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Antoine
FOLLAIN, Rural Communities in France : definitions
and questions (15th-19th Century).
Abstract : In the 1970S and 1980S, a
synthesis of the study of rural communities in
France was expected to be within reach. But
research has increasingly focussed on some
questions while neglecting others, such as
politics. There have been few studies of the years
1450 to 1650, whereas the end of the Old Regime and
the Revolution have attracted wides pread interest
; similatly, parish communities (communautés
paroissiales) were less studied than local communes
(communautés municipales), which looked more
like the municipal units created during the
Revolution. There is still no synthesis for most
regions, and there is a complete lack of
comparative works. We do not have yet the necessary
elements for such a work, which is difficult to
undertake anyway since the topic under study is far
from being cleatly defined. Therefore this article
is less a synthesis than a work aiming at raising
questions of terminology (what does « village
community », communauté villageoise,
means ?), at warning historians against assessing
the strength of a community from a strictly
agrarian vantage point, at reasserting some of its
basic structuring principles and at encouraging
comparative studies even over along period of time,
while recalling at all times that a commuriity is a
place, a territory and a people all at once. It is
hard to count rural communities : the 1789-1790
administrative redistricting into communes might be
used as a basis, but nowhere was it accepted as
final, and the first serious estimates can be
worked out only for An II. The resilience of the
network of communes and sections de communes
throughout the 19th century demonstrates the
continued importance of localism, of the esprit de
localite.
Keywords :
Rural communities France - Rural
community - Village history - Old
Regime.
Pegerto
SAAVEDRA, Small Landholdings and Agricultural
Change in an "Old Agrarian System" : the Galician
countryside, 1550-1850.
Abstract : In Galicia, traditional
soil enrichment systems, based on organic
additives, remained prevalent well into the xxth
century, in spite of a whole series of both
qualitative and quantitative shortcomings. In most
cases, the volume of available fertilizer per farm
was barely enough to cover fertilization needs.
Shortcomings arising from the manufacturing,
storing and manuring processes put severe
constraints on the enriching qualities of these
fertilizers. The fertilizing systems of this region
were time- and labor-intensive, but technically
simple, and implied a close relationship between
farmed and non-farmed lands.
Keywords :
Agricultural history, fertilization,
fertilizers, Galicia, manure, montes, Old
Regime.
Philippe
GRANDCOING, Agriculture, Landscape and distinction.
19th century changes in the manorial environment :
the case of Haute-Vienne.
Abstract : The 19th century was
marked by a deep change in the way in wich rural
upper classes looked at the countryside. This
change can be oberved through the evolution of the
descriptive language of the time as well as in the
new developments taking place around the manors and
the large landed properties. The early 19th century
was characterized both by the permanence of
physiocratic ideals and by the will to recreate an
urban setting in the countryside. At the time, the
environment was only perceived through the
distorsing prsim of literary or historical
references. However, a renewed interested in nature
was felt very early on, but it was an interest in a
nature wich would be remapped and socially
significant, in which sparse plantations,
aesthetically significant changes and specific uses
of space all signaled the appartenance of the owner
to the ruling class. Thus the landscape became one
of the elements in a startegy of class distinction
on the part of the country elite.
Keywords :
Landscape, social distinction,
England, countryside.
Jean-Pierre
POUSSOU, "Alternative Agriculture". About a book of
Joan Thirsk.
Abstract : This paper, aroused by the
publication of the last book of Joan Thirsk :
Alternative Agriculture...
is only a
very short essay to attract attention on the
necessity of a best knowledge of other cultivations
and other activities than cereals for alimentation
or stock breeding. At the same time, are discussed
from several exemples the conclusions of Joan
Thirsk. These exemples are more particulary the
expansion, in the 18th century, of mulberries in
France in the Nîmes's country and the
Rhône's valley, the considerable production
of barley in England and Scotland, the working for
the scottish kelp, the cultivation of the french
flax.
Keywords :
Alternative Agriculture, France,
Scotland, England, Barley, mulberries, french
flax.
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