Les formes circulaires de l’espace bâti et agricole au Moyen Âge : tracé, mesure et partage

Abstract

In the treatise by Bertran Boysset (late 14th – early 15th century) several chapters are devoted to the calculation and the division of circular plots of land. Analysis of its content is illustrated by concrete examples of measurements taken from the written and archaeological documentation from the end of the 10th to the 15th century. The intellectual and technical processes used to trace these circular plots of land, to measure the circumference and the area, then to divide it up according to a radial pattern, are reconstituted. The importance of radial structuring of space during the Middle Ages is shown by morphological analyses of radio-concentric land division systems of villages and territories organized around their central town; this is confirmed by diverse texts, particularly concerning the establishment of suburb jurisdictions. Field data and information from texts and treatises shed light on functional and efficient practices quite unrelated to scholarly mathematics. This is neither a result of intellectual incapacity nor lack of knowledge as is often imagined; it reflects pragmatic realism.