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![[Flag of Chablais Region]](../images/c/ch-chabl.gif)
image by Pascal Gross
Argent Billety of Sable, a Lion rampant of the same langued and armed
Gules.Chablais is one of the traditional
provinces of Savoy, and also a region in Switzerland, the "two" Chablais having
been in the past a single domain. The presentation of the history of Chablais
given below is based on the lecture Vous avez dit Chablais?, given by
Bernard Sache on 14 May 2002 in Douvaine, and unfortunately unpublished. Bernard
Sache is a retired teacher in history and geography currently doing research on
the history of Chablais. He has already published a book entitle Meillerie,
ou les caillous de la gloire (Editions Le Vieil Annecy, 2003) and is
preparing a more ambitious study on Chablais under the great Amedees. Additional
information can be found in the presentation of Thonon.
Until the VIIIth century BC, human settlements were set up on the shore of
the Lake Leman, mostly between Tougues and Thonon; the lakeside villages built
on piles stuck into the lake are called palaffites. These early settlers
knew how to work bronze, which were not available locally but was easily shipped
via the lake. This was the only period in history where industrialization really
existed in Chablais. During the late Bronze Age, settlement moved inland, along
the line Veigy-Douvaine-Thonon as far as the foothills of the Voirons massif,
and even to Lullin, beyond this massif.
There are very few remains of
these settlers, who were replaced by new Celtic settlers classified among the
Ligurians. The newcomers came from the East of Europe, spoke an Indo-European
language and worked iron. They came in two waves, the first one between 900 and
500 BC, the second one between 500 and 50 BC. The latter wave is the only
significant one for Chablais. The settlers, called the Allobroges, most probably
colonized the lower territories whereas the earlier settlers moved up into the
mountains and developed a civilization based on cattle breeding. The Allobroges
were subjected by the Romans in 121 BC and helped them to held the Hevetes in
check.
During the Gallo-Roman period, Chablais was mostly settled by
villae (big estates) and a few urban centers, the most significant being
Douvaine, Bons and Thonon. The river Dranse constituted a natural border to
colonization: no significant settlement seems to have existed beyond the Dranse,
including in Evian, which is one of the few French thermal cities without a
Gallo-Roman history.
After the Great Invasions, Chablais was incorporated
into the Kingdom of Burgundy, which was one of the most stable "states" at that
time. In 1032, King Rodolphe died without a male heir and was succeeded by
German Emperor Konrad, who claimed to defend the interests of Rodolphe's widow.
Count Humbert, who owned domains near the cities of Chambery and Bellay, in
Lower Dauphine and in Val d'Aosta, supported Konrad, who awarded him "gatekeeper
of the Alps", with the title of Count of Chablais. Humbert was also the
protector of the Christian religion, which had flourished in Chablais since King
of Burgundy Sigismond founded the St. Maurice's abbey in Agaune in 515 to
emphasize his conversion. Humbert's successor, Pierre I, increased his position
by helping Emperor of Germany Henri IV to cross the Alps on his way to Canossa.
He was rewarded the permanent protection of the St. Maurice's abbey and the
domain between the cities of Martigny and Vevey (today in Switzerland, shared
between the cantons of Valais and Vaud). A place called Pennoslacos,
located on the lakeshore on the road linking the rivers Rhone and Rhine, was
part of this domain. The Celtic toponym Pennoslacos, meaning the lake's
head (end) was Latinized by clerks into Caput Lacis, which later gave
Chablais. Caput Lacis was then used to designate the St. Maurice's abbey
domain, which equaled the territory granted by the Emperor to Pierre I. The late
toponymist Albert Dauzat relates Chablais to chable, the name given
locally to a corridor opened in a mountain forest in order to retrieve cut
trees, but this hypothesis does not seem to be supported by any evidence.
The further history of Chablais is linked to the big ambitions of the Counts
of Savoy, who attempted to become Kings as the "natural heirs" of the Kingdom of
Burgundy and to reunify their domains scattered all over the Alps. In the XIth
and XIIth century, the abbey of Agaune set up daughter abbeys in Abondance,
whereas the Cistercians founded an abbey in the Val d'Aups. In the same time,
the Counts of Savoy, from their castles of Chillon and Villeneuve (today in
Switzerland) attempted to control the valley of Rhone, lake Leman and the
neighbouring areas. Count Pierre II (1263–1268) set up the Bailiwick of Chablais;
in 1325, Chablais included the chatellenies of Entremont, Saint-Maurice,
Saxon, Saillon, Conthey, la Tour de Peilz, Vevey, Chatel-Saint-Denis, Payerne,
Morat, la Corbiere, Versoix, the Island's Castle in Geneva (all of them
constituting significant parts of the modern cantons of Geneva and Vaud and a
part of Valais), Yvoire, Thonon-Allinges and Evian Feternes (the three of them
constituting the modern French Chablais). The build-up of Chablais was made
through marriages, agreements, debt payments and pressures, but did not involve
war actions. However, the Counts of Savoie had strong challengers in Western
Chablais, that is the Count of Geneva, who hold the fortresses of Hermance and
Beauregard on the lakeshore and of Ballaison and Langin inland, and the Sire of
Faucigny, who hold the fortresses of Rovoree, Nernier, Avully and Allinges-le-Vieux.
In the beginning of the XIVth century, the Count of Savoy suppressed the
fortress of Rovoree and took the control of most other fortresses owned by
Faucigny. The treaty of Paris (1355) confirmed the leadership of Savoy on
Chablais, and the fortresses lost their strategic importance, allowing the
development of the cities.
During the reigns of the three great princes
of Savoy Amedee VI (1343–1383), Amedee VII (1383–1391) and Amedee VIII
(1391–1451), Chablais was the political center of Savoy. Since Savoy then
completely controlled the lake Leman, the court moved from Chillon to Thonon,
which became the preferred residence of the princes (at that time, Savoy had no
capital city). Bonne de Bourbon, Amedee VII's wife, made of the castle of
Ripaille her main residence. Marie de Bourgogne, Amedee VIII's wife, set up
beautiful castles in Ripaille, Thonon, Amphion and Evian. Chablais was also a
center of art and science: the cloister of the abbey of Abondance was decorated
with frescos, whereas laboratories were set up in the castle of Ripaille in
order to find control measures against the black plague.
The decline of
Chablais started at the end of the XVth century, under the reign of the
nefarious Duchess Ann of Cyprus and her personal councillor Valperga. The
political center of the Duchy moved to Chambery, the see of the Government
Accounting Office and the Archives, until the capital city was transferred to
Turin (1563). Savoy took the party of Burgundy against France and paid a high
price for this unfortunate choice: Valais, that is the historical Chablais, was
lost in 1476. Duke Charles III (1504–1536) attempted to take control of Geneva,
completely underestimating the increasing power of the Swiss canton and the
independence feelings in Geneva. Accordingly, Bern set up an alliance with
Geneva and invaded Savoy, including Chablais, in 1536. For a few decades,
Chablais was shared between the Protestants of Bern and the Catholics of Valais,
the border being the river Dranse. By treaties signed in 1564 with Bern and 1569
with Valais, Chablais was reincorporated to Savoy. The eastern border of the
Duchy was fixed as the river Morge, crossing the village of Saint-Gingolph, thus
confirming the 1476 loss of the caput lacis. The occupation by Bern is
often described as the worst period in the history of Chablais, but it seems
that Bern administrated the area much better than the Duke of Savoy.
In the rest of this description, Chablais must be understood as Chablais
Savoyard. The Chablais ancien (the old caput lacis) followed
the destiny of the cantons of Vaud and Valais.
Duke Charles-Emmanuel,
crowned in 1580, had the obsession of reincorporating Geneva to Savoy. His
clueless ambitions caused another two invasions of Chablais in 1589 and 1591:
the castles of Thonon and Ripaille were trashed and the city of Evian was
burned. In 1602, the pathetic expedition of L'Escalade ended Charles-Emmanuel's
ambitions and allowed Geneva to develop without the Savoy threat. Chablais
reflourished in the XVIIth century but lost its strategic importance: the Dukes
were only interested by the thermal sources of Chablais and used the region as a
base for light attacks against Geneva. The main role of Chablais was then to
spread the Counter-Reformation in the neighbouring Protestant Swiss cantons: St.
Francois-de-Sales reorganized the abbey of Abondance, moved a Cathusian
foundation from Vallon (in the mountains) to Ripaille, and welcomed the monks
and nuns expelled from Switzerland. However, the center of the operations was
Annecy, where the Bishopric of Geneva had it see.
In the XVIIIth century,
Chablais was occupied by the French (1703–1709) and Spanish (1742–1748) troops.
The economical situation was very bad: the farmers needed to sell their products
in Geneva, whereas trade with the Protestant countries was restricted and even
forbidden by the Duke under the pressure of the Catholic church. Chablais was
the poorest province of Piemont, administrated by an intendant. It is therefore
not surprising that Chablais massively voted for the incorporation to France in
1865. During the Second World War, Chablais, which until then had not really
fought against any invader, violently opposed the German occupation. The
tragedies of Saint-Gingolph and Habere-Lullin are the main symbols of the
Resistance to the Nazi barbary.
Chablais has kept a lot of local words
and expressions, some also used in the rest of Savoy, Jura and Switzerland. Some
of these words are listed and explained in a very pleasant way in: Dictionnaire
du chablaisien by Andre Depraz (Jean-Claude Fert, Yvoire, 1998). It includes
the famous panosse, a floorcloth, but does not say that panosse verte
et blanche (green and white floorcloth) is the nickname of the flag of
Vaud canton.
Ivan Sache, 24 January 2005