It is the story of an ambitious project that aimed for nothing other than world domination. But it is also the story of a failure. It’s a bit of the history of France. At the heart of this story, the merino sheep, the object of much envy in the second half of the 18th century, and whose exhibition * The Sheep War at the National Archives retraces the route. Because this sheep, which goes about the highlands of Castile, produces a superfine wool of excellent quality, but above all because “the King of Spain has prohibited the export of live merino under penalty of death”, recalls Henri Pinoteau, archivist and co-curator of the exhibition. In fact, the monopoly on merino textiles makes it possible to generously fill the woolen socks of the Iberian kingdom.
So inevitably, it whets appetites. Some try to obtain sheep by smuggling, others by diplomacy. At the end of the 18th century, France was lagging behind Saxony and Sweden, holders of merino. However, the kingdom of Louis XVI “has very good sheet factories, but does not have control over the raw material”, explains Henri Pinoteau. To remedy this, the king decides to take matters into his own hands and appeals to the ties of cousin that unite him to King Charles III of Spain.
Megalomania
By dint of diplomatic maneuvers, on May 15, 1786, a herd of 366 merino sheep left Spain – “the best males and sheep”, according to Pierre Cornu, historian and co-curator of the exhibition – guided by five Spanish shepherds. and five dogs. After a five-month journey and the loss of around twenty animals, notably during the crossing of the Pyrenees, the herd arrives at the Rambouillet estate, which the crown acquired a few years earlier. France finally has its herd of merinos and will be able, thanks to the merinization of its rather weak sheep herd, to establish its domination on world wool.
It is in any case the idea of Napoleon who puts a little order in the National Sheepfold, jostled by the French Revolution. To thwart the English economic power, which has just started its industrial revolution, in particular thanks to the woolen textile, the Corsican corporal takes a decree in 1811 aiming to merinize the entire European sheep herd. For this, it relies on a network of sheepfolds similar to Rambouillet and on the looting of Spanish wool reserves, endorsed by the secret clauses of the Treaty of Basel of 1794 between the two countries.
Planet breeders
Except that the merino wool was not enough to face the terrible winter which transformed into rout the Russian campaign of 1812, and precipitated the fall of the eagle. From then on, the French dreams of a “sheep empire” are over, in the words of Pierre Cornu. Especially since “the United Kingdom, thanks to its fleet, will gain in economic influence and expand into South Africa and Australia,” explains the historian. There, by chasing the Aborigines who do not cultivate the land, they will be able to install immense herds, with yields much higher than those of Old Europe. »Thus from the 19th century, in Europe, sheep were no longer popular, except therefore in the United Kingdom (think of haggis).
Faced with this change in scale of the wool market, France threw in the towel and fell back on a breeding intended for meat. So what to do with the Rambouillet merinos? They will serve as breeders, especially since they have not known any outside contribution since 1786 – which is still the case today – and present an undeniable quality. “Thanks to strong zootechnical expertise, in 230 years, the herd has only exhibited 25% inbreeding”, specifies Henri Pinoteau. This thanks to “a genealogical follow-up of each individual”, adds Pierre Cornu. Thus in 1862, the Emperor ram was sold to an Australian breeder for the sum, colossal for the time, of 10,000 francs.
Electrical probe in the anus
Over the years, the sheepfold has become a laboratory for zootechnical innovation. And what could be more normal than it is in France, country of seduction, that the techniques of artificial insemination are developed at the end of the Second World War? This is how the agronomists of Rambouillet developed the stimulation of ejaculation in rams by the introduction of an electrical probe into the anus. Magnificent incarnation of French genius.
Today the sheepfold still has its merinos but has refocused on “a mission of defense and promotion of cultivated biodiversity”. It must be said that, compared to synthetic, wool only represents 1.2% of the world’s textiles. The golden age of wool, the object of all covetousness, is over.
* The Sheep War, from December 15 to April 18, at the National Archives, 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, 75003 Paris. Free admission.