The Reformation and the weakening of Savoy power led to the dissolution of the monastery. The nearby cities of Bern and Fribourg began to exercise influence in Payerne and on the priory. The Protestant Bern supported a small community of Reformed citizens, while the catholic Fribourg declared itself the guardian of the monastery. After the Bernese conquest of Vaud, Bern won the upper hand. In 1536 they dissolved the priory and acquired the building of the monastery as well as a portion of its rights and property. Fribourg took in the monks and other catholic believers from Payerne. At the priory, some of the buildings were demolished, the remainder put to various secular uses: a bell foundry in the 17th century, a grain store in the 18th and later as a prison and barracks.