ABSTRACT
Around the year 1300, earlier in some places, later in others, the attack on virgin lands slowed down and finally ceased, despite the fact that there was plenty of ground still occupied by woodland or waste. Some of this was admittedly either quite unsuitable for cultivation or so unpromising as to offer no adequate return to justify the labour and expense of reclamation. But there was other land which might have been profitable to work, even with the somewhat crude techniques of the time, but yet remained unexploited. One reason may well have been a dearth of man-power; the labour supply was not inexhaustible, and we know of at least some attempted village settlements which failed from underpopulation. But the chief reason seems to have been that reclamation had come close to the reasonable limit. There was no point in continuing the conversion of forest and heath into ploughlands indefinitely. If deforestation continued, where would the animals graze? Where would men look for the natural products they could get from the forest? The preservation of the forest was of particular concern to the leading members of society; as a hunting ground it was the scene of their pleasure, as a source of profit it was valuable as never before. Towns were growing up, to be devourers of beams and billets; the countryside was dotted with new houses where new hearths burned; more and more forges were being set up, often in the very shadow of the trees. Assarting, on the
other hand, had entailed the nibbling away of the total area of land planted with trees. All things considered-growing scarcity and increased demand, the two classic elements of a price rise-it is no wonder that timber was now regarded as a valuable commodity or that the lords of the forest were more interested in squeezing the most out of their timber and kindling than in converting woodlands and coppices to arable. It should also be remembered that nature had never been the only enemy in the way of land clearance. Villagers accustomed to benefit from the grazing or the free enjoyment of the forest's wealth had always fought to defend their rights. It was often necessary to sue them or buy them off, especially where they had the support of some lord who shared their interest or by whatever title claimed forest privileges; the archives are full of records relating to litigation of this kind. It would be a mistake to imagine that the disputes were always conducted according to the rules of orderly legal pleading; and just as wrong to assume, whether force was used or not, that the decision always went in favour of tillage. The fate of the ville neuve established c. 1200 by a man named Frohier among the coppices on the right bank of the Seine was not unique; attacked by the villagers of Moret and Montereau, who had rights of common in the wood, the place was demolished by order of the chapter of Paris and never rebuilt. At much the same time, but at the other end of the country, the villagers of Six-Fours on the coast of Provence were busy resisting the advance of tillage at the expense of their pastures.28 In the early days of land clearance however, when so much land lay uncultivated and the arguments in favour of tillage were strong, the plough usually won the day. Later, when a rough balance had been achieved, the great drive to occupy the soil was halted, though not before the agrarian face of France had been decisively altered.
