Carrouge
Origin of the name Carrouge
The name Carrouge derives from the Latin quadrivium, meaning crossroads. The village indeed developed at the intersection of two important roads, the one linking Lausanne to Berne and the one linking Vevey to Moudon. This origin is even reflected in the municipal coat of arms, whose saltire symbolically represents the crossroads on which the village was born. The first documented mention of the place dates from 1255, in the Latinized form Carrogium.
Founding of Carrouge
Carrouge has no single founder nor any known founding charter: it is a village that grew gradually at a road crossroads, structured as a typical street-village of the Jorat, with several surrounding hamlets. From the 13th century until 1370, the territory belonged to the seigneury of Vulliens, itself a vassal of the counts of Savoy (to be cross-checked). Jean de Vulliens is mentioned as lord of the place in 1282 (to be cross-checked). The seigneury then passed successively to the de Blonay and then de Lenzbourg families, before being acquired by the de Graffenried after the Bernese conquest of the Pays de Vaud, then by the de Diesbach.
History of Carrouge
1st to 4th century. Roman occupation attested by pottery and coins minted between the reigns of Augustus and Diocletian, uncovered during excavations carried out in 1842.
1255. First historical mention of the place, in the Latinized form Carrogium.
1282. Jean de Vulliens is mentioned as lord of Carrouge (to be cross-checked).
13th century to 1370. The village is part of the seigneury of Vulliens, a vassal of the counts of Savoy (to be cross-checked).
from 1370. The seigneury passes successively to the de Blonay family, then to the de Lenzbourg family.
1432. The village has 17 hearths, that is 17 households (to be cross-checked).
1536. Bernese conquest of the Pays de Vaud; the region, including Carrouge, comes under the sovereignty of Berne.
1560. Berne grants the lords of Carrouge the right of consistory.
1569. A dispute breaks out with the neighboring seigneury of Ropraz over the use of pastures and woods (to be cross-checked).
1634. The de Graffenried family acquires the seigneury of Carrouge (the precise date is to be cross-checked).
1709. Construction of the Carrouge chapel by the de Graffenried family. The local bourgeois carpenter Samuel Nicolas is said to have been its master builder (to be cross-checked). An inscription appears on the pulpit: « in the name of God, be my beginning ».
1718. A ruling definitively settles the dispute with Ropraz over the division of woods and pastures, according to the « thread of the water » principle (to be cross-checked).
1795. Installation of the chapel clock.
1798. The Vaud Revolution puts an end to feudal rights; the de Diesbach family loses the seigneury of Carrouge (to be cross-checked).
1798 to 2006. Carrouge, which had previously belonged to the Bernese bailiwick of Moudon, is part of the district of Oron (to be cross-checked).
1897 to 1976. The poet and photographer Gustave Roud lives in Carrouge, where an association has since dedicated two walking trails to him (to be cross-checked).
10 February 1925. A cantonal decree establishes the official coat of arms of the municipality of Carrouge.
1927 and in the early 1970s. The chapel is restored twice (the year of the second restoration varies according to sources, between 1972 and 1973).
September 2000. Carrouge twins with the identically-sounding French municipality of Carrouges, in the Orne department, in Normandy, which has about 760 inhabitants.
around 2000. Creation of a craft and industrial zone, marking the transition from an agricultural economy to a more diversified one, particularly in wood and joinery (details of the sectors to be cross-checked).
30 November 2014. The merger of Carrouge with Ferlens and Mézières is approved.
1 July 2016. The merger takes effect: Carrouge ceases to exist as an independent municipality and becomes a locality of the new municipality of Jorat-Mézières.
Population of Carrouge
| 1432 | 17 hearths (households) (to be cross-checked) |
| 1764 | 291 inhabitants |
| 1850 | 524 inhabitants |
| 1900 | 410 inhabitants |
| 1950 | 414 inhabitants |
| 1960 | 392 inhabitants |
| 2000 | 780 inhabitants |
| 2010 | 909 inhabitants (to be cross-checked) |
| 2022 | 1'208 inhabitants for the locality, within the municipality of Jorat-Mézières (to be cross-checked) |
Historic sites in Carrouge
The Carrouge chapel (1709). Built in 1709 on the initiative of the de Graffenried family, this chapel is today part of the parish of Mézières. It retains an inscription on its pulpit as well as a clock dating from 1795. It was restored in 1927, then a second time in the early 1970s (the exact year varies according to sources).
The Gustave Roud trails. Two walking trails bearing the name of the poet and photographer Gustave Roud (1897 to 1976), who lived in Carrouge, were created by the Association des amis de Gustave Roud to showcase the Jorat landscape that inspired his work (biographical details to be cross-checked).
The village's historic crossroads. Carrouge developed as a typical street-village of the Jorat, at the intersection of the road linking Lausanne to Berne and the one linking Vevey to Moudon. This configuration, which even gave the village its name, still structures its spatial organization today.
Remains in Carrouge
Gallo-Roman remains (1842 excavations). Excavations carried out in 1842 uncovered ruins as well as Roman coins minted under several successive reigns, from Augustus to Diocletian, attesting to occupation of the site as early as Roman times. The exact location of these finds remains imprecise in the available sources (to be cross-checked).
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, article « Carrouge (VD) », par Valérie Favez (1997, mis à jour 2017)
- Wikipédia, article « Carrouge (Vaud) »
- Commune de Jorat-Mézières, page « Historique »
- Roger Bastian, Charles Kraege et al., Les communes vaudoises et leurs armoiries, tome 3, Chapelle-sur-Moudon, Éditions Ketty & Alexandre
- Charles Roux, Noms et sobriquets des Vaudois, Cabédita, Yens-sur-Morges
Other villages near Carrouge
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