dAf 30
GRANDEMANGE Jacques
Les mines d'argent du duché de Lorraine au XVIe siècle
Histoire et archéologie du Val de Lièpvre (Haut-Rhin)
The juxtaposition of data from sources as widely differing as account-books and the archaeological remains of a mining system is the keystone of this work devoted to the history of the Duke of Lorraine's silver mines in the Lièpvre Valley (Haut-Rhin) between 1512 and 1628. Ibis original approach takes us through a labyrinth of shafts and galleries towards the discovery both of a rational spatial organization, using specific building and extraction techniques, and of the economic and political conditions which encouraged its development. This study, at the crossroads of history and archaeology, constitutes a precious source of informations both for specialists and for newcomers to the history of mining and its techniques.
Abstract
Abstract
At the end of the Middle Ages Western Europe was suffering from a shortage of precious metals, the demand for which was to encourage a renewal of mining activity in the Germanic countries and on their borders. This renewed activity began in 1450, and was to persist until the mid-XVlth Century, since it was only then that imported metals from the New World began to make their impact. This was the economic background to the, development of silver mining in the Vosges massif, be it under the sway of the Austrian Empire or that of the Duchy of Lorraine. Within the area was the Val de Liepvre, the most important silver producing centre within the frontiers of France as we know it today. It was located halfway between St-Dié and Selestat, and control of the area was divided : the southern mines were exploited by the manor of Ribeauvillé, a vassal of the Habsburgs, and the northern mines by the Duchy of Lorraine. This study concentrates on the latter section, using a combination of historical an archaeological approaches : a wide-ranging examination of accounting records gives the history of these mines, and three excavations carried out on a group of mines reveal their rational organization and the techniques indissociable from such a structure.
1. History of the Duchy mines : the registers of the receiver's office (1512-1628)
From the registers of receivers of accounts for the mines it is possible to trace the developpement of mining between 1512 and 1629, with its different phases of prospection and abandonment, production and decline. Mining was undertaken on 276 different sites, in 12 separate main areas, but only 24 of these mines actually produced silver, copper and sometimes lead. The tremendous number of unproductive diggings demonstrates not only the difficulties facing prospectors, but also their determination. 38 years were to elapse before the rich ore veins of St-Pierremont Hill were discovered. The production boom lasted for 20 years, from 1551 to 1571. During this period an average of 1,298 kg of refined silver was produced annually, a considerable quantity for the Duchy of Lorraine. Almost the whole of this production originated from only 4 mines in the St-Pierremont district : St-Guillaume, St-Jean, Notre-Dame-de-Pfennigthorne with St- Henry-l'Em pereur-au-Don-de-Dieu and Samson. But an inexorable collapse in production began in 1572, and in spite of temporary recoveries in 1591 and 1593 it had become negligible by the begining of the XVllth century.
2. Archaeology of mining techniques : a study of the "Fontaine des Chouettes" system
The archaeological study concentrated on the most important mine known at the present time in the principal production centre of the Duchy-controlled Val de Lièpvre, the mine of St-Pierremont. The 1,225 metre long works include an upper mining gallery and a drainage gallery beneath it. A study of these works makes it possible to specify the different techniques used in their exploitation : tunnelling methods, tools, surveying and gauging, ventilation, haulage of the ore produced, architecture of shafts and their prop and shoring systems. This range of complementary techniques belongs to a basic systems essentially defined by the spatial distribution and organization of vertical and horizontal workings. The key stone of the system is the drainage tunnel or erbstoll which profondly transforms traditional mining conditions by taking over some of the main labour and maintenance operations : tubs no longer have to be brought to the surface by the three shafts, ventilation maintenance can be abandoned and pumping out left to the effects of gravity. Thus freed from its main technical and financial drawbacks, mining can concentrate on increased production. This mastery over undreground workings and the techniques associated with them is chracteristic of the rational approach to mining during the Renaissance. This mine was christened "Fontaine des Chouettes" by a XIXth-century scholar, and has still not recovered its original name, having been relatively unproductive in spite of its large scale workings. The most credible hypothesis, by current knowledge, would be that it corresponds to the Armenrott mine, which was contemporary with the Fontaine des Chouettes, and for which accounts registers show low production levels in spite of workings on a considerable scale.
