Dommartin
Origin of the name Dommartin
The name Dommartin appears as early as 908 in the Latin form « in Domno Martino villa », then as « Domnomartino » around 1141 and as « in territorio de Dunmartin » in 1160. It combines the term « dominus », used here in an honorific sense close to « saint », with the name Martin, in reference to Saint Martin of Tours (circa 316-397), to whom the local church is dedicated. This type of compound place name is common in French-speaking Switzerland and eastern France.
Founding of Dommartin
Dommartin has no single identifiable founder. The site is thought to have first belonged to the Rudolphian royal domain before passing to the Church of Lausanne in 908. It was the cathedral chapter of Lausanne that, between 1180 and 1190, had a fortified town built there, under the responsibility of a canon or jurist referred to in the sources as Bandino de Pise, and granted it the law of Lausanne. The village then became the centre of a vast chapter castellany, entirely independent of the bishop.
History of Dommartin
908. First attested mention of the domain, which passes from the Rudolphian royal fisc to the Church of Lausanne.
1180-1190. Construction of a fortified town by the cathedral chapter of Lausanne, under the responsibility of Bandino de Pise; the place receives the law of Lausanne.
1228. First attested church at Dommartin.
1235. The fortified town has about a hundred hearths before being destroyed by fire.
1317. The place has only about forty hearths left, a sign of continuing decline.
until 1536. Dommartin remains the centre of a chapter castellany independent of the bishop of Lausanne.
1448. The number of hearths falls to only about ten.
1536-1798. The castellany becomes Bernese (bailiwick of Lausanne) and also includes Sugnens, Naz, Peyres-Possens, Montaubion-Chardonney and Villars-Tiercelin.
15th-16th centuries. The castellany is the scene of numerous witchcraft trials, whose files are preserved.
around 1547. A second major fire destroys the church and many houses; the village is rebuilt closer to its present location, at the place known as le Vieux-Temple, while the castle and the lower town are abandoned.
1602. Construction of the former parsonage, which is said to have partly served as a prison from 1705 (to be cross-checked against the mention of a castle tower used as a prison in the early 18th century).
1733-1735. Construction of the current Reformed church, dedicated to Saint Martin, partly reusing stone from the previous building.
1798-2006. Dommartin belongs to the district of Echallens.
1844-1845. Construction of the school building by the architects Henri Perregaux and Achille de La Harpe.
1900. The ruins of the medieval castle are listed.
1901. The church's bell tower is raised.
1918. The municipality adopts a coat of arms depicting a crenellated wall and a silver tower, in memory of the fortified castle.
1956. An interior choir is added to the church, altering its original layout.
2006. Dissolution of the district of Echallens; Dommartin moves into the new district of Gros-de-Vaud.
2011. On 1 July, Dommartin merges with Naz, Poliez-le-Grand and Sugnens to form the new municipality of Montilliez.
Population of Dommartin
| 1764 | 164 |
| 1850 | 245 |
| 1870 | 260 |
| 1900 | 207 |
| 1950 | 195 |
| 1970 | 140 |
| 2000 | 241 |
| 2009 | 266 |
Historic sites in Dommartin
Reformed church of Dommartin. Built in 1733-1735 on the site of the Vieux-Temple, this building with a wide octagonal nave partly reuses stone from an earlier church destroyed by fire in the mid-16th century. Its bell tower was raised in 1901 and an interior choir was added in 1956. Two of its bells date from 1893 (Paintandre foundry, Vitry-le-François) and two others from 1929 (Ruetschi foundry, Aarau).
Former parsonage. Built in 1602, the former parsonage of Dommartin is said to have been partly used as a prison from 1705, at a time when the village was no more than a small hamlet after the castle had been abandoned.
School building. Built in 1844-1845 by the architects Henri Perregaux and Achille de La Harpe.
Remains in Dommartin
Ruins of the château of Dommartin. In the Bois des Planches, which overlooks the village cemetery, the last remains survive of an important castle that was, until 1536, the centre of a vast chapter castellany independent of the bishop of Lausanne. The fortified town built around the castle still had about a hundred hearths in 1235, before a destructive fire; it then declined sharply (about forty hearths in 1317, about ten in 1448). After a second fire around 1547, the castle and the lower town are permanently abandoned and the village is rebuilt closer to its present location. The surviving tower is said to have still served as a prison in the early 18th century (to be cross-checked against the mention of a parsonage used for the same purpose from 1705), before it too disappeared; only ruins remain, listed in 1900 and today accessible as a visitable archaeological site.
Legends of Dommartin
The ordeal of the hot iron (908). According to an account reported by the municipality (to be cross-checked, as at this stage it rests on only a single source consulted), a dispute arising in 908 over bishop Boson's rights to the domain's forests is said to have been settled by an ordeal: a priest named Arulfe reportedly held a white-hot iron to attest the validity of the episcopal rights, in keeping with the medieval judicial practice of trial by ordeal.
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, article « Dommartin »
- Wikipédia, « Dommartin (Vaud) »
- Wikipedia (EN), « Dommartin, Vaud »
- Patrimoine antique vaudois, « Dommartin, le Château »
- Swisscastles, « Château de Dommartin »
- Commune de Montilliez, « Histoire de la commune »
- État de Vaud, « Sites archéologiques visitables »
- Quasimodo, sonneur de cloches, « Cloches de Dommartin (VD), temple réformé »
Other villages near Dommartin
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