Farm mills in feudal times: the mills of the municipalities of Sant Sadurní and Cruïlles (Baix Empordà) in the 13th and 14th centuries

Abstract

In his thesis about Catalonia, Pierre Bonnassie highlighted the widespread use of hydraulic energy from streams. During 10th and 11th centuries many peasants were involved in building themselves a lot of small mills that they shared in common, so that each owner could use the mill several days a week. This form of ownership survived in most parishes around the massif of Gavarres (east of Girona) during 13th and 14th centuries, when manorial «capbreus» record not only the name of mills and streams where they are raised, but also the rights of individual peasants and their respective lords. Only in two parishes, Cruïlles and Sant Sadurní, we have 34 mills: 17 were built on Daró river, 8 on Pastells stream, 4 on Rissec, 2 on Ganga stream and 3 on smaller streams. The survival of this model of peasant mill until 14th century, apart from geographical factors, could be due to the difficulties experienced by feudal lords to extract rents in a society in which the peasants were firmly installed in their isolated manses.