HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL FRAMEWORK

The parish of Montplaisant (see Fig. 8.1) which has become a civil commune without changing its boundaries, is situated in Périgord Noir, four kilometres south of the lesser Dordogne river, and two kilometres north of Belvés. Half of its area is on a plateau, and the other half in the valley of the Nauze, a little tributary which flows from the left into the Dordogne. On the plateau the soil is light and chalky, but in the valley it is a heavy fertile clay. Housing is scattered in hamlets of one or two households all over the territory of the commune. There is no large settlement in it, and apparently there never has been. In the valley, on the Nauze and its tributaries, there are many mills to be found. Before the Revolution not only did the parish belong to the castellany of Belvés but also formed an integral part of the community of Belvés. It was administered on the one hand by the aldermen, the mayor and his deputies and on the other by the Bailiff of the Archbishop of Bordeaux, who was the liege lord of the castellany.

THE POPULATION IN 1644

The document which has been used for this chapter is a liber status animarum (état des âmes) for the parish of Montplaisant drawn up in 1644 by Murat, the parish priest.