History(ies) of a frontier: France, Piedmont-Savoy (XVI-XVIIIth c.)
Introduction
Frontiers are paradoxical places, bringing people together as much as forming a barrier between them. Borders have also always been places for flexing political muscle. The Franco-Piedmont frontier is a perfect example of both these, living through all the ups and downs of the 16th and 18th centuries, a period marked by endless conflicts but also by the tentative construction of European states. Frontiers are dreamt up by desk-bound administrators and diplomats, then redrawn and fortified by military engineers, but more importantly they are also a space lived in and experienced every day by the local people, with their ancient customs and the more or less lawful traffic in goods. This article is offered as an addition to the academic exploration of this living space.
Introduction
I. A moving frontier
II. The people of the frontier:...
III. Frontier and unlawful traf...
Conclusion
Bibliography
Abstract
Frontiers are paradoxical places, bringing people together as much as forming a barrier between them. Borders have also always been places for flexing political muscle. The Franco-Piedmont frontier is a perfect example of both these, living through all the ups and downs of the 16th and 18th centuries, a period marked by endless conflicts but also by the tentative construction of European states. Frontiers are dreamt up by desk-bound administrators and diplomats, then redrawn and fortified by military engineers, but more importantly they are also a space lived in and experienced every day by the local people, with their ancient customs and the more or less lawful traffic in goods. This article is offered as an addition to the academic exploration of this living space. ...
Author
Montenach Anne
Lecturer in modern history, University of Aix-Marseille, TELEMME, MMSH.