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There is a general consensus among researchers nowadays that the beginnings of agricultural intensification in North-Western Europe go back to the mid- xiiith century. One can find no such consensus when iit comes to the explanations of this phenomenon, however. This short paper aims at approaching it through the lens of an exceptional source from 1258, bearing on the Brussels area. This document includes several elements which should prompt us to reset the process of intensification within the larger framework of the evolution of agriculture during the xiiith century under the growing influence of urban centers.