The salt route, or rather, the salt routes. In medieval times, several routes departed from the Mediterranean shores to reach inland areas. Provence, France had theirs, and the County of Nice, bathed by this generous sea, belonged to the lords of Savoy and Piedmont.
La Brigue is a passage point to the Po plain, and salt transits there with other goods. This white gold is precious, processed, and produced in salt marshes, it is transported on the backs of mules. Salt should not be seen just as a simple condiment that enhances a dish in the kitchen. It is also used for food preservation, allowing, for instance, to consume fish in places far from the sea or waterways.
This commodity was highly regulated and subject to significant taxes. The gabelous, whose name would later refer to customs officers, were responsible for collecting the gabelle, this salt tax. The penalties for traffickers were very severe, going as far as the death penalty.
The village of La Brigue held its fifteenth Medieval Festival last weekend, where villagers donned clothing from the past for the occasion. It was a deep dive into history, with mentions of the Lascaris family. Salt was received, blessed, and distributed. The small donkeys impassively climbed the village streets, while folk groups entertained the route. The collegiate church of Saint Martin was the baroque setting for a mass in the Brigasque language.
The festivities continued over the two days with salt as a recurring theme. Songs echoed, gently caressing the walls and dispersing along the Levenza. Musical groups followed one another, and a song about the small donkey, loaded, too loaded, that did not want to advance and was beaten, yet people did not want it. The song “mon รขne” might have reminded some of the “little horse,” but here everything ends joyfully, the little donkey finds a meadow of fresh grass and frolics freed from its yoke.
The medieval village emerged from the distant past, and the audience could wander between the tents, those of the encampment of the hosts and the lords.
The show slowly concluded with the departure from the castle, reaching the gateway of time, thus returning to our era and leaving the Lascaris to doze off among the old stones of their ruined castle. But it’s promised, they invite us to next year with the upcoming convoy of donkeys and salt.
Thierry Jan
