Mézières

Origin of the name Mézières

The name Mézières comes from the Latin « maceriae », which designated a wall, in particular a ruined wall, a word that gave in Old French « maisière », with the same meaning of the ruins of a building. The name of the place went through numerous graphic variants before stabilizing: « Maiseriis » (1150), « Maseres » (1161, in a deed naming a certain Paganus de Maseres), « Maseriis » (1170), « Masieres » (1177), « Maisieres » (1180, in a deed naming a certain Jordanus de Maisieres), « Masirie » (1184), « Maceriis » (1186), « Messeretes » (1228), « Mayseres » (1290), « Mayseriis » (1292), then « Mexieres » (still attested in 1453), before becoming « Mézières ». The idea of « ruined walls » could refer to the remains of an ancient building, perhaps linked to the Gallo-Roman villa attested on the village's territory, around which the place may have developed; however, the sources consulted do not settle this point with certainty (to be cross-checked).

Founding of Mézières

Mézières has no founder and no precisely identifiable founding date: the village took shape gradually, like many localities of the Jorat, around a rural settlement whose occupation dates back to Antiquity. A Bronze Age axe, the remains of an aqueduct and a Gallo-Roman villa, as well as an early medieval necropolis, attest to a continuous human presence long before the first written mentions. Mézières then develops as a large street-village, built at the crossing of two important roads, the one linking Vevey to Moudon and the one linking Oron to Echallens, which favors its role as a place of passage and exchange. On the feudal level, the village originally belonged to the seigneury of Vulliens, from which it separates around 1370 to form, with the neighboring village of Les Cullayes, its own co-seigneury. The village thus results from a slow structuring of an ancient agricultural settlement into a village community, then into a distinct seigneurial entity in the late Middle Ages, rather than from a single founding act.

History of Mézières

Bronze Age. A Bronze Age axe, found on the village's territory, is the oldest known evidence of human presence at Mézières.

Roman era. A Gallo-Roman villa (an ancient agricultural estate) and the remains of an aqueduct attest to the existence of an organized rural settlement during Antiquity.

Early Middle Ages. An early medieval necropolis is discovered on the village's territory, confirming continuous occupation after the Roman period.

1150. First known written mention of the place, in the Latin form « Maiseriis ».

1161. The place is mentioned in the form « Maseres », in a deed naming a certain Paganus de Maseres.

1180. The place is mentioned in the form « Maisieres », in a deed naming a certain Jordanus de Maisieres.

1228. The village is mentioned in the form « Messeretes ». This period also marks the oldest known mention of its parish church; the parish has existed since the 13th century.

around 1370. The village separates from the seigneury of Vulliens to form, with the neighboring village of Les Cullayes, a co-seigneury of its own belonging to Mézières and Les Cullayes.

1453. The place's name is attested in the form « Mexieres », close to its present form.

around 1536-1544. The seigneury passes from the hands of the de Blonay family to those of the de Lenzbourg family.

1536. Following the Bernese conquest of the Pays de Vaud, Mézières comes under the authority of Berne and henceforth depends on the Bernese bailiwick of Moudon.

around 1550 (to be cross-checked). According to one source, the woods of the Jorat were then infested with brigands threatening travelers; the Basel physician and chronicler Félix Platter is said to have had to flee by night from an inn in Mézières to escape this danger. This road insecurity is said to have persisted until the 18th century.

1544-1798. The co-seigneury of Mézières passes successively into the hands of several families, notably Meyer, Du Moulin, de Graffenried then de Diesbach, until the fall of the Ancien Régime in 1798.

17th century. Mézières shares a common school with the neighboring village of Carrouge.

1706-1707. Construction of the village's present temple (Reformed church).

1730 or 1756 (to be cross-checked). A parsonage is built or established at Mézières; the sources consulted do not agree on the exact date, one giving 1730 and the other 1756, but they agree that it becomes the seat of the local consistory.

1779-1792 (to be cross-checked). A village pastor named Martin is accused of high treason for having contested the tithe levied on potatoes under the Bernese regime. Arrested in 1791, he is imprisoned in Berne for four months before a ruling of 4 April 1791 frees him and grants him compensation. His return is said to have been triumphant; this episode is said to have later inspired the play « La Dîme » by René Morax.

1798. The fall of the Ancien Régime ends the rights of the co-lords. The Pays de Vaud becomes for a time the canton of Léman within the Helvetic Republic, and Mézières is attached to the Vaud district of Oron.

1803. The Act of Mediation creates the canton of Vaud as we know it today. Mézières remains attached to the district of Oron and then has 290 inhabitants.

1850. The village has 476 inhabitants.

1874. Birth in Mézières of Henri Guisan, future general of the Swiss army during the Second World War, son of the village doctor Charles-Ernest Guisan.

1883. Founding of a cooperative dairy society in the village.

1899 (to be cross-checked). According to one source, a railway company of the Jorat is founded that year, with a view to building a railway line connecting the region to Lausanne and to Moudon.

1900. The village has 498 inhabitants.

November 1902. Opening of the La Sallaz-Moudon railway line, with an important station at Mézières.

15 April 1903. First performance of the play « La Dîme » by René Morax, given in a tram depot on the occasion of the centenary of the canton of Vaud's entry into the Swiss Confederation. Its success convinces the author of the viability of a theater in a rural setting.

9 May 1908. Inauguration of the Théâtre du Jorat, built entirely of wood by René Morax on the model of the Théâtre du Peuple of Bussang, in France. Nicknamed « the sublime barn » or the « wooden palace » by the inhabitants, it offers more than 1000 seats according to most sources (one source mentions 1200 seats, to be cross-checked).

1921 (to be cross-checked). The Théâtre du Jorat is said to have hosted the premiere of the oratorio « Le Roi David » by Arthur Honegger, to a libretto by René Morax; this information would deserve to be cross-checked with a source specialized in music history before definitive publication.

1923. On the occasion of the bicentenary of the death of Abraham Davel, the entire Swiss Federal Council attends the show « Davel » by Morax and Gustave Doret at the Théâtre du Jorat. The village temple is restored that same year.

1950. The village has 494 inhabitants.

1962 (to be cross-checked). Closure of the Lausanne-Moudon railway line and of the Mézières station; according to another source, buses replace the trams the following year, in 1963.

1970. The village has 540 inhabitants.

1978. New restoration of the temple. Opening of an intermunicipal secondary school in Mézières.

1980. The village has 714 inhabitants.

2000. The village has 969 inhabitants.

31 December 2014. The municipality of Mézières has 1'193 inhabitants, its last known figure before the merger.

1 July 2016. Mézières merges with the neighboring municipalities of Carrouge and Ferlens to form the new municipality of Jorat-Mézières, of which Mézières becomes the chief town.

Population of Mézières

Population of Mézières

1432	10 hearths
1803	290
1850	476
1900	498
1950	494
1970	540
1980	714
2000	969
2014	1'193

Historic sites in Mézières

Théâtre du Jorat. Inaugurated on 9 May 1908, this theater, built entirely of wood by René Morax, is nicknamed « the sublime barn » by the inhabitants, as its architecture draws on the surrounding barns and farms. It is today listed as a Swiss cultural heritage asset of national importance and remains an active venue for theatrical and musical creation, offering more than 1000 seats according to most sources.

The temple (Reformed church) of Mézières. Built in 1706-1707, restored in 1923 then in 1978, the temple is the village's Reformed place of worship. A parsonage is associated with it, which became the seat of the local consistory.

The former Mézières station. From 1902 to 1962, Mézières had an important station on the railway line linking La Sallaz (Lausanne) to Moudon, testifying to the village's development in the industrial era, before the line's closure.

Remains in Mézières

Bronze Age axe. An axe dating from the Bronze Age was found on the village's territory; it is the oldest known archaeological find of Mézières. The sources consulted do not specify either the exact location or the date of discovery.

Gallo-Roman villa and remains of an aqueduct. The remains of a Gallo-Roman villa, that is an ancient agricultural estate, as well as the remains of an aqueduct, have been identified on the village's territory. The details of the excavations are not specified in the available sources.

Early medieval necropolis. A necropolis dating from the early Middle Ages was also uncovered on the territory of Mézières, confirming the continuous occupation of the site after Antiquity.

Sources

• Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (HLS/DHS) - Mézières (VD)
• Wikipédia (français) - Mézières (Vaud)
• Wikipedia (allemand) - Mézières VD
• Wikipédia (français) - Théâtre du Jorat
• Wikipédia (français) - Henri Guisan
• Commune de Jorat-Mézières - Historique
• Mézières au fil du temps (ouvrage, 1987)

Other villages near Mézières

• Ferlens (VD)
• Carrouge (VD)
• Corcelles-le-Jorat (VD)
• Servion (VD)
• Montpreveyres (VD)