Manorial Economy and French Seventeenth-Century-designed Landscapes: The Formal Type by Savot (1624) and at Sceaux (1670–1690)

Abstract

A different understanding of the French formal garden type can be gained from considering how it was shaped by manorial economy within the framework of land institutions. This paper visualises and describes the socioeconomic and spatial matrix underlying the landscape in the Paris basin before the French Revolution. Drawing from Savot’s 1624 architectural treatise, it synthesises a scheme for the formal type of layout for the demesne understood as a productive unit in the manor. After discussing the consequences of demesne enlargement and landscape design on taxation imposed on the fiefdom, it looks at manorial economy in a specific case, that of the park of Sceaux (1670–1696), south of Paris, and analyses a correlation between taxation and landscape design. By proposing an alternative and empirically informed theoretical framework for the study of complex interactions between stable land institutions and dynamic social environments, this research provides methods for future case- and process-focused investigations of French seventeenth-century-designed landscapes, and their lasting and varied impact on contemporary cultural landscapes.