halon. In the 15th Century, the council consisted of the governor and 18 people, six each from the three sub-dominions. After 1536, the Council was made up of the mayor, the governor, twelve councilors and six (changed to three in 1576) adjuncts. The members of the council and all government officers were proposed by the mayor and appointed by the Citizens' Assembly. The pastor, members of the clergy and the holders of all lower offices were appointed by the Council. Only full citizens of the town were allowed to hold office or vote in the Citizens' Assembly. This created a large body of disenfranchised residents without access to important offices. This order continued until the end of the Ancien R�gime.
The parish of Estavayer-le-Lac was first mentioned in 1228. In the 14th century, a clerical community was founded at the parish church of Saint-Laurent. Although a formal college of canons was never founded, the town clergy was granted the rights to meet as a college in 1432. The church was rebuilt around 1440. The magnificent choir stalls were added in 1521-25 and in 1530 the canons of the Cathedral of St. Vincent in Bern gave Estavayer-le-Lac four Antiphonaries. In 1443, Humbert of Savoy was buried in the choir of the church. In 1512, the parish of Carignan was incorporated, followed in 1522 by the parish of Lully. William of Estavayer, the archdeacon of Lincoln, founded a Dominican convent in 1316, which still exists today. Other orders also founded convents including; the Minims (1622�1728) and the Jesuits (Jesuit College 1827-47).
Until the industrialization of the 18th century, the local economy was based mostly on grain farming and income from the bailiwick. In 1777 the fabric factory Fabrique-Neuve de Cortaillod opened a branch in Estavayer-le-Lac. By the end of the 18th Century there were around 100 fabric dyers, especially young women from the countryside. Before World War II, the food industry settled in town. Today, the main industries
