Louise Gentil, under the supervision of Patrick Boucheron and François-Xavier Fauvelle, professors at the Collège de France, is conducting research on irrigated agriculture in Italy between the 13th and 16th centuries. Supported by the Avenir Commun Durable program, the team is contributing to the development of the emerging field of environmental humanities, particularly by examining the relationship between preindustrial societies and their environment.
Peasants working their land modestly to feed themselves, natural elements that were still difficult to control, meager harvests… This is often the image we have of agriculture in the Middle Ages. The reality, however, is different, reveals Louise Gentil, a recent Ph.D. graduate in medieval history. Under the supervision of Patrick Boucheron and François-Xavier Fauvelle, professors at the Collège de France, she studied the case of irrigated agriculture in Lombardy between the 13th and 16th centuries. The researcher thus sought to understand the relationship between humans and their environment in this region of northern Italy and challenged common assumptions about this period.
Complex Agricultural Systems
“There is a tendency to believe that in the Middle Ages, humans still had to conquer wild spaces to acquire resources. But this is a myth constructed by certain figures of the time, particularly monks who recounted settling in deserts or forests to clear them and transform them into productive spaces,” explains Louise Gentil . In reality, the “state of nature” no longer existed by that time: Europe was already completely shaped by human activity. A system of managing the entire environment prevailed, one that was largely geared toward serving human needs. “We also have a misconception about agricultural systems in the pre-industrial era: people often think that only subsistence farming existed, which was seen as a necessity,” continues Louise Gentil. “In other words, a peasant’s harvest would have merely allowed him to meet his own needs... But in Lombardy, we see complex production systems that go far beyond subsistence.” As early as the 11th century, this geographical area—the Po River basin—underwent major developments in water management: canals were dug, irrigation systems and dams to regulate water flow were created, and mills were built… Land that had been used for grain production was then converted into irrigated meadows and used to produce large quantities of hay for herds or for Milan’s military cavalry. Irrigation consortia, composed of institutions and landowning families, were even formed in the 13th century to manage the canals and defend everyone’s interests. This demonstrates the existence of economic strategies as early as the Middle Ages: decisions regarding production, investment, and the pursuit of land profitability were already a reality. We are therefore far from the image of peasants producing barely enough to survive…
Was Agriculture Necessarily Sustainable?
Another assumption about medieval agriculture that deserves scrutiny is its supposed sustainability and respect for the environment. “In history, the study of industrialization has led us to view all earlier production techniques as non-intensive and sustainable. But that’s not necessarily the case!” exclaims Louise Gentil. Medieval agriculture certainly does not have the same impact as today’s industrial agriculture, but that does not mean it was necessarily environmentally sound. “Medieval agriculture was highly intensive in certain areas, as evidenced both by the infrastructure built and the labor force mobilized. In Lombardy, for example, twenty-four workers might be employed to maintain a single irrigation canal for an entire day.” It could also be destructive: for instance, slash-and-burn farming was practiced, which involves burning the vegetation on a plot of land so it can then be cultivated. This technique is comparable today to deforestation .
While these findings are valuable and already highly instructive, many questions remain unanswered. “We know that ecclesiastical institutions were major landowners and that they played a major role in organizing irrigated agriculture. But how exactly did they manage their productive lands and the peasants’ labor?” asks Louise Gentil, who also wonders how irrigation consortia, production systems, and, more broadly, Lombard society were organized during that period... She continues her investigation.
From a Specific Case to Methodological Reflection
To carry out her research, the historian is studying all types of documents produced by key players in Lombardy’s agricultural world over the centuries. The archives of abbeys and municipalities serve as important databases. She is working, for example, on notarial deeds from the period and numerous maps of the region, both medieval and more recent. “But how we approach the sources is a key issue. We must be careful not to project our current view of agricultural production onto these spaces,” explains Louise Gentil. She is also working on creating a cartographic database, fed by all the spatial documentation she has been able to gather. “To map the evolution of rivers and canals over the centuries, I use a GIS, or geographic information system. This raises many questions, as the goal is to create a digital tool that allows multiple researchers to collaborate—one where everyone can access and modify the data. In short, to create interoperability.”
These methodological challenges play a major role in the historian’s work, and she has adopted a reflective approach from the very start of the project. Indeed, her work straddles an investigation into agriculture in medieval Lombardy and a reflection on the very framework of this research. One informs the other. Louise Gentil is studying a specific case but reflects, whenever she encounters them, on the broader issues involved in this research. “The goal is to foster a discussion that will be useful to all researchers who wish to undertake projects of this type. This is all the more important given that French environmental history has long focused on industrialization and its early stages, leaving little room for other lines of inquiry. ‘What methodological framework should we establish when we want to begin an environmental history investigation of preindustrial periods?’ the project team asks.
Reflecting on the Environmental Humanities
Patrick Boucheron, François-Xavier Fauvelle, and Louise Gentil are therefore reflecting on this field of research, which they call the “environmental humanities”—a term that is still rarely used. “Researchers tend to say they’re doing environmental history, environmental archaeology, environmental philosophy… But we deliberately use the term ‘environmental humanities,’ a resolutely interdisciplinary and still-emerging field of study,” notes Louise Gentil. The goal is indeed to bring together different perspectives and disciplines in order to address new questions. Over the past twenty years or so, environmental issues have moved to the forefront of societal concerns and have impacted all the social sciences. Faced with the destruction of its living environment, society has sought to better understand past eras in order to draw lessons from them. “Environmental issues have thus reshaped the scientific inquiry. We examine the same sources, but in a different way, asking ourselves, for example, whether it is possible to discern a landscape or a particular use of resources from them. We now ask how people in the Middle Ages perceived their environment and their resources…” Added to this are previously unpublished scientific data, provided by new research methods developed beginning in the 1970s. Recent techniques in glacial and sediment core analysis, palynology[1], and dendrochronology[2] provide new indicators of past climates as well as how societies utilized the environment. Faced with this abundance of questions and documentation, the team seeks to establish a clear theoretical framework.
A Study Day to Establish a Theoretical Framework
Because there are still few books, conferences, or forums for theoretical exchange on these issues, the three researchers have decided to organize a study day. “The Collège de France is a venue particularly well-suited to this discussion, and the Avenir Commun Durable program allows us to establish a solid working framework for long-term research projects,” emphasizes Louise Gentil. The team will therefore bring together specialists from various disciplines—archaeology, history, anthropology, philosophy, and more—who have been working for several years on the relationship between humans and the environment. Notable participants will include historian Grégory Quenet, philosopher Pierre Charbonnier, and archaeogeographer Magali Watteaux. Researchers will be able to take stock of their work, explain how their research questions have evolved, and share best practices observed during their investigations that would benefit from being disseminated. But this pooling of knowledge doesn’t stop there. “We’ll then ask ourselves how to work together. We need to come up with ways for researchers from different disciplines to collaborate, but also consider how to train students. In my view, this begins with agreeing on terminology, a questionnaire, and a common approach to designing surveys ,” adds the historian. She hopes this study day will lead to the creation of a long-term think tank. This would be a valuable contribution to the development of environmental humanities.
Salomé Tissolong, journalist
[1] Palynology studies current and fossilized pollen and spores to trace changes in the plant environment over very long periods of time.
[2] Dendrochronology is a scientific method for dating past events or climate changes by studying the growth rings of tree trunks.
