Medieval Tanners of Troyes

Urbanised from the year 25 BC, ancient Troyes, Augustobona, was built on a marshy zone and an alluvium tongue of a meander of the River Seine, at its confluence with the River Vienne.  Until 1910 its low relief left the city at the mercy of the whims of the river and of its tributary. In the field, the archaeological deposits correspond to the three major periods in the history of the town: Antiquity, the 12^th century AD and the Middle Ages (16^th century). 

The conquest of the marshland was carried out in the 12^th century, thanks to economic measures undertaken by the Comtes de Champagne. Henceforth the ditches of a new enclosure were fed by water diverted from the Seine and the groundwater table level was lowered. Inside the city, mills and workshops were established on channels. Merchants and artisans settled on the new spaces won from the marshland. The first tanners’ workshops and cobblers’ stalls appeared in the 12^th century. This activity was still testified in the early 19^th century, by place names such as « Les Bains de la Tannerie » and streets called the « Petite » and « Grande Tannerie ». 

Three workshops, now being excavated, reveal the medieval techniques of leather production using raw hides and skins bought from butchers.  Large rectangular basins of a capacity of 2 to 2,5 m³,, dug out of the ground and consolidated by sides of interlaced willow, are arranged in series. They are sometimes associated with cylindrical vats made from barrels intended to stock ash and tannin. 

The larger basins were intended to receive the raw hides, which were then soaked in an alkaline mixture of water and ash, the time needed for the complete removal of hair and other extraneous materials.  After a clear water cleansing in the canal, the hides were soaked in smaller basins containing a strong concentration of ground oak bark, to strengthen and fashion the leather.  Because of the contact with tannin the wattles of these basins are very well preserved. In spite of some knowledge of the technical process gleaned from the Encyclopédie of Diderot and D’Alembert, the possible specialisation of the workshops of Troyes and the origin of their leathers remains to be determined.

The excavation of a ditch has supplied a lot of information: shallow, 2m wide, this outlet carried an impressive quantity of leather off-cuts mixed with many worn-out objects (shoes, belts, gloves …). Further downstream, almost twenty carcasses of the horse family were found, mostly those of donkeys.  Their proximity to the tanneries raises many questions, in particular the treatment of these animals whose meat was forbidden several times by the Church during the medieval period. 

Over a depth of more than one metre, archaeologists have found hard earth floors of medieval houses. The houses and outhouses were built on a wooden framework isolated from the ground by large blocks of sandstone.  A clogging of stones and terracotta materials prevented the intrusion of rodents inside the dwelling. The use of flat tile is testified from the late 13^th century. 
During this period the urban islet was divided by a narrow channel, with its banks consolidated by a multitude of stakes and oak sheet piling. The distribution of the constructions inside the two islets was not very dense. Many spaces are still open to the street (courtyards, gardens, and workshops).  Two constructions face-to-face have caught our attention. They are dwellings whose imposing hooded chimneys and terracotta hearths confirm the importance of cooking at this epoch.  

Today, the excavation of this quarter reveals a little known aspect of the history of Troyes during the Middle Ages.