The village is a social and spatial unit, but also belongs to a larger territory and pattern of settlement. It is defined as much by the relations it maintains with its environment as by its own characteristics. A study of these relations leads to an understanding of how the village community is inserted into the regional context. Analysis of the development of the matrimonial space of the inhabitants of Saint-Jean-Port-Joli over the last two centuries illustrates the different phases in the process of integration of a village community into the social fabric of its region.