32

Picture maps started to be drawn up in the XIVth century in order to serve as exhibits in courts throughout Europe. Despite the important role they played in the history of law and the development of cartography, they are underestimated in French historiography. The picture map of the barony of Séverac-le-Château is a fine example. Made specifically in 1504 for proceedings regarding the sharing out of a royal tax called fouage in Rouergue, it clearly and meticulously represents all the villages and hamlets of this region, as well as the houses, churches and castles: on the whole, no less than eight hundred edifices. This document not only offers an exceptional account of architectural landscape, it is also a legal discourse, a map and an image, expressing both the passing down of medieval culture and the prefiguration of modern cartography.