Antoine DE VERNAY ALIAS MAYOR (ID #I3594)
(male)
- BIRTH: abt 1400
- DEATH: bef 1455
Father: Girard DE VERNAY ALIAS MAYOR (d. bef 1455)
Family 1
:
- Pierre MAYOR (b. bef 1430, d. bef 1507)
- Michel MAYOR (d. bef 1506)
- +Aymonet MAYOR (d. bef 1496)
He is mentioned in the terrier ACV Fh 137 (1506) as the ancestor of some of the Mayor family of Ballens. The same terrier (fol. 426v) mentions in passing a notary Franciscus dou Vernay who had worked at Mollens at some point in the past generation. Further, the same terrier (fol. 421v) refers to Aymonet Mayor (without any alias) as a "predecessor" of Antoine Mayor (alive in 1506), grandson of the present Antoine de Vernay alias Mayor. (The most direct way of making this connection would be if Aymonet Mayor, whose descendants eventually became known as Monod, was another son of the present Antoine.)
The name is also spelled "de Verney", "du Verney", and so forth. It is probably the same name as "Verneto", which seems to be attached to a vicar and/or notary at Mollens, Franciscus du Verneto, cited in the terrier Fg 125 (1608), in turn referencing an earlier terrier compiled by Expert Aymonet Pollens, probably the one now identified as Fj 5 (1496) or some other terrier compiled about the same time and now lost. Fj 5 concerns property at Mollens, including parcels owned by Michel and Pierre Mayor.
The terriers imply at least the two children, Michel and Pierre, but the terriers of Mollens suggest that Claude Mayor dit Mathey of Mollens descends from another son of the present Antoine. The sons of Michel owned a half interest in at least some property for which the other half interest was owned by Claude Mayor dit Matthey circa 1530.
One of the properties held by the two sons of Antoine in 1506 (Fh 137, commissaire Eg. Jehan Braseri) was a vineyard containing 2 poses in the territory of Aubonne "en Chevrajon" (modern spelling Chivrageon). The same property was enumerated in 1566 (Fh 153), by which time it was in the hands of the various descendants. The tax of 18 deniers genevois due on this property had not changed, but the wording in 1566 was sloppy, so that it is necessary to read between the lines to see how the property was divided. The owners in 1566 appear to represent all the main branches of the Mayor family of Ballens. Now, in the description of the property in 1506, the origin of the property is traced back to the original Antoine de Verney alias Mayor, but the origin of the "cense" or tax due is traced back to "Aymonetum Mayor predecessorem dicti confitentis"; in other words, the "cense" is due because it was Aymonet Mayor who was the original (or earliest named) subject of the Barons of Aubonne. Unless this passage is simply a very unfortunate error, we expect to find further details of the connection between the Mayor/de Vernay family and the Monod/Mayor family descended from Aymonet in the terriers of the 15th Century.
A second vineyard "en Chevrajon" was purchased by Antoine, apparently, from the Challet family prior to 1514, when it was described in the terrier Fh 141 (fol. 68v). This second vineyard remained in the family, but its history has not yet been traced in detail. The same property is described in the terrier Fh 173, 03 aug 1618 (beginning at fol. 470v), when it had been divided into several parcels, then in the hands of Spectable Jaques Mayor and his brother Félix, Françoise and Jeanne daughters of Michel Mayor, and others. The description in 1618 refers back to the reconnaissance in 1514, and also to a terrier that we believe is the one known today as Fh 152 (not yet examined, the citation gives the date of 27 feb 1565 for a reconnaissance of Pierre son of Jaques Mayor). The size of this parcel is not given, but it is clearly a separate property, since it was taxed for the benefit of the hospital of Aubonne, while the first vineyard was taxed directly by the Baron of Aubonne.
A document dated 07 jul 1556 (see the notes for Antoine's great-grandson Claude Mayor the elder) carries the implication that Antoine and his descendants held the office of the "mayorie" of Ballens, the administrative representative of the seigneurie exercised by the convent of Romainmôtier. If the hereditary appointment to this office was the impetus for the change of surname from de Vernay to Mayor, it would make some sense that the de Vernay family had some prominent role in Ballens in the distant past, as suggested by the citations above.
We also find Aymonet Mayor, this time very much alive, in the terrier ACV Fh 123, in a reconnaissance dated 17 mar 1455, for property at Ballens etc., shared with several others, including Pierre Mayor. Of particular interest is that one property was divided between Aymonet and Pierre, and had come from Girard Mayor, specified to be the paternal grandfather of Aymonet. Girard's relationship to Pierre is not stated, as far as we can discover, but the division implies equality, and might be taken to mean either that Aymonet and Pierre are brothers (but what to do with Michel? perhaps Michel was still a minor and Pierre's share was later to be divided with him?) or else first cousins. For our purposes, the most logical approach seems to be to add Girard as the documented father of Antoine, and to state that he had died by 1455. It seems likely, in fact, that Anthoine, father of Aymonet, was also already dead by 1455, requiring us to place his birth even farther back in time in order to allow at least two of his sons to reach the age of majority by 1455.
It is important to remember that the lands subject to the Baron of Aubonne (through the Seigneurie of Aubonne) at Ballens represent only a small part of the commune. Other properties in Ballens were subject to other authorities, such as the Abbey of Romainmôtier, etc. If a division had already been made among the sons of Antoine before 1455, it is entirely possible that Michel's share (assuming he was in fact a brother of Aymonet and Pierre) lay entirely outside the jurisdiction of the Seigneurie of Aubonne. The terrier Fh 123 thus reveals the names some of the residents of Ballens in 1455, and some of their relationships. Other terriers from the mid-15th Century should reveal additional names and relationships.
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_Girard DE VERNAY ALIAS MAYOR _|
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|--Antoine DE VERNAY ALIAS MAYOR
| (1400 - 1455)
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|_______________________________|
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