L’État forestier et les luttes d’influence dans la maîtrise particulière de Comminges (seconde moitié du XVIIe siècle)

Abstract

The State Forester and Struggles for Influence in the Water and Forest Jurisdiction of Comminges (Second Half of the 17th Century). The monarchy recognized early on the necessity of protecting forests and of organizing locally their exploitation, recognition which led to the development of a form of authority and power based on the possession and the management of forests up to the accession of Louis 14. The evolution of State demand during the second half of the 17th Century imposed a redefinition of wood production on the scale of the kingdom. Reform commissions were sent in each forest region in order to investigate the importance of forest property and to determine the best ways to use it. In the Toulouse forest region, upon which depended Comminges, it was Louis de Froidour, the best known forester in the kingdom, who was in charge from 1665 to 1673. His careful work allowed him to put in place an institution that he judged capable of responding to the needs of the monarchy. Interference of the Water and Forest administration in local politics, however, engendered a reorganizing of power centered on forest ressources which then became symbolic objects, founding regional identity