ABSTRACT
Far from constituting, as historical research has long reiterated, isolated pockets of backward inhabitants living far from world events, the high valleys of the Western Alps lay, during modern history, at the heart of an economy based on the movement of people and goods. Despite, or because of, a naturally rugged environment, these high-altitude territories were constantly crisscrossed by the passage of men and herds at various levels of space and time. Animal husbandry not only provided an essential source of income in these mountainous regions, but also was a source of tension and conflict among village communities that were far from constituting, as was often thought, small egalitarian republics. Salt was used in animal husbandry for a number of different purposes and was traded between the valleys and mountains, becoming a major commodity in the Alpine economy since the Middle Ages. Dauphiné was not only subjected to the petite gabelle regime for salt taxes, but also benefitted from considerable freedom in the resale of this staple. In addition, after 1715, the eastern high valleys of Dauphiné were privileged territories where salt was sold at considerably lower prices than in the rest of the province. This created favourable conditions for fraud.
