Bulle

Bulle (byl; Bulo ˈbylo) is a municipality in the district of Gruyère in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. In January 2006 Bulle incorporated the formerly independent municipality of La Tour-de-Trême. Bulle is first mentioned in the 9th century as Butulum. In 1200 it was mentioned as Bollo. The municipality was formerly known by its German name Boll; however, that name is no longer used. Very little is known about the early history of the Bulle area. In 1995, a large grave mound from the early Hallstatt period was partially excavated. The grave mound lies about from the hill on which the church was later built. During the Early Middle Ages it was the home of a parish church that covered a large parish. This Church of St. Eusebius was probably built in the 6th or 7th century by the Bishop of Lausanne. The church is mentioned several times between 852 and 875. In the 9th century, the parish was split into several independent parishes. As the parish shrunk in size, the church gradually lost its former importance, but it remained the center of the Decanate of Ogo until the 16th century. The deanery covered the whole Saanen valley to Treyvaux, the Jaun and Sionge valleys and extended west to Glâne. Bulle probably came under the secular power of the Bishop of Lausanne as early as the 6th century, and together with Avenches and Curtilles formed the territory originally owned by the bishop. Since the counts of Gruyères also possessed sovereign rights in Bulle, there were numerous conflicts between the counts and the bishop in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries. Since these conflicts were always decided in favor of the bishop, the counts eventually lost all rights in Bulle. Even by the 12th century, Bulle was an important regional economic center. In 1195/96, Count Rudolph closed the market in Gruyère and extended his support to the older market in Bulle. At that time, the town was a collection of homesteads, which surrounded a church and maybe had a castle near them.