Paolo Nanni, Hao Xu, Civiltà agrarie del Medioevo. Il Trattato di agricoltura di Wang Zhen (1313), (Quaderni della "Rivista di storia dell'agricoltura, 10), 2021
I più antichi trattati di agricoltura sono una delle fonti storiche più interessanti per gli stor... more I più antichi trattati di agricoltura sono una delle fonti storiche più interessanti per gli storici del mondo rurale e del lavoro contadino. Il trattato di Wang Zhen "Nongshu" (1313) rappresenta un caso molto particolare, trattandosi di un testo molto articolato e corredato da oltre 300 figure. Sul piano comparativo si tratta inoltre di un testimone eccezionale, data la sua contemporaneità con il trattato di Pier de’ Crescenzi, che ebbe peraltro ampia circolazione in tutta Europa. I testi che presentiamo in questo volume sono suddivisi in tre parti. La prima (Hao Xu, Il trattato di agricoltura di Wang Zhen) è dedicata a un inquadramento storico culturale dell’autore e della sua opera. La seconda, che rappresenta il cuore della ricerca (Dal Registro illustrato degli strumenti agricoli del trattato di Wang Zhen), contiene una selezione di figure e testi tradotti a cura di Hao Xu, scelti tra quelli più interessanti per la loro centralità nell’opera e per la rilevanza sul piano comparativo. La terza parte raccoglie contributi di vari autori (Paolo Nanni, Andrea Cantile, Gaetano Forni, Miriam Castorina, Valentina Pedone) al fine di segnalare possibili prospettive di studio e ricerca, sia sul piano storico sia su quello degli scambi interculturali.
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The Black Death’s long standing impact on the countryside during mid fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth century has been widely covered in historiography with particular focus on demographic trends and effects on agrarian systems of the various “agricultural Italies”. However, the latest pandemic led us to reflect more carefully on short terms impacts. The paper aim at reviewing sources and historiographic summaries to foster a discussion about the changes in Italian countryside’s in the twenty years following the 1348’s Plague.
The case study of Florence in the first half of the fourteenth century focuses on these historical aspects and presents the opportunity for an interesting and relevant case of political-economic argumentation. Although documented natural events between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries (excessive rain, cold, flood) confirm the strong climate variability of this era, the famines before the Black Death struck were rationing crises triggered mainly by trade mechanisms. Faced with famine and shortages, the city of Florence managed to curb hunger by adopting rationing policies, creating special magistracies, and using communal purchases to control prices. This study outlines the accounts of these events in the chronicles of Domenico Lenzi and Giovanni Villani before discussing the causes and describing the material remedies that were introduced. These remedies were indicative of a growing civic consciousness, new forms of solidarity, and strengthened political communication.
In recent years, the need has been felt for a comparative overview of the entire peninsula, able to highlight common traits and diversified paths precisely during the Middle Ages with different methods of agricultural rationalization and development, or the use and management of resources such as transhumant pastures. The investment in agricultural land and the different forms of land use represent a significant step in the economic history following the 14th-century crisis that affected individuals, cities and rural communities, and such public enterprises as charities. This interest in the comparison, in Italy and Europe, also featured various overview studies dedicated to the environment and landscapes, seeking to incorporate new kinds of research coming from the modern world.
The present text is the revised version of the speech presented at the International Conference Old and New Worlds: The Global Challenges of Rural History (V Encontro Rural RePort – XV Congreso de Historia Agraria de la SEHA, Lisbon 2016), in the Session Old and New Challenges for Rural History of Middle Ages coordinated by Antoni Furió.
The Black Death’s long standing impact on the countryside during mid fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth century has been widely covered in historiography with particular focus on demographic trends and effects on agrarian systems of the various “agricultural Italies”. However, the latest pandemic led us to reflect more carefully on short terms impacts. The paper aim at reviewing sources and historiographic summaries to foster a discussion about the changes in Italian countryside’s in the twenty years following the 1348’s Plague.
The case study of Florence in the first half of the fourteenth century focuses on these historical aspects and presents the opportunity for an interesting and relevant case of political-economic argumentation. Although documented natural events between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries (excessive rain, cold, flood) confirm the strong climate variability of this era, the famines before the Black Death struck were rationing crises triggered mainly by trade mechanisms. Faced with famine and shortages, the city of Florence managed to curb hunger by adopting rationing policies, creating special magistracies, and using communal purchases to control prices. This study outlines the accounts of these events in the chronicles of Domenico Lenzi and Giovanni Villani before discussing the causes and describing the material remedies that were introduced. These remedies were indicative of a growing civic consciousness, new forms of solidarity, and strengthened political communication.
In recent years, the need has been felt for a comparative overview of the entire peninsula, able to highlight common traits and diversified paths precisely during the Middle Ages with different methods of agricultural rationalization and development, or the use and management of resources such as transhumant pastures. The investment in agricultural land and the different forms of land use represent a significant step in the economic history following the 14th-century crisis that affected individuals, cities and rural communities, and such public enterprises as charities. This interest in the comparison, in Italy and Europe, also featured various overview studies dedicated to the environment and landscapes, seeking to incorporate new kinds of research coming from the modern world.
The present text is the revised version of the speech presented at the International Conference Old and New Worlds: The Global Challenges of Rural History (V Encontro Rural RePort – XV Congreso de Historia Agraria de la SEHA, Lisbon 2016), in the Session Old and New Challenges for Rural History of Middle Ages coordinated by Antoni Furió.
In recent years, the need has been felt for a comparative overview of the entire peninsula, able to highlight common traits and diversified paths precisely during the Middle Ages with different methods of agricultural rationalization and development, or the use and management of resources such as transhumant pastures. The investment in agricultural land and the different forms of land use represent a significant step in the economic history following the 14th-century crisis that affected individuals, cities and rural communities, and such public enterprises as charities. This interest in the comparison, in Italy and Europe, also featured various overview studies dedicated to the environment and landscapes, seeking to incorporate new kinds of research coming from the modern world.