Maarten Koning – Page 16 – The Swiss Spectator

Lucens, Meiringen and Sherlock Holmes

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), the spiritual father of Sherlock Holmes, inhabited Lucens Castle (Canton Waadt) in 1965.

Some years later, the writer’s son opened a museum. Today, the Sherlock Holmes Museum (Musée Sherlock Holmes) is housed in the “Maison Rouge”.

The castle, or rather two castles, had other illustrious predecessors. The bishop of Lausanne built and inhabited the first castle in the 13th century, after which modifications in the 14th and 15th centuries gave it a Gothic appearance.

Image: Commune de Lucens

The bishop, an ally of the dukes of Savoy, often resided in Lucens. After the battle of Morat, confederate troops occupied the town and the castle for the first time in 1476. The Eidgenossen defeated (at Grandson that year and at Nancy in 1477) the Duke of Burgundy Charles the Bold (1433-1477), his allies Savoy, and the bishop of Lausanne.

Lucens castle, the new Berner building on the left

The Peace of Fribourg restored the old situation, but in 1536, it was definitely over for the bishop. Bern conquered the Pays de Vaud and Lucens that year. The bishop of Lausanne Sébastien de Montfaucon (1489-1560) had organised another glorious reception for Duke of Savoy Charles III (1486-1553) just in 1532. 1536 also marked the end of Catholicism in Lucens, and the Reformation made its appearance.

From 1536 to 1798, Bern’s bailiff resided in the castle, or rather the building on the left, the second castle. From 1801, the complex was owned by several new owners and occupants, including Sir Arthur.

However, there is another Sherlock Holmes museum in Switzerland, in Meiringen (canton of Bern). In this place, as he intended, Sir Arthur wrote his last Sherlock Holmes through the fatal fight between Sherlock and his archenemy Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach fall. However, several more adventures of this detective and Watson followed, and at least two museums in Switzerland.

(Source and further information: Commune de Lucens)

Lucens

The fortunes of Romont and Moudon

The old town centre of Romont (canton of Fribourg) with its town walls, towers, castle and church (Collégiale) Notre-Dame de l’Assomption (13th century) is situated on the famous round mountain Mont Rond (rotundus mons).

Collégiale Notre-Dame de l’Assomption after its (Gothic) renovation in the 15th century.

At the foot of the mountain is the Cistercian monastery de la Fille-Dieu (founded in 1268), as the name suggests, a convent for women (still in existence today).

Monastery de la Fille-Dieu

The town lies on the trade routes to Lausanne and Vevey (canton of Vaud) and Bulle and Fribourg (canton of Fribourg). The fact that Romont is located in the canton of Fribourg and not in the canton of Vaud is the fate of history in 1536.

From the old centre of this town along the Glâne River, there are views over the valley (Valloné) of the Pays de Glâne, the (Pre) Alps, including the Moléson and the Jura.

That year, Bern conquered Vaud (Pays du Vaud) from Savoy. At that time, Romont had already belonged to Savoy for centuries, and the Counts of Savoy called themselves ‘Lords of Moudon and Romont’ (Seigneurs de Moudon et Romont).

The castle (Grand Donjon), 1240, and renovations afterwards

The town wall, which is 1.5 kilometres long and has several towers, is still largely intact

The Counts of Savoy, from 1416 the Dukes of Savoy, were allies of the Dukes of Burgundy.

This alliance did not end well in 1476. Savoy and Romont sided with Duke Charles the Bold (1433-1477) in his war against the Confederation. After his defeats at Grandson and Morat (1476), the Confederates conquered and plundered Romont.

However, Savoy regained control of Romont in the Peace of Fribourg (1476). Other towns (Orbe, Grandson, Morat and Echallens) in Vaud were jointly administered by Fribourg (a member of the Confederation since 1481) and Bern and were lost to Savoy.

However, the joy over Savoy was (relatively) short-lived. In 1536, Protestant Bern conquered the whole of Vaud from Savoy. However, Romont sought the protection of Catholic Fribourg and belonged from then on to the canton of Fribourg.

Moudon

Moudon (in Roman times, the small vicus Minnodunum or Minnidunum) lies between the rivers de La Broye and La Mérine. Savoy acquired the town and its castle in 1219, before which it had been ruled by Celtic (Helvetic) tribes, Romans, Franks, two Burgundian kingdoms, the Counts of Geneva and the Dukes of Zähringen.

La Broye

Like Romont, the town was centrally located on the trade and transport routes. It flourished under the rule of Savoy and even became its administrative centre in Vaud in the 14th century.

The defeat of the Duke of Burgundy in 1476 and the Confederates’ capture of Moudon did not end Savoy’s rule. The Peace of Fribourg also restored Savoy’s rule in Moudon.

Maison des États de Vaud (14th centrury)

However, Bern’s conquest in 1536 signalled the final end of Savoy’s presence and the introduction of the Reformation. Bern exercised power until 1798 when Moudon became part of the canton of Vaud.

Conclusion

From 1536, the Dukes of Savoy no longer called themselves ‘Lords of Moudon and Romont’; Romont remained Catholic in the canton of Fribourg, and Moudon became Protestant and, from 1798, a town in the canton of Vaud.

(Source and further information: F. Walter, Histoire de Fribourg, Une ville-État pour l’éternité (XVIe-XVIIIe siècle) Tome 2, Neuchâtel, 2002; Ville de Romont; Commune de Moudon; L. Hubler, Histoire du Pays de Vaud, Lausanne 1991).

Impressions of Romont

Maison St.-Charles

The Grand Donjon and the Vitromusée Romont (Musée suisse du vitrail et des arts du verre, Glass Museum)

Impressions of Moudon

Maison neuve du Pont (1688)

Hôtel de Ville

Saint-Étienne de Moudon (13th-16th century)

Fontaine de la justice

La Grenette (Grain Market)

Maison de Cerjat puis Tacheron or Maison bernoise (14th century)

Château de Rochefort (Musée du Vieux-Moudon) and Maison de Denezy

Château de Carouge

The Church and (Roman) History of Saint-Saphorin

Saint-Saphorin’s (canton of Vaud) history begins in the mid-1st century AD with the construction of a Gallo-Roman villa not far from Vibiscum (present-day Vevey).

By the 5th century, the villa was abandoned. One of the rooms, located on the site of the current 16th-century church, was then converted into a mausoleum modelled on Roman catacombs.

Museum of Saint-Saphorin in the catacombs under the church

In the 6th century, a new mausoleum was used as a burial chapel. In the 7th century, it was converted into a church dedicated to Saint-Saphorin (St Symphorien).

The bishop and chapter of Lausanne exercised spiritual authority and political sovereignty until 1536. In the 13th century, the bishops built the fortress of Glérolles.

Saint Saphorin in 1694. Anonymous artist. Archives de la commune. Photo: Claude Bornand. Museum of Saint Saphorin

The current church was built in Gothic style between 1517 and 1530 on the initiative of the last bishop of Lausanne, Sébastien de Montfaucon (1489-1560). The central stained-glass window in the choir is the most important in the canton (after the rose window in Lausanne Cathedral). It depicts Sebastian of Montfaucon, the Virgin Mary with Child, and Saint Symphorien.

The exterior is particularly notable for the bell tower’s flat roof, as it was intended (but not realised) to build a tall stone spire on the tower.

In 1536, Bishop Sébastien de Montfaucon organised resistance in Lavaux to the threat of iconoclasm from Protestant Bern. The resistance was so strong that this window was spared, although the church became a (Protestant) temple.

Saint-Saphorin has retained its medieval character and lies amid Lavaux’s vineyards overlooking the Alps and Lake Geneva.