page_title: Orbe
section_title: Middle ages
hierarchical_section_title: Orbe / History / Middle ages
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Orbe.
context_page_description: Orbe is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the former district of Orbe and is now part of the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois.
context_section_description: By the Middle Ages, Orbe sat on the road over the Jougne Pass and at the crossroads of two major transportation routes.  One stretched from the Jura Mountains to the Alps while the other ran from the Rhine River to the Rhone River.  The municipality grew up on both sides of the Orbe.  On the left side was the villa Tavellis and the parish church of Saint-Germain, while the right side had the villa Tabernis with the church of Saint-Martin.  At some point during the Middle Ages, a bridge was built across the river which joined the two settlements.  Orbe Castle and the town's market were built on the hill above the river and the bridge.
  In 888, the town was owned by the Burgundian king Rudolf I.  The next records of the town come from silver coins which the town's mint produced for Conrad the peaceful between 937 and 993.  The town remained part of the independent Kingdom of Arles or Burgundy until the death of the last king, Rudolf III in 1032.  Before Rudolph's death, the Emperor Conrad II of the Holy Roman Empire had forced him to name Conrad as his successor.  With Rudolph's death, the entire kingdom, including Orbe, was incorporated into the empire.  In 1076, Emperor Henry IV replaced the Burgundian noble in Orbe with one of his vassals, Count Wilhelm II.
  Land and rights in the town passed through several nobles, and in 1168, Amadeus II of Montfaucon, the count of Montbéliard, bought about half of the town of Orbe.  In a record from 1183, the town's churches and much of the land were owned by Baulmes and Payerne Priories.  Around the end of the 11th century, Romainmôtier Abbey acquired some land in the town, on which they built a hospital.  In 1139, they expanded the building into the nearby Notre-Dame chapel.
  In addition to the religious land owners, the Counts of Montfaucon-Montbeliard began to live in the town.  In 1233, they built a round keep in Orbe Castle.  Two years later, Amadeus III of Montfaucon-Montbeliard built the Bourg-Vieux and Bourg-Neuf to help protect the town.  By fortifying the town and castle, the counts and the town were able to control the trade routes that passed through the valley.
caption: Plan of Orbe Castle
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