Describing space, writing a territory. The Dauphiné-­Savoie in the Recueil et abbregé (1547)

The Recueil et abbregé de certaines choses concernans le gouvernement des pays de Daulphiné et Savoye is an anonymous manuscript from the middle of the 16th century that offers a description of the Dauphinois and Savoyard space for the new French governor, François de Lorraine. Set in the context of the Italian wars, which saw the conquest and dismemberment of the Duchy of Savoy, it allows us to approach the way in which an original territory can be constituted and singled out in the early modern period. As object, the Recueil et abbregé appears as an intellectual arrangement of the Dauphin-­Savoyard territory, offering the governor’s eye an overhanging view of the area over which he exercises his authority. The main characteristic of this is the union of two entities, breaking with several centuries of antagonism. The existence of the Dauphiné-­Savoie is affirmed, represented and justified. This discourse was coupled with the identification of several characteristics specific to the territory, which contributed to its definition, sketching out on paper a singular territory, a space of openness and closure at the service of the Valois and their Italian ambitions. But the intellectual construction was achieved despite the circumstances and the Dauphiné-­Savoie became an impeded territory, a political project without much reality on the ground and to which the restitution of Savoy by the treaty of Cateau-­Cambrésis in 1559 put a definitive stop.

Keywords: Description, Territory, Territorial Identity, Italian Wars, Dauphiné, Savoy.

Nicolas Broisin, Décrire l’espace, écrire un territoire. Le Dauphiné-­Savoie dans le Recueil et abbregé (1547)* in "STORIA URBANA " 175/2023, pp 19-37, DOI: 10.3280/SU2023-175002