The House of Savoy in French-speaking Switzerland

To mark the six hundredth anniversary of the duchy of Savoy in 1416, Bernard Andenmatten, professor of medieval history, traces the establishment of the House of Savoy north of Lake Geneva from the early 13th century through the conquests of Thomas I and then his younger son Pierre II de Savoie. These Savoyard counts had a profound impact on the landscape of the Pays de Vaud, endowing it with several castles (Chillon, Yverdon, Romont, Morges, Rolle) and thus modifying the geopolitics and economic growth of this French-speaking region