The Reformation in the villages of French-speaking Switzerland
Between 1526 and the early 17th century, much of present-day French-speaking Switzerland adopted the Protestant Reformation. The change did not happen all at once: it depended on the lord, on the nearby town and sometimes on a vote by the inhabitants. The pages of this site make it possible to follow it village by village.
Farel, from Aigle to Neuchâtel
Aigle had belonged to Bern since 1475, and Bern adopted the Reformation in 1528. The preacher Guillaume Farel settled in Aigle in 1526 as a schoolmaster. In 1528 Reformed worship prevailed in Aigle, and the general assembly of Ollon adopted the Reformation.
Farel then preached in the county of Neuchâtel. On 23 October 1530 he preached in the church of Corcelles. On 4 November 1530, in Neuchâtel, a narrow majority of the burghers voted to abolish the Mass. The villages followed at different speeds: Auvernier adopted the Reformation by 1532 at the latest; in Boudry, the town remained Catholic at least until 1534, while the rest of the parish had become Reformed. In Valangin, the collegiate church was ransacked in 1531, and the adoption of the Reformation in 1536 put an end to its chapter.
The vote of the «plus»
In several villages, especially in the bailiwicks shared by Bern and Fribourg, the faith was decided by a vote of the heads of household, called the «plus». Since the Burgundian Wars the two cities had jointly governed the bailiwick of Grandson (from 1475) and that of Orbe-Échallens (from 1484); Bern had become Reformed, while Fribourg remained Catholic.
The pages show widely spread dates. Yvonand voted for the Reformation in August 1532 and abolished the Mass, which also affected Villars-Epeney, in the same parish. Concise became Reformed through a «plus» in 1537. In Orbe, birthplace of Pierre Viret, Farel arrived in 1531 and Viret preached there for the first time on 6 May 1531, but the town only adopted the Reformation in 1554, the same year as Grandson, where iconoclastic unrest had broken out in 1531. Mex voted in 1570, Goumoens-la-Ville in 1575, and the Mass was abolished in Poliez-le-Grand on 12 August 1619.
The change was not always peaceful. In Novalles, on Christmas Day 1531, Catholics and Reformed clashed violently over access to the church.
The Bernese conquest of Vaud
In 1536 Bern conquered the Pays de Vaud, until then part of Savoy. In October 1536 Farel led the delegation of pastors at the Disputation of Lausanne. The Reformation was then imposed by the edicts of 19 October and 24 December 1536. In Lausanne, the Mass was abolished in October, and the Academy was founded in 1537 to train pastors.
The monasteries disappeared. At Romainmôtier, the last prior died on 3 January 1537 and the priory was secularised on 27 January; the church became a Reformed church. At Payerne, the monastery was finally closed in 1565. In 1555 Bern took possession of the upper Gruyère: at Rougemont, the Reformation was preached by Pierre Viret and the priory was dissolved.
Genève, 21 May 1536
In Genève, the General Council adopted the Reformation on 21 May 1536. Two months later Farel persuaded John Calvin to stay in the city. The countryside around Genève then saw reversals, depending on treaties and wars with Savoy and France. At Bernex, Charles Emmanuel of Savoy installed a Catholic priest in 1589; Catholic worship was restored at Confignon the same year and at Hermance after the Peace of Vervins in 1598. At Russin and Grand-Saconnex, the parish became Catholic again after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.
The villages that stayed Catholic
Some places remained Catholic in the middle of Reformed areas. At Le Landeron, a «plus» of 1541 kept Catholicism, and the small town became a Catholic island in the land of Neuchâtel; only Lignières, which belonged to the parish, became Protestant, in 1556.
In the common bailiwick of Orbe-Échallens, Échallens saw both faiths live side by side from 1536 to 1798: Catholics and Reformed shared the church. At Assens, the first pastor was appointed in 1585 and the church became shared; in 1619 the community refused to choose a single faith, and its council had six Catholic and six Protestant members. Malapalud remained Catholic as an annex of the parish of Assens. At Penthéréaz, the Catholics, at first tolerated, had to leave the municipality in 1675.
The Jura and Valais
In the prince-bishopric of Basel, the prince-bishop settled in Porrentruy from 1528, after Basel had adopted the Reformation. The Reformation reached the south of the bishopric in 1530 and 1531. At Moutier, it was adopted in 1531 by four fifths of the inhabitants, and the collegiate church was closed. The mayoralty of Courrendlin remained Catholic despite Bernese efforts, and in Porrentruy the Reformation had partial success between 1555 and 1580, before it was halted by Prince-Bishop Jacques Christophe Blarer de Wartensee.
Valais remained Catholic. In 1536, threatened by Bern, the town of Monthey placed itself under the protection of the Upper Valais districts, the dizains. In 1604 the Valais Diet, meeting at Visp, decided to remain Catholic; at Leuk, families drawn to the Reformation left for Bern, but most returned to the old faith.
Places mentioned
- Aigle
- Ollon
- Neuchâtel
- Corcelles
- Auvernier
- Boudry
- Valangin
- Le Landeron
- Lignières
- Orbe
- Grandson
- Yvonand
- Villars-Epeney
- Concise
- Novalles
- Goumoens-la-Ville
- Mex
- Échallens
- Assens
- Malapalud
- Poliez-le-Grand
- Penthéréaz
- Lausanne
- Payerne
- Romainmôtier
- Rougemont
- Genève
- Russin
- Bernex
- Confignon
- Hermance
- Le Grand-Saconnex
- Moutier
- Porrentruy
- Courrendlin
- Monthey
- Leuk