Page 13 - Mocarelli, Luca, and Aleksander Panjek. Eds. 2020. Maize to the People! Cultivation, Consumption and Trade in the North-Eastern Mediterranean (Sixteenth-Nineteenth Century). Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 13
maize in the north-eastern mediterranean: new insights and researches
tle room for maize diffusion, which was mostly limited to the Apennines
area or to places where the geopedological characteristics and the pecu-
liar nature of settlements greatly limited the production of wheat, as in
Valdemone in Sicily. In this area in the second half of the eighteenth cen-
tury, maize acted as an alternative crop grown by the population to combat
production shortage and the increase in taxes on wheat and flour following
the Mediterranean scarcity of 1763-64 (Fazio 2018).
Moving northeast, that is toward Carinthia, it is equally possible to
note some differences as maize had the status of a botanical rarity until
the early eighteenth century, even though its first appearance can be docu-
mented as early as 1559. Moreover, its spread during the century was not ho-
mogeneous since in south-eastern Carinthia (Lower Carinthia) there was
no evidence of maize cultivation until the early nineteenth century, unlike
in Upper and Central Carinthia. It is important to note that the first are-
as where maize had spread were those north of the Alpine Divide and it
is possible to suppose a maize penetration through Alpine passes linking
Carinthian valleys with South Tyrol and Friuli.
If we move southeast, that is east of the Republic of Venice and the
eastern Adriatic coast, i.e. to the present-day Slovenia and Croatia, the sit-
uation was even more complex. The case of the Slovenian region is exem-
plary in this regard since we can find many differences in the timing of the
diffusion of maize and in its geographical distribution. In the middle of
the seventeenth century maize was sown and consumed quite often in the
south-western part, close to the Adriatic coast and Venetian Friuli, and per-
haps even more so in the north-eastern part of the region (Styria), but it was
almost unknown in the central area and even its wide diffusion during the
eighteenth century reached the central part of the region (Carniola) only
marginally; there, the population relied on maize solely in times of food
crises. This was the case for a long time since in 1913 only 8% of arable land
was devoted to maize in Carniola, compared to 32% and 40% in Gorizia-
Gradisca and Istria, respectively (Lazarević in this volume).
It is also worth noting that during the eighteenth century the maize
trade, centred around the harbours of Trieste and Rijeka, was becoming
more and more important for import, especially (but not only) during the
food crises, and for export. While the imports signal that the consump-
tion surpassed local production capacities, the exports of maize through
both sea ports seem to be linked to another very interesting trait that has
emerged in our case studies. In fact, in the Slovenian region it is possible to
11
tle room for maize diffusion, which was mostly limited to the Apennines
area or to places where the geopedological characteristics and the pecu-
liar nature of settlements greatly limited the production of wheat, as in
Valdemone in Sicily. In this area in the second half of the eighteenth cen-
tury, maize acted as an alternative crop grown by the population to combat
production shortage and the increase in taxes on wheat and flour following
the Mediterranean scarcity of 1763-64 (Fazio 2018).
Moving northeast, that is toward Carinthia, it is equally possible to
note some differences as maize had the status of a botanical rarity until
the early eighteenth century, even though its first appearance can be docu-
mented as early as 1559. Moreover, its spread during the century was not ho-
mogeneous since in south-eastern Carinthia (Lower Carinthia) there was
no evidence of maize cultivation until the early nineteenth century, unlike
in Upper and Central Carinthia. It is important to note that the first are-
as where maize had spread were those north of the Alpine Divide and it
is possible to suppose a maize penetration through Alpine passes linking
Carinthian valleys with South Tyrol and Friuli.
If we move southeast, that is east of the Republic of Venice and the
eastern Adriatic coast, i.e. to the present-day Slovenia and Croatia, the sit-
uation was even more complex. The case of the Slovenian region is exem-
plary in this regard since we can find many differences in the timing of the
diffusion of maize and in its geographical distribution. In the middle of
the seventeenth century maize was sown and consumed quite often in the
south-western part, close to the Adriatic coast and Venetian Friuli, and per-
haps even more so in the north-eastern part of the region (Styria), but it was
almost unknown in the central area and even its wide diffusion during the
eighteenth century reached the central part of the region (Carniola) only
marginally; there, the population relied on maize solely in times of food
crises. This was the case for a long time since in 1913 only 8% of arable land
was devoted to maize in Carniola, compared to 32% and 40% in Gorizia-
Gradisca and Istria, respectively (Lazarević in this volume).
It is also worth noting that during the eighteenth century the maize
trade, centred around the harbours of Trieste and Rijeka, was becoming
more and more important for import, especially (but not only) during the
food crises, and for export. While the imports signal that the consump-
tion surpassed local production capacities, the exports of maize through
both sea ports seem to be linked to another very interesting trait that has
emerged in our case studies. In fact, in the Slovenian region it is possible to
11
