Origin of the name Villiers-Charlemagne: The town was established in the ancient forest of Boëria (where came Bouëre) which stretched from the banks of the Sarthe to the banks of the river Mayenne. Some historians claim that Charlemagne came to Villiers for the first time around 778, at the time of raising an expedition against the rebellious Basques. This place pleased him, he was struck by his position on the Breton frontier, near the river, and at the extreme limit of his states of Maine and Anjou; He also planned to build a fortress in this place to guard the passages of the Mayenne and to supervise the Bretons.
Why is the name of Charlemagne added to that of Villiers? To our knowledge, it is the only commune in France to bear the name of "Charlemagne". Then we are led to consider that, as far as he is concerned, other facts have mixed the action or the person of Charlemagne with the history of the city. Francon d'Ollivier, who had just consecrated a church in Saint-Ernee's honor to Géaulcé or Charné, would have had an interview with Charlemagne at Villiers. He would have had the property belonging to the church of Le Mans restored, which several seigneurs had seized. Charlemagne, adds the chronicle, manda Wilibert, lord of Villiers, and made him return the temporal goods, tithes and returned belonging to the cathedral church and to the abbots of Saint-Calais.
Origin of the coat of arms: According to the chronicles, the arms of Villiers go back to the beginning of the Middle Ages, around 1124: date when Jehan, son of Gui II lord of Laval, before entering religion at the Benedictines of Marmoutiers (near of Tours), took pleasure in detaching three of the five silver shells from his coat of arms of the Maison de Laval. "Azure three shells of silver asked two and one".
