Réflexions sur les sources médiévales de l'histoire des campagnes. De l'intérêt de publier les sources, de les critiquer et de les lire

In: Histoire & Sociétés Rurales, Volume 1, Issue 1, p. 11-35

Abstract

Comments on Mediaeval Sources of Rural History. About the Necessity of Publishing, Criticizing, and Reading Sources Mathieu ArnoUX and Ghislain Brunel
The data concerning rural history in the Middle Ages haven't been fully exploited : historians can still reuse and reread many of the texts published in the XIXth century and many sources listed in recent repertories. It is necessary to develop the criticism of documents about landholding (polyptics, inventories of rents and revenues, surveys of domains, and accounts) and of the figures they contain, using strict applications of diplomatics, a cross-Europe comparison, and a complete study of the origins of sources. Thus the small number and complexity of this kind of text will no longer be such forbidding obstacles and the interpretation of these texts will be richer. With such a method, if we reexamine the role of the bishop of Winchester, Henri de Blois, in Cluny around 1150, we can infer that his action must be considered, more than pious care, as a genuine experiment of Anglo-Norman administration and agricultural practices in the Mâconnais.