Transhumance in the Middle Ages: The eastern Pyrenees

Abstract

The political and cultural rise of early modern Europe was made possible by the economic expansion of the Middle Ages. This, in turn, was predicated upon increased agricultural production and the development of the textile industry. In England, the Low Countries, and northern Italy the peasants participated to the extent that workers were required to process wool and weave cloth. Towns grew, the population increased, and the socio‐economic structure became more sophisticated. It is natural to assume, then, that peasants in all wool producing regions benefited from this new state of affairs; it is argued that transhumance brought increased wealth and important social changes to rural communities, especially in the mountains. In fact, transhumance has been misunderstood: the peasants were not full participants. On the contrary, in the eastern Pyrenees as elsewhere the mountain folk suffered from the introduction of large flocks on to their communal pastures.