Chrétiens et Sociétés (Dec 2015)
Réforme et transformation du paysage urbain dans le pays de Vaud
Abstract
This paper is about iconoclasm in the Pays de Vaud and the transformation of the urban landscape following the Reformation imposed by Bern in 1536. The particular focus of this article is on the future of religious buildings which were either destroyed, deconsecrated, seized, reused or even reconverted for the good of the community. In this way, the Reformation could bring back to the centre the Protestant ethics of work and utility. This led to a decentralization of the place of the dead in religious matters and configuration of the city, where cemeteries ended outside the city walls.It is not only about understanding how the purification of the Church occured, but also to grasp to what extent this urban redevelopment corresponds to a social and political reorganization. To illustrate this process and the various forms it took, Orbe and Lausanne can be used as example: the first one, Orbe, is a small village, part of Fribourg and Bern, accepted the Reformation after a vote, for which the Catholics were outnumbered by the Protestants. The consequences of such a decision appeared very quickly and, as anywhere else affected by the Reformation, religious buildings had new found utility, for example to their arrangement, churches were easily settled as temple. However convents, monasteries, priories – which were left empty by its inhabitants that were no longer welcomed –, served other purposes, which were especially useful to the civic community, for laic and public use.Finally, the place of the dead and the cemeteries crystallized the new aspect of the Protestant cities by pushing them away outside of the city walls and by forbidding the cult of the dead. They lost their importance in religious devotions and rituals, which had lasted for centuries, and were removed from the social organization : the dead are no longer considered as full citizens. Cemeteries are moved, closed, emptied and their sacred aura is destroyed. Thus the years 1530 showed how these reformed issues had a direct repercussion on the urban space layout which could still be seen today.
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