Payerne (French: [pajɛʁn]; Arpitan: Payèrna) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud.

There are also burial mounds from the Hallstatt and Latène cultures, including gold necklaces which were found at Le Bois de Roverex.

In 587, Bishop Marius built the villa Paterniacum and a Chapel to St. Mary in the village.

In 1033, Emperor Conrad II was crowned as the King of Burgundy in the priory church.

[3] Payerne is first mentioned in 961 as ecclesie sancte Marie Paterniacensis though this comes from a 12th-century copy of the older document.

[3] Before 1302 the prior granted the citizens the right to establish a council and create a seal.

In the 16th century a second twelve-member council (rière conseil) appeared, to handle trade disputes for which it was not necessary to call together all citizens and nobles.

The town concluded treaties with Bern (1344), Fribourg (1349), the count of Neuchâtel (1355) and Murten (1364).

The Schultheiss was subordinate to the town military leader (Bannerherr), who was elected by the citizens.

The City Council building of Payerne was built in 1572, and since 1964 has served as the seat of the District Court.

[3] Guillaume Farel and Pierre Viret began to preach the Protestant Reformation in 1532–33 in Payerne.

In 1688 the town created a council for legislative reforms, followed in 1689 by one for weights and measures and in 1699, one for the care of orphans.

In 1791 the town citizens rejected an order for forced labor on a nearby road and in 1795 they called for the division of the commons.

After the founding of the Christian Social Party in 1961, there was three-year period of tensions between Catholics and Protestants.

[8] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in Payerne is; 889 children or 10.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 1,084 teenagers or 13.0% are between 10 and 19.

[9] The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][13] The Payerne Abbey church and former convent buildings, the Ancien Tribunal, the Swiss Reformed Church of Notre-Dame and the Fountain du Banneret are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance.

The entire old city of Payerne is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

[16] Previously this was the head office of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau,[17] before its 2011 merger into the SAIB.

It is a cold smoked pork sausage in a natural casing and has been a traditional dish since the mid-19th century.

The IGP protected Saucisson Vaudois IGP and the partly AOC protected Boutefas sausage are made from pigs that foraged for acorns in Vaud or Fribourg woods and drank local water.

The major difference between Payerne sausage and other local varieties is that the lees from wine or other alcohol and cooked, chopped rind or pork skin is added to the mixture.

In the tertiary sector; 841 or 23.9% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 135 or 3.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 155 or 4.4% were in a hotel or restaurant, 12 or 0.3% were in the information industry, 130 or 3.7% were the insurance or financial industry, 164 or 4.7% were technical professionals or scientists, 253 or 7.2% were in education and 672 or 19.1% were in health care.

[9] From the 2000 census[update], 3,379 or 46.3% were Roman Catholic, while 2,666 or 36.6% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

In the Vaud cantonal school system, two years of non-obligatory pre-school are provided by the political districts.

The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years.

[23] Gymnase Intercantonal de la Broye serves students from Payerne.

[28] Établissement primaire de Payerne-Corcelles et Environs serves primary students from Payerne and other close towns.

It has 6 separate buildings, which one is in Corcelles-près-Payerne, and another one in Grandcour, Buses are available to children unable to go to these places.

The wettest month was July during which time Payerne received an average of 92 mm (3.6 in) of rain or snow.

The driest month of the year was February with an average of 43 mm (1.7 in) of precipitation over 7.8 days.