14th Century French Peasants - But fun

One of the most creative things I have encountered recently is the book Montaillou by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie. This book is a groundbreaking book in the field of history. Le Roy Ladurie digs deep into the lives of teh 14th century peasants living in a small village in the Pyrenees. He writes a microhistory rooted in the details found in primary sources. He aims to give readers the experience of living in Montaillou in the 14th century. In order to do so, Le Roy Ladurie looks beyond traditional units of study for historians like economy, politics, and rulers. Le Roy Ladurie chooses to study individual people, their emotions, and their daily activities to humanize the peasants of the past. His source is an inquisitorial record written by Jacques Fournier. Jacques Fournier was an inquisitor in the early 1300s. It was his job to interview and interrogate peasants to determine whether they had committed heresy by converting to Catharism or if they remained good Catholics. All of his interviews were written down, making it a source rich in details about the live and minds of the 14th century peasants.

Many of them talk about their daily lives, their personal experiences, and how they navigated the greater medieval world around them. Up until Le Roy Ladurie, records like this would be studied by historians to understand larger themes like the Inquisition or to understand the history of the church in this time period. Le Roy Ladurie however digs deeper beyond surface level interpretations of this text. He looks beyond the elite biases it has and uncovers the hidden peasant world underneath. He describes mothers mourning over the death of their children. He describes romantic love and sexual affairs. He examines peasant belief systems like Catharism, fortune and ideas of beauty.

All in all, Le Roy Ladurie was obsessed with details. He found intriguing stories of individuals in the 14th century and forged them together to tell the narrative of a town. His total microhistory paints a picture of life in Montaillou. He gives readers an understanding of how heresy and the Inquisition affected the lives of individuals. The work humanizes the peasants to help us relate to and therefore better understand their lives, giving a voice to those who didn’t have one.