Chevaux, paysans et artisans: Le travail attelé entre Meuse et Loire (XIIe-XVIe siècle) [Horses, peasants and craftsmen: Harnessed work horses between Meuse and Loire (12-16th centuries)] by Floriana Bardoneschi (review).

Abstract

Reviewed by: Chevaux, paysans et artisans: Le travail attelé entre Meuse et Loire (XIIe–XVIe siècle) [Horses, peasants and craftsmen: Harnessed work horses between Meuse and Loire (12–16th centuries)] by Floriana Bardoneschi Fabrice Guizard (bio) Chevaux, paysans et artisans: Le travail attelé entre Meuse et Loire (XIIe–XVIe siècle) [Horses, peasants and craftsmen: Harnessed work horses between Meuse and Loire (12–16th centuries)] By Floriana Bardoneschi. Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2021. Pp. 549. Floriana Bardoneschi's book title sums up very well the aim of her thesis, which will certainly become a reference work for specialists in the history of agricultural techniques. The book is based on a wealth of sources drawn from the French National Archives and Côte d'Or Departmental Archives. Textual analysis is combined with critical analysis of images produced in the late Middle Ages and experimental archaeology. Bardoneschi adds her own experience of horse riding and driving. Thus, her book offers a technical, economic, and social triple approach. Published in the prestigious History of Techniques collection of Classiques Garnier, the book corrects many established ideas about the use of the draft horse in the medieval rural economy. Readers may however be disappointed with the mediocre quality of the black-and-white pictures. As a subsistence economy is largely dependent on animal traction, the tools used to turn animal power into motive power are key elements explaining agricultural growth. This book explores the evolution of techniques in the area between Meuse and Loire from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, when horse traction became more frequently used and transformed the rural world. Owning a horse was also a sign of social ascent for a peasant elite aspiring to chivalry and the nobility. Bardoneschi notes, however, that it is not possible to completely visualize this hierarchical organization of farmers based on possessing land and horses. Some sources documenting daily life contain traces of this hierarchy between Meuse and Loire that is, unsurprisingly, inside the royal domain and its area of influence. The first part of the book focuses on the zootechnical aspects of using a horse: selecting, training, and looking after the animal, almost at the individual level, an approach introduced in the animal turn in scholarship. The second part is strictly technical. Bardoneschi excels in reviewing harnessing methods and their effectiveness. This fits perfectly in the experimental archeology exploring traction techniques during antiquity carried out by G. Raepsaet (Attelages et techniques de transport dans le monde gréco-romain, 2002). Approaching horses as agricultural auxiliaries is enriched with drawings demonstrating practical knowledge and the author's personal experimentation with hitching a horse. Bardoneschi explains that the technical refinement of the harness reached a form in medieval times that hardly changed afterward. Farmers favor low-line traction to achieve the highest degree of adaptation to the morphology of [End Page 871] the animal. The integration of braking possibilities completes this progress in using horses on uneven terrain. The other parameters are the quality of the vehicles and the towed instruments, as well as the power of the animals harnessed to them. Technically speaking, horses are not necessary for work on the land. Oxen are the most economical and most powerful champions of agricultural traction. The peasants' interest in horses was social and cultural rather than pragmatic. The final part of the book reveals the legacy of G. Comet (Le paysan et son outil, 1992) and details the different uses of horses on farms. Working with horses eventually became more profitable, thanks to the high quality of craftsmanship developed around the harness and towed agricultural equipment. Productivity increased accordingly, enabling reinvestment in the latest equipment and new horses. As these animals saved valuable time in all sorts of agricultural activities as carriers of goods and people, the introduction of horses contributed to the rise of capitalism. Fabrice Guizard Fabrice Guizard is assistant professor in medieval history at University of Valenciennes. He is coeditor with C. Beck of Animal source d'énergie: Enquêtes dans l'Europe d'avant la révolution industrielle (Presses Universitaires de Valenciennes, 2018). Citation: Guizard, Fabrice. "Review of Chevaux, paysans et artisans: Le travail attelé entre Meuse et...