This article examines the role played by village schoolmasters in eighteenth-century rural France. Although schoolmasters were not supported or regulated by the state, as they would be a century later, they were able to navigate successfully the complex network of social relationships that existed within early modern rural society. Using the journal of one schoolmaster, Pierre Delahaye, the article demonstrates that in addition to teaching, schoolmasters also worked as record keepers for village notables, as clerks for the parish, and even cleaned the churches and belfries. The schoolmaster's position afforded him a much greater social position than might be assumed from knowledge of only his income and background, and even allowed him to serve as a mediator between the village and the curé. Thus it can be argued that schoolmasters of the eighteenth century were as important to rural society as their state supported counterparts of the nineteenth century.

中文翻译：

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鸽粪事件：18 世纪法国的乡村校长

本文考察了乡村教师在 18 世纪法国乡村所扮演的角色。尽管校长不受国家的支持或监管，就像一个世纪后的那样，他们能够成功地驾驭存在于早期现代农村社会中的复杂社会关系网络。使用一位校长皮埃尔·德拉哈耶的日记，文章表明，除了教学之外，校长还担任村里名人的记录员、教区的文员，甚至清理教堂和钟楼。校长的职位为他提供了比仅了解他的收入和背景所假定的更大的社会地位，甚至允许他充当村庄和牧师之间的调解人。