“In the Middle Ages, we haven’t asked ourselves about resources”

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There was no environmental concern at the time or resources to exploit, but a logic of necessity, says historian Mathieu Arnoux in his latest book.





By François-Guillaume Lorrain

Harvest. Farmer cutting wheat. Page details taken from the manuscript Santa Maria Song (Cantigas de Santa Maria), decorated with miniatures dedicated to Saint Mary and her miracle, a collection of songs written under Alfonso X the Wise (1221-1284).
© Luisa Ricciarini/Leemage

MeTen years ago, Mathieu Arnoux, who founded and directs the interdisciplinary energy laboratory of the future (University of Paris Diderot), published a study of the work of peasants in the Middle Ages. This time he was interested in the materials of that time, which were not yet considered resources. What choice, within a framework also constrained by climate, were made by these peasants, but also by religious and royal powers? What is their mental horizon? Questions that historians want to study as close to their sources as possible in the mirror of current concerns.

Points : What use of the world did the peasants of the Paris Valley circa 1300?

Matthew Arnoux: Charters (which tell us about property), texts of jurists and theologians, on literature…


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