Page 18 - 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. 18
maize to the people!
ico, cc. 396-411 and refer to the period 1808-1834). Finally, in mountainous
and rural communities, it is normal to find places where 80-90% of cereal
consumption was represented by maize.
Thus, it seems very interesting to examine this dual grain market, tak-
ing into account different variables and, in particular, the population dis-
tribution, i.e. the presence or absence of a significant urban network, and
the population density. The case of northern Italy shows a peculiar situa-
tion since we can find some big cities, many towns and “quasi-towns” close
together, and a high and widespread population density, even in the large
Alpine area. That is particularly true of Lombardy as the following table
clearly shows.
Table 1. Mountain area in Lombardy, inhabitants and population density (1790)
Territories Surface (km²) % of mountain area Population Density (in./km²)
Bresciano and Riviera 4,882 55 340,000 70
Bergamasco 2,490 82 220,000 88
Cremasco 572 0 41,000 71
State of Milan 7,892 23 1,117,000 141
Lombardy 15,836 42 1,718,000 108
Sources: for Eastern Lombardy Mocarelli 1996, 342-343 and Mocarelli 1997, 267-268;
for the State of Milan Romani 1950, 25, 43
Let me focus on two issues that emerge from this situation: on the one
hand, the grain market outside the cities and the kind of grain sold on it,
and the price trend on the other. Usually, historians dealing with prices and
markets in the early modern period refer almost exclusively to the big cit-
ies and to the annone, ignoring the fact that most of the population lived
outside the cities. Even in one of the most urbanized areas of Europe in
that period, such as northern Italy, urbanization rates varied between 20-
30%, meaning that around 70-80% of the population lived in rural areas.
Therefore, rural markets, where maize was gaining a growing importance,
played a relevant role in the supply of the rural population since the coun-
tryside was not characterized only by self-consumption.
These markets were important especially for the supply of areas with a
high demand for grain (villages with thousands of inhabitants or those en-
gaged in manufacture) or with low grain production (e.g. mountain areas).
The case of the Italian Alpine area, which met both conditions, is exempla-
ry since it suffered, as did the biggest European cities, a structural lack of
16
ico, cc. 396-411 and refer to the period 1808-1834). Finally, in mountainous
and rural communities, it is normal to find places where 80-90% of cereal
consumption was represented by maize.
Thus, it seems very interesting to examine this dual grain market, tak-
ing into account different variables and, in particular, the population dis-
tribution, i.e. the presence or absence of a significant urban network, and
the population density. The case of northern Italy shows a peculiar situa-
tion since we can find some big cities, many towns and “quasi-towns” close
together, and a high and widespread population density, even in the large
Alpine area. That is particularly true of Lombardy as the following table
clearly shows.
Table 1. Mountain area in Lombardy, inhabitants and population density (1790)
Territories Surface (km²) % of mountain area Population Density (in./km²)
Bresciano and Riviera 4,882 55 340,000 70
Bergamasco 2,490 82 220,000 88
Cremasco 572 0 41,000 71
State of Milan 7,892 23 1,117,000 141
Lombardy 15,836 42 1,718,000 108
Sources: for Eastern Lombardy Mocarelli 1996, 342-343 and Mocarelli 1997, 267-268;
for the State of Milan Romani 1950, 25, 43
Let me focus on two issues that emerge from this situation: on the one
hand, the grain market outside the cities and the kind of grain sold on it,
and the price trend on the other. Usually, historians dealing with prices and
markets in the early modern period refer almost exclusively to the big cit-
ies and to the annone, ignoring the fact that most of the population lived
outside the cities. Even in one of the most urbanized areas of Europe in
that period, such as northern Italy, urbanization rates varied between 20-
30%, meaning that around 70-80% of the population lived in rural areas.
Therefore, rural markets, where maize was gaining a growing importance,
played a relevant role in the supply of the rural population since the coun-
tryside was not characterized only by self-consumption.
These markets were important especially for the supply of areas with a
high demand for grain (villages with thousands of inhabitants or those en-
gaged in manufacture) or with low grain production (e.g. mountain areas).
The case of the Italian Alpine area, which met both conditions, is exempla-
ry since it suffered, as did the biggest European cities, a structural lack of
16
