The Oisans Route and the “Marrons”

In October 1412, Guillaume de Challes, steward of Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy, crossed Oisans during an official journey. This seemingly anecdotal episode nevertheless sheds light on an essential aspect of Mizoën’s history: the strategic role of mountain passes and of the people who kept them alive. At that time, crossing Oisans was neither simple nor safe. The paths were steep, poorly marked, exposed to bad weather, and travelers depended heavily on the inhabitants of the valleys to move forward. The archives mention the use of four “marrons”, mountain men specialized in guiding travelers and helping horses cross mountain terrain. For their help and expenses, Guillaume de Challes paid them six gros. It is very likely that men from Mizoën accompanied the small party as far as La Grave or toward the hospice of L’Oche, through the Combe de Malaval. Travelers’ accounts from the late Middle Ages often describe the harshness of the stops: poor lodging, expensive food, omnipresent insects. Yet this economy of passage also benefited local communities. In the most difficult cases, travelers, and sometimes even ladies, were carried on actual wooden stretchers, borne by men or animals. Through Guillaume de Challes and the “marrons”, Mizoën appears as an essential link in the Alpine routes, where geography required human know-how that was indispensable to circulation between major territories.