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Villages / Fribourg / Broye district / Vuissens

Vuissens

Canton of Fribourg · District: Broye · 253 inhabitants (2016, former municipality of Vuissens, last figure before the merger)
Part of the municipality of Estavayer
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Remains Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Vuissens

Around 1200 the village is written « Vuicens » or « Guicens ». The meaning of the name has not been established.[1]

Founding of Vuissens

Vuissens is a street village surrounded by Vaud territory. Settlement probably goes back to the land clearances of the High Middle Ages. Around 1200 a family of minor nobility holds the lordship, which includes Démoret, and the castle built in the 1270s becomes its centre. The village long belongs to the parish of Démoret and only gets its own parish after that neighbour turns Protestant. Farming still provides 57 % of jobs in 2005. Vuissens is now part of the municipality of Estavayer (merger of 2017).[1][2]

History of Vuissens

Around 1200. The village appears as « Vuicens » and « Guicens ». The lordship, which also includes Démoret, then belongs to a family of minor nobility bearing the name of the place.[1]

1244. Richard II of Saint-Martin-du-Chêne swears allegiance to Peter II of Savoy. Vuissens remains under Savoyard overlordship until 1536.[2]

1273-1274. The great tower of the castle goes up. In 1283 the lordship is held by the lords of Saint-Martin-du-Chêne.[2]

1382. The chapel of Saint-Vincent, outside the village, belongs to the parish of Démoret. From 1393-1397 the faithful prefer the castle chapel.[1][2]

1507. The brothers Michel and Guillaume Musard become lords of Vuissens. The main residential wing of the castle is remodelled in 1521-1530.[2]

1536. During the conquest of the Pays de Vaud, Fribourg seizes the lordship. Vuissens becomes a Catholic stronghold.[1][2]

1583-1585 (ou 1563). As Démoret has become Protestant, the chapel of Saint-Vincent is detached from it and becomes the seat of a parish. Angelin Grangier is its first known priest, in 1575.[1][3]

1598. Fribourg buys the lordship, which had changed hands thirteen times since the 13th century.[1][2]

1603-1604. The lordship joins the bailiwick of Font-La Molière, which takes the name Font-Vuissens. The bailiff moves into the castle in 1604 and his successors live there until 1798.[1][2]

1663 (ou 1666). Prévondavaux, which stayed Catholic while its parish of Denezy turned Protestant, is attached to Vuissens.[1][3]

1699-1701. The chapel of Saint-Vincent is rebuilt in 1699. Two years later a fire destroys the village, which is rebuilt.[1][2][3]

1798. A small band from Murist, Montborget and La Vounaise occupies the castle and puts the bailiff to flight.[4]

1803-1805. The castle chapel is pulled down in 1803. The parish church of Saint-Vincent and its cemetery are laid out in the centre of the village in 1805.[1][2][3]

1854. A school opens in the old press house, which also holds a cheese dairy and the schoolmaster's lodging.[2]

1931-1932. Fernand Dumas remodels the church and adds a detached tower and a porch.[2]

2001. An 18-hole golf course opens south-east of the village, and a restaurant moves into the castle.[1][2]

2017. On 1 January Vuissens merges with Bussy, Estavayer-le-Lac, Morens, Murist, Rueyres-les-Prés and Vernay into the municipality of Estavayer.[1][2]

Population of Vuissens

Sources and references: [1][2]

Population of Vuissens
1850284
1900247
1950276
2000171
2016253

Historic sites in Vuissens

Vuissens castle. Its great tower dates from 1273-1274 and its residential wing was remodelled in 1521-1530. Seat of the Fribourg bailiffs from 1604 to 1798, it keeps the coats of arms of 17 of them in its north-west room. Its corner tower was lowered by six metres in 1905. Restored in 2002, it houses a restaurant.[2]

Church of Saint-Vincent. Built in 1805 in the centre of the village, the church received a new choir in 1886-1898, then a tower and porch by Fernand Dumas in 1931-1932.[1][2]

Pietà of Notre-Dame de Compassion. This 15th-century wooden statue stood in the castle chapel. The villagers are said to have bought it in 1536 from the people of Saint-Cierges for seven measures of dried pears. It was restored in 1999.[3]

The village. A street village forming an enclave in Vaud territory, Vuissens is listed in the federal inventory of Swiss heritage sites of national importance (ISOS). It has the former parsonage of 1825, which looks like a farmhouse, and the Croix-Blanche inn of 1907.[1][2]

Remains in Vuissens

Former chapel of Saint-Vincent. Recorded in 1382 and rebuilt in 1699, it stood outside the village to the north-west, on the site of the old cemetery. It has disappeared.[1][3]

Castle chapel. Dedicated to Notre-Dame de Compassion, it was used for worship from the late 14th century until it was pulled down in 1803.[1][2][3]

Sources

  1. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Vuissens » (Kathrin Utz Tremp, version du 05.05.2017)
  2. Inventaire fédéral des sites construits d'importance nationale (ISOS), « Vuissens » (n° 1589)
  3. Paroisse Saint-Laurent Estavayer, « Communauté de Vuissens »
  4. Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Murist » (Marianne Rolle, version du 06.04.2017)

Other villages near Vuissens

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