.
The town church was given to the Abbey of Roë in Anjou by the lords of Saint Germain in 1107. The second part of the name (du-Pinel) comes from the manor ‘du Pinel’ located 2,3 miles (3.7 km) from Argentré-du-Plessis. The old manor du Pinel belonged to the lords of this name in 1197 and came to be owned by the Montbourcher family in 1296 after the marriage of Asseline de Pinel to Guillaume de Montbourcher.
The medieval mound, known as early as from the end of XIth century, was located at the south of the manor, in the wood of Pinel. A fortified unit, built on a wooded plateau, consisted of a mound, two barnyards and two rectangular paddocks with adjoining structures. The lord of the feudal estate had a right of high justice (1).

1. At this time, the French feudal system operated a three tier justice system (low, middle, high). The right of high justice meant that the lord was able to pass a sentence of capital punishment (execution) upon a civilian.