La diffusion du blé noir en France à l’époque moderne

Abstract

Buckwheat Diffusion in Modern France Michel Nassiet First attested in lower Normandy in the middle of the Fifteenth century, the cultivation of buckwheat had spread over the entire Armorican massif by the Sixteenth century, then to Champagne Sèche, and to the Limousin and Auvergne in the Seventeenth century, where the grain was used for human consumption. This plant is well suited to acidic soils, and its spread was limited by pedological and pluviométrie constaints. In the Massif Central, where crops were rotated biennially, buckwheat was planted only as a replacement for other cereals. In the Armorican massif, an area of triennial crop rotation, its propertied as a summer cereal and its astringent qualities allowed for it use at the beginning of the rotation, and made fallow land productive. Its spread and inclusion in crop rotation probably caused a noticeable rise in global grain production. This growth contributed to population growth in the Armorican massif in the Sixteenth century. On the northern coast of Brittany, the surplus of exportable grain made possible a partial reconversion to the cultivation of flax, and thus to canvas manufacturing.