La maison et l'homme : histoire sociale de Romont au Moyen Âge

Of Houses and Men : the social history of Romont during the Middle Ages

• Auteur / Autrice : Florian Defferrard
• Direction : Christian Guillere
• Type : Projet de thèse
• Discipline(s) : Histoire
• Date : Inscription en doctorat le 01/10/2006; Soutenance le 13/12/2014
• Etablissement(s) : Grenoble en cotutelle avec Université de Fribourg et Université de Savoie
• Ecole(s) doctorale(s) : Sciences de l'homme, du Politique et du Territoire
• Partenaire(s) de recherche : Laboratoire : LLS, Langages, Littératures, Sociétés

Mots clés

Mots clés libres

Populaiton

Moyen Âge

Espace urbain

Histoire sociale

Base de données

Système Fiscal

Demography

Middle Ages

Urban Territory

Social History

House

Database

Résumé

Notre projet de thèse s'inscrit dans l'historiographie urbaine et se compose de cinq parties. La première partie est d'ordre contextuel et retrace l'histoire politique et institutionnelle de la ville de Romont au Moyen Âge. Cette ville a été fondée par Pierre de Savoie vers 1240 et est restée sous la domination savoyarde durant tout le Moyen Âge. En l'absence de monographies sur l'histoire événementielle de cette châtellenie savoyarde, nous allons reconstituer le déroulement des hauts faits politiques et religieux pour établir le contexte de notre étude. Ceci est d'autant plus important que les acteurs et institutions présents à Romont restent peu connus et peu étudiés jusqu'à nos jours, à l'exception du clergé séculier. Nous aborderons dans un second chapitre la problématique des sources. Nous avons retenu pour notre recherche un corpus de sources sérielles (comptes et registres fiscaux) dont le traitement pose des problèmes de méthodes. C'est le débat sur ces méthodes que nous exposerons en proposant la solution de la base de données informatique. Il a fallu concevoir un outil qui autorise une saisie rapide de informations contenues dans les documents et qui soit efficace dans le tri et le classement de ces mêmes données. Nous voulons ici développer un modèle applicable à toutes les administrations châtelaines de la Savoie médiévale. Les chapitres suivants composent l'essence de notre travail. Il s'agit de l'analyse des données selon trois approches – démographique, spatiale et fiscale. L'étude de la population romontoise vise la connaissance du nombre des hommes et de son évolution dans le temps et l'espace. Comment les familles se renouvellent-elles, quelles sont leurs stratégies matrimoniales? Les statuts juridiques différents aboutissent-ils à la constitution d'une oligarchie? Quelles catégories socio-professionnelles se trouvent à Romont? La notion d'espace est aujourd'hui incontournable pour l'historien. Notre projet partira de la plus petite unité spatiale, à savoir la maison, pour remonter à celle de rue voire à celle de quartier. Les maisons changent régulièrement de mains et la spéculation immobilière n'est pas absente du tissu urbain. La croissance de la ville entre la fin du XIIIe et le début du XIVe a laissé des marques évidentes dans le territoire et dans son administration. Notre recherche s'appliquera à dévoiler la densité de l'occupation du sol. La fiscalité fournira le dernier biais pour l'analyse des données récoltées dans les sources comptables et fiscales. Il sera intéressant de définir les types d'impôts qui pèsent sur le contribuable et surtout dans quelle mesure la fiscalité grève les budgets des différentes familles. Un autre aspect de ces sources sera approché en tentant d'établir de quelle manière les séries de comptes et les registres de reconnaissances participent au contrôle des hommes dans l'espace urbain. Our thesis project falls within the scope of urban historiography and consists of five parts. The first part is of a contextual nature and recounts the political and institutional history of the town of Romont in the Middle Ages. This town was founded by Pierre of Savoy around 1240 and stayed under Savoyard domination during the entire Middle Ages. In the absence of monographs about the history of events of this Savoyard lordship, we will reconstruct the course of political and religious key events in order to establish the context of our study. This is all the more important since the forces and institutions that were present in Romont – with the exception of the secular clergy – have remained little-known and little-studied until the present day. We will then, in a second chapter, tackle the issue of the sources. We have retained for our research a corpus of serial sources (accounts and fiscal registers), the treatment of which poses methodological challenges. It is this debate about methods that we will expound while proposing the solution of the computer database. It was necessary to conceive a tool that would allow for the rapid capture of the information contained in the documents and which would be efficient in sorting and filing these same data. We want to develop here a model that would be applicable to all seigniorial administrations of medieval Savoy. The subsequent chapters form the essence of our work. They are concerned with the analysis of the data according to three approaches – demographic, spatial and fiscal. The study of the population of Romont aims at the knowledge of the number of people as well as its evolution in time and space. How are families replaced, what are their matrimonial strategies? Do different legal statuses result in the constitution of an oligarchy? What socio-professional categories are found in Romont? The notion of space is inescapable for the present historian. Our project will begin on the smallest spatial unit, namely the house, and then go back to that of the street or even of the neighbourhood. Houses regularly change hands and property speculation is far from absent from the urban fabric. The development of the town between the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century has left obvious traces in the territory and its administration. Our research will apply as well to revealing the density of ground occupation. The tax system will supply the final angle for the analysis of the data collected in the accounts and fiscal sources. It will be interesting to define the types of taxes that weigh heavily on the taxpayer and especially the extent to which the tax system puts a strain on the budgets of the different families. Another aspect of these sources will be touched upon by trying to establish in what way the series of accounts and the recognition registers are involved in the control of the people in the urban space.

Romont in the Middle Ages: persons and houses Keywords: Middle Ages, Urban History, Population, Tax System, Database, Social History Our thesis project falls within the scope of urban historiography and consists of five parts. The first part is of a contextual nature and recounts the political and institutional history of the town of Romont in the Middle Ages. This town was founded by Pierre of Savoy around 1240 and stayed under Savoyard domination during the entire Middle Ages. In the absence of monographs about the history of events of this Savoyard lordship, we will reconstruct the course of political and religious key events in order to establish the context of our study. This is all the more important since the forces and institutions that were present in Romont – with the exception of the secular clergy – have remained little-known and little-studied until the present day. We will then, in a second chapter, tackle the issue of the sources. We have retained for our research a corpus of serial sources (accounts and fiscal registers), the treatment of which poses methodological challenges. It is this debate about methods that we will expound while proposing the solution of the computer database. It was necessary to conceive a tool that would allow for the rapid capture of the information contained in the documents and which would be efficient in sorting and filing these same data. We want to develop here a model that would be applicable to all seigniorial administrations of medieval Savoy. The subsequent chapters form the essence of our work. They are concerned with the analysis of the data according to three approaches – demographic, spatial and fiscal. The study of the population of Romont aims at the knowledge of the number of people as well as its evolution in time and space. How are families replaced, what are their matrimonial strategies? Do different legal statuses result in the constitution of an oligarchy? What socio-professional categories are found in Romont? The notion of space is inescapable for the present historian. Our project will begin on the smallest spatial unit, namely the house, and then go back to that of the street or even of the neighbourhood. Houses regularly change hands and property speculation is far from absent from the urban fabric. The development of the town between the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century has left obvious traces in the territory and its administration. Our research will apply as well to revealing the density of ground occupation. The tax system will supply the final angle for the analysis of the data collected in the accounts and fiscal sources. It will be interesting to define the types of taxes that weigh heavily on the taxpayer and especially the extent to which the tax system puts a strain on the budgets of the different families. Another aspect of these sources will be touched upon by trying to establish in what way the series of accounts and the recognition registers are involved in the control of the people in the urban space.