Guerre, charroi et corvées. Les abbayes brabançonnes et le pouvoir princier au bas Moyen Âge

Abstract

During the 14th and 15th centuries, statute labour provided to the prince by the Brabantine abbeys witnessed significant modifications. Whereas ordinary labour duties were progressively limited in time and quantity, and largely replaced by a fixed sum of money, the Burgundian dukes of Brabant could not wage war without an increasingly significant number of chariots, horses and carters. Hence, as they offered an incredibly rich pool of resources, extraordinary transport labour duties of the abbeys were maintained, even if the ever-growing scale of warfare soon made even them insufficient. After having sought to maximise the output of the transport labour duties, Charles the Bold attempted to organise levies on a territorial, sovereign, basis, in order to respond to the increasing need of means for military transport. However, the fact that the duke tried to combine both sovereign and seigneurial rights led to severe discontent which erupted after his death when Mary of Burgundy had to make new concessions to the abbeys and accept further limitations to be put on the traditional extraordinary corvées.