Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Laine farm, located in the hamlet of Laine in Vy-lès-Filain (Haute-Saône), has its origins in the 12th century with the installation of the Templars. The latter founded a commandery, including a chapel and outbuildings, after acquiring a domain around 1178. Initially a simple barn, the site became a prosperous Temple House, despite tensions with the Cistercian Abbey of Bellevaux for trail rights and lands. In 1203, the Templars obtained permission to build a chapel, provided they did not open it to the villagers, and extended their possessions to Rioz and Lure.

After the dissolution of the order of the Templars in the fourteenth century, the site retained its medieval buildings, including a hydraulic ram fed by a spring and its pipes, still visible today. These elements, as well as the structure housing the ram and its reservoir, were partially listed as historical monuments by order of 13 April 1992. The farm thus illustrates both the Templar heritage in Franche-Comté and the agricultural transformations of the 19th century, when the current buildings were probably remodelled.

The village of Vy-lès-Filain, partly set up in espalier above the La Laine River, was historically linked to this command office. The Templars had established a major economic and religious pole, marked by conflicts with the local lords (such as those of Montfaucon) and the Cistercians of Bellevaux. Their rigorous management of the estate allowed its expansion, making La Laine a key site in the Ognon valley before its decline after 1307.

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