Montaubion-Chardonney

Canton of Vaud · District: Gros-de-Vaud · 69 inhabitants (2009, last census before the 2011 merger)

Part of the municipality of Jorat-Menthue

Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Legends Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Montaubion-Chardonney

The current name results from the joining of two distinct hamlets, Montaubion and Chardonney, located on the right bank of the Menthue, in the wooded region of the Jorat. Montaubion first appears in writing around 1200 in the Latin form "in Monte Albeonis", then in 1223 in the form "Montalbium". This place name literally means the «mount of Albéon» (mons Albeonis) and refers to a figure named Albéon who is said to have occupied this height; this explanation of the personal name is, however, attested by only a single source consulted and would deserve to be cross-checked. Chardonney is mentioned in 1223 in the form "Chardenai", a name generally linked to the word «chardon» (thistle), a plant said to have been characteristic of the local vegetation at that time. The communal coat of arms adopted in 1927, "gules a thistle argent issuing from a mount of the same", moreover plays on this twofold speaking etymology (the mount of Montaubion and the thistle of Chardonney). The precise date on which the two hamlets of Montaubion and Chardonney were administratively united into a single municipality is not known: the sources consulted attest the combined entity «Montaubion-Chardonney» only from the 18th century onward (18 hearths recorded in 1764), without specifying exactly since when this union had already existed.

Founding of Montaubion-Chardonney

There is no single founder nor any known founding act for Montaubion-Chardonney: like most hamlets of the Jorat, the two villages developed gradually during the Middle Ages around the agricultural and forestry exploitation of the plateau, under the authority of ecclesiastical seigneuries. The territory was attached to that of Dommartin, where the bishop of Lausanne was already asserting rights in 908. In 1223, Montaubion and Chardonney are both cited as possessions of the cathedral chapter of Lausanne. The abbey of Montheron also held local rights there, attested in 1393 and ceded to Berne in 1725. Administratively and judicially, the two hamlets depended on the chapter castellany of Dommartin, which also encompassed the neighbouring localities of Sugnens, Naz, Peyres-Possens and Villars-Tiercelin, and which remained independent of the bishop of Lausanne until 1536. In the 15th century, the Belley family (of Chardonney) and the Jaccaud family (of Montaubion) held the office of gatekeepers of the château of Dommartin, seat of this castellany. After the Bernese conquest of the Pays de Vaud in 1536, the territory was incorporated into the bailiwick of Lausanne, under Bernese administration, until 1798. At the same time, the castellany of Dommartin saw several witchcraft trials in the 15th and 16th centuries, whose records have been preserved; these trials concerned the whole castellany and not only Montaubion-Chardonney in particular. With the fall of the Ancien Régime in 1798, Montaubion-Chardonney became a fully-fledged Vaud municipality, then with 112 inhabitants, and was attached to the district of Moudon until the 2006 reform of the Vaud districts, which moved it into the district of Gros-de-Vaud.

History of Montaubion-Chardonney

908. The bishop of Lausanne asserts his rights over the territory of Dommartin, on which the region of Montaubion and Chardonney depends.

around 1200. First known written mention of Montaubion, in the Latin form «in Monte Albeonis».

1223. Montaubion («Montalbium») and Chardonney («Chardenai») are both mentioned as possessions of the cathedral chapter of Lausanne.

1393. Local rights of the abbey of Montheron over the territory are attested by documents.

15th-16th centuries. Several witchcraft trials take place in the castellany of Dommartin, on which Montaubion and Chardonney depend; the Belley and Jaccaud families hold the office of gatekeepers of the château of Dommartin.

1536. Bernese conquest of the Pays de Vaud: the territory comes under Bernese administration, incorporated into the bailiwick of Lausanne.

1725. The rights of the abbey of Montheron over the locality are ceded to Berne.

1764. Census of 18 hearths (households) at Montaubion-Chardonney.

1798. End of the Bernese Ancien Régime; Montaubion-Chardonney becomes an independent Vaud municipality, with 112 inhabitants. Attachment to the district of Moudon.

1927. Adoption of the communal coat of arms: "gules a thistle argent issuing from a mount of the same", a speaking symbol evoking the village's name and its former dependence on the chapter of Lausanne.

1938. Closure of the village school, for lack of a sufficient number of pupils.

2000. The municipality now has only 74 inhabitants and five farms; traditional crafts (carpentry, wheelwrighting, farriery, milling) disappeared during the course of the 20th century.

2006. Reform of the Vaud districts: Montaubion-Chardonney moves from the district of Moudon to the new district of Gros-de-Vaud.

12 October 2010. The Vaud Grand Council adopts the decree authorizing the merger of Montaubion-Chardonney with Peney-le-Jorat, Sottens, Villars-Mendraz and Villars-Tiercelin.

1 July 2011. Montaubion-Chardonney loses its status as an independent municipality and becomes a village of the new merged municipality of Jorat-Menthue.

Population of Montaubion-Chardonney

18 hearths (households)

1764

112

1798

126

1850

116

1900

1950

2000

69 (last figure before the 2011 merger; since then, the population is no longer counted separately but is included in that of Jorat-Menthue)

2009

Population of Montaubion-Chardonney
1764	18 hearths (households)
1798	112
1850	126
1900	116
1950	90
2000	74
2009	69 (last figure before the 2011 merger; since then, the population is no longer counted separately but is included in that of Jorat-Menthue)

Historic sites in Montaubion-Chardonney

The former school and its arboretum. The building of the village's former school is said, according to the source consulted, to be of ancient origin; this very early dating would nonetheless deserve to be cross-checked by other sources. It ceased to function as a communal school in 1938. Behind this building an arboretum has been laid out, straddling the banks of the Mogin stream, crossed by small wooden bridges, today a pleasant place for walks in the village.

The hamlet of Chardonney and the hamlet of Montaubion. The village retains the trace of its twofold origin through the two hamlets that make it up, located on the right bank of the Menthue, above the gorges carved by the river. The village's inhabitants bear, according to the source consulted, the local nickname of the «Medza-Papey».

Legends of Montaubion-Chardonney

The brigands of the Jorat. The Jorat forest, in which Montaubion-Chardonney is located, is associated in regional local memory with the legend of the «brigands of the Jorat», bands said to have plagued the region in a more recent period (18th-19th centuries according to popular accounts). This information, however, comes from only a single source consulted, which does not specify any direct and specific link between these brigands and the village of Montaubion-Chardonney itself rather than the Jorat region in general; it would therefore deserve to be cross-checked before being presented as an established fact specific to the village.

Sources

Other villages near Montaubion-Chardonney

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