ABSTRACT

This chapter argues that climate theory provided intellectual tools which legislators used to legitimise policy. In the early modern period, climate theory had a double dimension. As a rule, marshes were linked to a kind of mismanagement of waters and consequently seen as rebel territories beyond the authority of a central power. For the Romans, marshes were repellent environments within a favourable climate. In that sense, marshes were considered as microclimates, or specific areas where mores and human behaviours were different from those of the surrounding regions. Climate theory was used to reinforce royal authority whilst the French monarchy developed a very powerful monarchically centred ideology. Montesquieu's work constitutes the apogee of climate theory during the early modern times. Considering the state, Montesquieu drew an opposition between areas with or without states, between agrarian and nomadic societies, and eventually between civilization and barbarians.