Behind the idyllic image of Savoyard mountain pastures lies a history of conflict and rivalry that continues to this day. This lecture, based on medieval archives, shows that the challenges of yesteryear still shape our mountains today.
Ah, the Savoyard mountain pastures... With their peaceful cows, famous cheeses, playful marmots, and hikers in search of perfection, this little corner of paradise offers serene, invigorating air... Except when the chalets and hay are burned, the herds stolen, the pastures disputed, and neighbors beaten or killed...
Behind the tourist postcard image, the pastures have long been areas of extreme tension, where rights of use were sometimes defined with heavy blows from an axe. And if those times seem long gone... Think again: between pastoralism, ski resorts, the return of the wolf, conflicts over access and land, the mountain pastures remain a sensitive, disputed and sometimes explosive area.
By exploring the archives of the Chablais abbeys, this conference offers you a glimpse into a surprisingly relevant medieval mountain world, where, against a backdrop of local rivalries and profound economic transformations, the borders, compromises, and tensions that still shape our mountains today were already being invented.
Presented by Arnaud Delerce, historian and Director of Operations at the Château des Rubins - Observatoire des Alpes for the City of Sallanches, and organized in partnership with the Association pour le Développement Culturel d'Abondance.
Behind the tourist postcard image, the pastures have long been areas of extreme tension, where rights of use were sometimes defined with heavy blows from an axe. And if those times seem long gone... Think again: between pastoralism, ski resorts, the return of the wolf, conflicts over access and land, the mountain pastures remain a sensitive, disputed and sometimes explosive area.
By exploring the archives of the Chablais abbeys, this conference offers you a glimpse into a surprisingly relevant medieval mountain world, where, against a backdrop of local rivalries and profound economic transformations, the borders, compromises, and tensions that still shape our mountains today were already being invented.
Presented by Arnaud Delerce, historian and Director of Operations at the Château des Rubins - Observatoire des Alpes for the City of Sallanches, and organized in partnership with the Association pour le Développement Culturel d'Abondance.
