Visualizing to Understand: Shipping Patterns in the La Rochelle Region at the Eve of the French Revolution

This article presents a case study on shipping and maritime trade in the 18th century French provinces of Poitou, Aunis, Saintonge and Angoumois. As part of the interdisciplinary ANR “Portic” program, this study examines the spatial logics at work and the place of La Rochelle as a pivotal hub of this region. In particular, it looks at the relationship between local, regional, national and international maritime and river traffic. The paper presents more specifically the phases of data collection, processing and curation, and describes the two analytical tools that were implemented: on-demand visualizations of navigation data, and a Web publication combining text with a series of visual instruments (maps, graphs, network analyses, diagrams, etc.).