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Due to the pioneering research of Micheal Clanchy, practices and social uses of writing have become a fruitful field for historians and are experiencing a resurgence of interest in France, where historians are concerned with writing practices in the context of the Church, princely or royal government, and feudal administration. But despite the observations of Michael Clanchy, who notes that the writing revolution of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries also concerned the peasantry, little research has dealt with this question. However, examples from Italy to Russia show that some peasants were able to use writing to defend their rights or prove their possessions in their everyday life, tending toward an unexpected literacy. A sentence issued by the county of Burgundy’s parliament in 1406 condemning the rural community of Val de Saugeais, the subjects of the Montbenoît abbey, located on the eastern border in the upper part of the county of Burgundy, offers us a glimpse into this peasant literacy. Peasants were collectively sentenced for having forged a false charter to defend their rights and positions against their lord and abbot, and particularly for attempting to bring an end to heavy labor charges. The details of the sentence reveal how the peasants worked to establish their false charter and sought to obtain recognition of its validity. Their failed attempt nevertheless demonstrates a high degree of sensitivity to the role and importance of scripts, not only among an educated social elite, but also a common peasant culture, despite different literacy levels and knowledge of writing texts.