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Origin and history

The Priory of Meillerie, located in the eponymous village of Haute-Savoie, is a fortified priory founded around 1130 by Boson d'Allinges, Boson and Gaudemard de Lugrin, with the agreement of Count Amédée de Maurienne. Occupied by regular canons of St Augustine, it was mentioned in the 12th century as an active religious center, linked to the abbeys of Abondance and Saint-Ours of Aosta. The first structures included a church and a convent building, while its importance grew in the 13th century with the acquisition of the rights of justice on Meillerie, Lugrin and Thollon, granted by Aymon II of Faucigny and Amédée IV of Savoie.

In the 13th century, the priory became a major administrative center for the provost of the Grand-Saint-Bernard, sheltering capitular meetings and exercising a seigneury extended on the east of Chablais. This seigneury, bounded by natural landmarks such as Mount Bénand or the Borée peak, has its own prison and patibular forks. However, there were recurring conflicts between Meillerie and Evian, notably in 1289 and 1314, where disputes over jurisdictional rights and territorial boundaries degenerated into violence, such as the looting of a mountain hut by Evian residents.

From the 15th century onwards, the priory declined with the beginning of the Grand Saint-Bernard and the conflicts with Evian, aggravated by the wars (Valaisans, Genevois, French). In the 16th century, partial destruction and the reduction in the number of canons to three marked its weakening. The seventeenth century brought a lull, with the end of the trials against Evian in 1676 and a documented agricultural management. However, the 18th century saw its secularization in 1752, followed by a gradual abandonment despite attempts to restore. During the Revolution, the tower, used as a prison and archive, barely escapes destruction.

The present church, dedicated to Saint Bernard de Menthon, combines medieval elements (thirtyth century choir, ogival vaults, lobed roses) and modern (nineteenth century nave). The choir, the former heart of the priory, presents vegetal capitals and painted vault keys, while the tower-clocher, built as a defense tower, preserves traces of its prison function (archeries, condemned latrines). The stained glass windows, restored in the 19th century after the damage caused by a storm in 1822, represent Saint Augustine and Saint Bernard of Aosta.

The house, partially preserved, originally consisted of fortified wings, vaulted cellars (fromageries, press) and living areas such as the kitchen or the magna. The tower, a symbol of seigneurial power, also served as a cellar and torture room. After the Revolution, the buildings, sold to villagers, became a parish church enlarged in the 19th century to accommodate the faithful. Today, the site, protected since 1990 and extended in 2015, bears witness to the religious, judicial and architectural history of Savoyard Chablais.

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