'Geolocating' medieval accounting: Illuminating the intersection of resource management and political instability in Artois, 1314-1319

• In Event: Digitizing the Medieval Environment: GIS and Recreations of the Past

Abstract

In 1314, the mid-ranking nobles, or “barons” of the various territories of France rebelled against their king and local seigneurs. The most aggressive, destructive, and enduring of these rebellions was that of a group of 100-some men who called themselves the “Allies of Artois.” Initially autonomous, the men quickly attracted the notice of a contender for the county of Artois, Robert of Artois. Nephew of the (in)famous Countess Mahaut d’Artois (r. 1302-29), Robert exploited French royal politics and the disenchantment of nobles to wreak havoc for nearly five years in Artois. They notably destroyed buildings in crucial cities and committed park break at rural estates. All of this was documented in the financial accounts alongside entries concerning regular resource management practices, such as rents for woodland or costs to harvest hay from meadows and clean sludge from closed ponds. The archive of Mahaut represents an ideal case to consider the intersection of natural resource management, supply logistics, and the exigencies of power and authority for a woman whose rule was challenged more often than it was not. I argue that Mahaut’s continued resource management acted as a physical claim to socio-political power and legitimacy during a time of political instability. This presentation will briefly show the process of organizing and analog “geolocating” financial account entries from the fourteenth century to demonstrate how tracking resource management can illuminate the socio-political value of natural resources.

Author

• Abigail P. Dowling, Mercer University