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Villages / Jura / Franches-Montagnes district / Malnuit

Malnuit

Canton of Jura · District: Franches-Montagnes · No published figure for the locality; the municipality of Saignelégier has 2'528 inhabitants (31.12.2025)
Part of the municipality of Saignelégier
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Malnuit

The old registers of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel speak of the « Bois de Montjoye ou Mallenuit ». The name itself has received no explanation.[4]

Founding of Malnuit

Malnuit's beginnings are undated, but a deed of 1330 already sets the bounds of its lordship. The hamlet formed a small lordship, part of the barony of Montjoie. The barony's castle, mentioned from 1278, stood on the French bank of the Doubs, and its lands extended on both sides of the river. Under the Ancien Régime the woods of Malnuit, though land of the lordship of Montjoie, belonged to the parish of Saignelégier. Malnuit later passed to the Prince-Bishopric of Basel by a treaty with France. Under the Bernese regime it formed the second section of the mixed municipality of Les Pommerats. It now belongs to the municipality of Saignelégier.[1][4]

History of Malnuit

1278. First mention of the castle of the lords of Montjoie, whose lordship extends on both sides of the Doubs (history of the barony, of which Malnuit was a part).[2]

1330. On 15 October a deed sets the bounds of the lordship of Malnuit.[4]

1635. Montjoie castle is destroyed by Franco-Swedish troops (history of the barony).[2]

1780. By a treaty with France, the small lordship of Malnuit is ceded to the Prince-Bishopric of Basel.[1]

1783. On 26 April Prince-Bishop Joseph-Sigismond de Roggenbach creates the parish of Les Pommerats, detaching several places, Malnuit among them, from the mother church of Saignelégier.[4]

1800. On 17 February the law on the territorial division of the French Republic lists Malnuit among the communes of the canton of Saignelégier, in the department of Haut-Rhin.[4]

1815. Start of the Bernese regime. Malnuit forms the second section of the mixed municipality of Les Pommerats.

1870. On 31 July the municipal assembly examines the estimate for a road from Les Pommerats to Malnuit.[4]

1948. On 20 January the municipal assembly votes 3'000 francs to bring electricity to the Malnuit farms.[4]

1954. On 3 May the municipal assembly rejects building a school at Malnuit.[4]

1974. Abolition of the Malnuit section.[1]

1977. On 24 March a fire strikes the large farm at Malnuit.[4]

1995. The municipal assembly of Les Pommerats sells the Malnuit farm.[4]

2006. On 20 December the municipal assembly of Les Pommerats votes 135'000 francs for the forest access road to Malnuit.[4]

2009. On 1 January Les Pommerats merges with Saignelégier and Goumois. Malnuit has since been part of the municipality of Saignelégier.[1]

Population of Malnuit

Sources and references: [4]

Population of Malnuit
178934 inhabitants
180139 inhabitants

Historic sites in Malnuit

Hamlet of Malnuit. Former small lordship of the barony of Montjoie, passed to the Prince-Bishopric of Basel in 1780, then a section of the municipality of Les Pommerats until 1974.[1]

Sources

  1. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Les Pommerats » (François Kohler), version du 13.07.2020
  2. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Montjoie » (Jean Courtieu), version du 13.05.2008
  3. geo.admin.ch (swisstopo), recherche de lieux « Malnuit »
  4. Chronologie jurassienne (Denis Moine), « Malnuit, Les Pommerats »

Other villages near Malnuit

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