Ordained 1611, then pastor at Monestier-de-Clermont 1611-1612, Tr�minis 1613-1615, St.-Jean-d'H�rans 1616-1617, Fort Barraux 1617-1628, and L'Albenc 1628-1651.
She seems to have married Claude de Font� before 18 jul 1532 (Pierre Chuard, notary), but she was the wife of someone named Laurent in 1525 when her brother Girard made his testament.
Cited once in March, 1407 as bourgeois de Payerne (Pierre de Treyvaux, notary at Payerne). He is assumed to be the father of the next Pigniollet cited at Payerne, Mermetus (1420, listed among the citizens of Payerne who were called to testify in connection with the "revolt" of the monks in that year; see Matthias Wirz, "Muerent les moignes!" La r�volte de Payerne, 1420, Lausanne, 1997). We assume Mermet was likely the father of the next Pignolet to appear in the records of Payerne, Jaqueti, who, however, is mentioned only about the time his son Petrus had already married, 1455 and 1457.
The archives of Payerne has a vast collection of ancient documents. Among them are several that are known to mention this family under a variety of spellings, as far back as the middle of the 14th Century. It seems very likely that "Pignylliat" and similar spellings will turn out to refer to the same family.
Perhaps only a curiosity, but there is a transaction concerning a Girardus Pignyollet of Chessard (with security Perrodus Pignyollet) dated 1410 (ACV Aa 12/6, no. 110), certainly not the same Girard Pigniollet of Chessard and Payerne who died in 1525, but conceivably from the same family. It may be that this is another family originally from the Vully region from which one or more branches settled at Payerne, the same story we find in the Gachet family, for example. It is also possible that the date 1410 is a transcription error by the copyist who prepared the two volumes Aa 12/6 and 7, since similar errors have been spotted in other volumes of the same series. The transaction involved a sale to the church of Ressudens, in effet a secured loan to this Girard Pignyollet, and the name of the cur� is given, Jacobus Redet. It may be possible to verify the date by reference to other documents relating to the church of Ressudens, or perhaps other documents recorded by the same notary. (Aa 12/7, no. 144: the cur� of Ressudens in 1429 is Jacobus Rodet, likely the same man. However, no. 132, 1426, the cur� is Johannes Cellararii, but he is living in Lausanne, so perhaps Rodet or Redet was in fact his vicar.)
Resided in Fribourg at the time of her brother's death in 1525, probably married to someone there. One of the daughters of Johannes Pigniollet had married Johannes Caddo before about 1478. Was that daughter the present Guillauma?
Apparently alive in 1457, and certainly dead by 1468, when several transactions appear concerning the estate of his late son Petrus, and his living son Johannes, and another Petrus son of the late Uldricus. The latter Petrus, if it is indeed the same man, calls Johannes son of Jaqueti his uncle, thus apparently connecting these people. Jaquetus is named as an adjacent land owner (for a parcel of land at Payerne "en Planesy") in a "reconnaissance" dated 16 mar 1455 by Jaquetus son of the late Nicodus Bonet (ACV Aa 12/4 no. 562 — however, it sometimes happens in the terriers that persons named as adjacent land owners are in fact already deceased).
Now, by 1457, Petrus son of Uldricus was already married (Jean Belin, notary). That puts the birthdate of Petrus likely before 1435, and that of his father Uldricus before about 1415. If Jaqueti was the father of Uldricus, Jaqueti would have been born before about 1395, early enough that he could be a son or grandson of the Aymonet Pigniollet cited in 1407 (bourgeois de Payerne, a debt of his mentioned in the records of Pierre de Treyvaux, notary). To make the rest of the descendancy work, we have to assume that the other two sons of Jaqueti were younger, born perhaps as late as 1430, and that they married late. The chronology is made more plausible by the discovery of the existence of Mermet Pignolet, called to testify about the revolt of the monks of Payerne in 1420.
Eventually, evidence to confirm or refute these relationships should be found in the terriers of Payerne, Chesard, and surrounding areas.
A reconnaissance of 31 dec 1458 (ACV Aa 12/3bis no. 548) mentions Jaquetus filius quondam Mermeti Pigniolet de Stabulo, regarding a property that Jaquetus Requemadens clericus had purchased from Jaquetus Pigniolet, and on which Pigniolet had retained the right of repurchase. Stabulum is the hamlet of Etrabloz, in the commune of Payerne.
In the debt book of Nicod M�an, the place of origin is given twice as Chessard, very clearly written. It is possible this refers to Ch�zard in Val-de-Ruz, Neuch�tel, but that seems rather distant. A more likely solution is Chesard, just east of Grandcour. An additional mention in the book of Nicod M�an says Chesat. With three clear readings, there is no doubt about the name of the place, and in none of these is it stated or implied that Johannes lived or worked in Payerne.
The Archives d'Etat de Fribourg has a document involving Guillaume Pignyolet of Dompierre en Vully (1449), possibly of the same family. This Dompierre, now in the territory of Fribourg, is only a few miles from Payerne, along the road to Avenches.
Edmond Ischi, historian of Payerne, informs us that Pignolet, in one or another of its variant spellings, is noted as bourgeois of Payerne as early as 1444, but we know of no documents that allow us to name the father, or indeed the circumstances, of Johannes.
The surviving register of the notary Jacobus Bellin of Payerne (ACV DP 8, 1430-1459) includes several mentions of a Pugnyollet or Pignyollet family, including a Pierre son of Jaques, citizen of Payerne, in 1458. There is also a mention of Guillaume Pugniolet owning property at Grandcour in 1442, plausibly the same man noted above at Dompierre.
The Genevan genealogist and historian Jacques Augustin Galiffe mentions in the introduction to the first volume of his monumental Notices G�n�alogiques (1829) that the surname Pignolet has, at least once, proved to derive from the ancient Italian family Spinola. Whether this explanation applies to our own Pignolet remains to be seen. Families of Italian origin, some apparently quite ancient, are scattered throughout the Pays de Vaud.
In spite of the lack of direct evidence, it is instructive to review the citations gleaned from the records of the early notaries of Payerne. The earliest record we found was for a debt owed by Aymonet Pignyolet, burgensis Paterniaci (March, 1407, Pierre de Treyvaux, notary, thus significantly predating the earliest lists of the citizens of Payerne). The next citations concern the children of Jaqueti Pigniollet, who died apparently between 1457 and 1468. He had several children, including a Petrus who died before 1467, leaving a widow Alixone daughter of Johannes Joccet; a son Johannes who died before 1478, apparently the same man whose widow was Ancellina, and who had, in addition to his son Girard, a daughter Alexia who married Claude de Font� and another daughter who married Johannes Caddo; and Uldricus, whose son Petrus called the late Johannes his uncle (28 may 1483, Pierre Moron p�re, notary). The latter Petrus had a wife Perissonne and survived at least until 1511. This lineage depends on the identity of the Johannes who married Ancellina with Johannes the son of Jaqueti, and also assumes that Aymonet was indeed the father of Jaqueti. With the understanding that there is some speculation involved, we include these relationships in our database.
The city archives of Payerne has a document described as a marriage contract for Jehan Pigniollat, dated 1542 (E 9/8). We know of no such person who might have married in 1542, and it is just possible that the description is incorrect. However, he could be the illegitimate son of Girard who is called Hansmann in other records, but other records make us suspect that Jehan and Hansmann were two illegitimate sons of Girard, since he names only his four daughters as his residual heirs.
There may be confusion between two or more branches of this family. Assuming they are originally from Chesard, it may be that one branch settled early in Payerne (the earliest one found there is Aymonet, in 1407), and that another branch remained at Chessard. If that is the case, and if there were two men called Johannes around the end of the 15th Century, the parentage given here for Girard may be incorrect, he might be the son of a different Johannes, and the references to Johannes may in fact be a conflation of citations concerning two different men of the same name. The terriers may help clarify this situation.
ACV C XX 65 is a sale of property dated 26 may 1490 by Johannes Pigniollet of Chesart do Petrus Doudamp et Petrus Curtaillo gouverneurs de Grandcour.
Called to testify about the revolt of the monks at Payerne, 1420, and, unfortunately, absolutely no other detail is known. However, he is apparently the Mermetus Pigniolet who sold a "cense" 10 feb 1440 (ACV Aa 12, supplement, no. 89, notary Henricus Pudraul). That document notes that his wife was Jaqueta, and that her mother was Johanneta widow of Uldriodus Mottet of Payerne.
Catherine appears in several documents of Benoit Nible, notary at Payerne. In the earliest of these, 1562, she has already remarried to Claude Brossiez, her second husband. She also can be identified as the Katherine widow of the late Ayme Berthod noted by Pierre Chuard 04 feb 1554. She died early in 1572, and at least two transactions list her heirs (Jean Marcuard, notary, p. 261, 03 apr 1572, and p. 264, 08 jun 1572). The marriage contract with her third husband specifies a Catholic wedding.
