Chevaux, paysans et artisans: Le travail attele entre Meuse et Loire (Ⅻ~e-ⅩⅥ~e siecle) Horses, peasants and craftsmen: Harnessed work horses between Meuse and Loire (12-16th centuries)

摘要

Floriana Bardoneschi's book title sums up very well the aim of her thesis, which will certainly become a reference work for specialists in the history of agricultural techniques. The book is based on a wealth of sources drawn from the French National Archives and Cote d'Or Departmental Archives. Textual analysis is combined with critical analysis of images produced in the late Middle Ages and experimental archaeology. Bardoneschi adds her own experience of horse riding and driving. Thus, her book offers a technical, economic, and social triple approach. Published in the prestigious History of Techniques collection of Classiques Gamier, the book corrects many established ideas about the use of the draft horse in the medieval rural economy. Readers may however be disappointed with the mediocre quality of the black-and-white pictures.