The new towns of Savoy in French-speaking Switzerland
From the 13th century to 1536, the House of Savoy ruled much of present-day French-speaking Switzerland: the Pays de Vaud, the Chablais and part of Valais. It founded towns, built castles and granted charters of liberties. Several small towns in Vaud and Valais date from this period.
From the Chablais to the Pays de Vaud
The Savoyard presence began in the Chablais. According to the page on Saint-Maurice, the Chablais passed to Savoy in 1034, and Saint-Maurice formed a castellany with Monthey. Around 1214 Count Thomas I granted a charter of liberties to the «ville neuve de Chillon», today's Villeneuve. Chillon Castle, in the municipality of Veytaux, controlled the route along the lake towards the Great St Bernard.
In the Pays de Vaud, the House of Savoy acquired its first rights in 1207. Thomas I then took control of Moudon, and the Treaty of Burier confirmed this possession in 1219. In 1231 the count also raised the church quarter of Aigle to the status of a borough. The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland dates Peter II of Savoy's takeover of the country to about 1240-1260.
Peter II and the new towns
Peter II of Savoy bought land, received homage and founded new towns, often around a castle. Cudrefin was sold to him in 1246, and the new town there was probably founded between 1246 and 1255. At La Tour-de-Peilz, he acquired the territory between 1248 and 1255 and had a castle built. At Yverdon, he began building the castle and the new town around 1258; the town was officially founded on 26 April 1260. On Lake Geneva, he had a fortress surrounded by a borough built at Versoix between 1258 and 1268.
In 1260, defeated by Peter of Savoy, the Count of Geneva ceded Les Clées to him; the town received liberties around 1272. Several local lords became his vassals: the pages on Bavois, Treytorrens and Cronay mention homage paid to Peter II between 1255 and 1263.
The successors: Morges, Nyon, Rolle
Peter II's successors continued the expansion along the north shore of Lake Geneva. Count Philip I founded a new town at La Tour-de-Peilz in 1282. Louis I of Savoy founded the new town of Morges in 1286, protected by a castle. In 1293 Nyon, until then held by the lords of Prangins, passed to Savoy. In 1319 Count Amadeus V founded Rolle by a show of force; the page on Rolle presents this foundation as the last stage of Savoyard expansion on the north shore of the lake.
The liberties of Moudon
The Savoyard towns received charters that set out the rights of the inhabitants towards their lord. Those of Moudon, drawn up in 1285, served as a model for the other towns of the Pays de Vaud: the inhabitants of Rolle received the liberties of Moudon in 1319, and Grandcour enjoyed the customs of Moudon from 1293.
Other charters followed in the 14th century: Vevey received its own from Count Amadeus VI in 1370. In Valais, Savoy granted liberties to Sembrancher as early as 1239, to Conthey and Monthey in 1352, to Martigny in 1399, and confirmed those of Saint-Maurice in 1317.
Valais, a disputed border
In Valais, the Savoyard lands bordered those of the Bishop of Sion. Saillon became the seat of a Savoyard castellany in 1257, and Conthey the chief town of the count's lands in central Valais in 1254. Peter II and the bishop concluded a treaty in 1260. The conflicts went on: in 1352 Sion was taken, burned and looted by Savoyard knights.
In 1475, under Bishop Walter Supersaxo, the Valaisans defeated the Savoyard army at La Planta, in Sion, and subjected Lower Valais. Nendaz then passed to the districts (dizains) of Upper Valais. During this conquest, which reached Massongex in 1475 and 1476, Monthey bought its independence; in 1536, threatened by Bern, the town placed itself under the protection of the dizains.
1536: the end of Savoyard Vaud
In 1536 Bern and Fribourg conquered the Pays de Vaud. Nyon was taken without resistance and became, like Yverdon, the seat of a Bernese bailiwick. Moudon lost its role as the administrative capital of the country, but also became the seat of a bailiwick. The same year, Bern and its allies entered the Chablais: at Hermance, the Savoyard villages had to adopt the Reformation.
Around Genève, the Bernese occupation lasted only about thirty years. By the Treaty of Lausanne of 1564, which came into force in 1567, Bern returned part of these territories to the Duke of Savoy, with a clause keeping Reformed worship where it had been introduced, as the page on Bernex states. At Corsier, the Savoyard restoration brought back Catholicism, and Laconnex came under the joint sovereignty of Genève and Savoy. The conflicts with Genève continued: in December 1602 the Duke of Savoy's attack on Genève, the Escalade, failed, and the Treaty of Saint-Julien recognised the city's independence in 1603. Between 1668 and 1672 the duke had the château of Bellerive built at Collonge-Bellerive.
Places mentioned
- Moudon
- Villeneuve
- Veytaux
- Aigle
- Yverdon-les-Bains
- Cudrefin
- La Tour-de-Peilz
- Les Clées
- Morges
- Nyon
- Rolle
- Vevey
- Versoix
- Saint-Maurice
- Monthey
- Saillon
- Conthey
- Sembrancher
- Martigny
- Sion
- Nendaz
- Genève
- Hermance
- Bernex
- Corsier
- Laconnex
- Collonge-Bellerive
- Colombier