Page 34 - 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. 34
maize to the people!
ceived part of their remuneration in kind and often in minor cereals (millet
and rye mostly), maize was completely absent (Demo and Ongaro 2020).
The role played by rye, millet, barley, buckwheat, oat and spelt in feeding
the peasants, especially in the area of the province close to the mountains,
is confirmed by the already mentioned survey of “food and mouths” dated
1546. Figure 1 show the percentage of minor cereals and wheat reported to
the Venetian authorities in various villages.
The picture is not surprising and it is certainly not typical only of the
Province of Vicenza: in almost all the rural villages, more than 50 percent
of food availability was guaranteed by legumes and minor cereals, and of-
ten wheat played a marginal role. Certainly, we are in the period before the
“boom” of wheat production in the Republic of Venice (in the second half
of the century) (Zannini 2010), but it is quite probable that the situation was
the same also in the following decades. Furthermore, especially in the hilly
and mountainous areas, the consumption of minor cereals and legumes
was quite high, between 75 and 97 percent.
Maize in the countryside of Vicenza
When and where can we place the arrival of maize in the countryside of
Vicenza? Fassina was quoted on the previous pages, who asserts that the
first example of maize cultivation is dated 1611 and located in the north-east-
ern part of the province, in the plain between the Tesina and Brenta rivers.
Moreover, we referred above to new discoveries that seem to anticipate the
arrival of maize – still in the area close to the mountains – at the end of the
previous century.
Beyond these examples, new researches help to redefine the chronol-
ogy and geography of maize diffusion in the Province of Vicenza: Silvano
Fornasa wrote that an inventory dated 1570, which referred to goods owned
by the Panciera family in a village close to Creazzo, reports “a basket with a
small amount of sorgo turco” (Fornasa 2013, 200-201). Furthermore, a sur-
vey of agricultural products in private houses drafted by the public officers
of San Vito di Leguzzano (a village close to Schio) in 1572 reports “half
a staio of sorgo turco” (Snichelotto 2019, 146-148) owned by a local fami-
ly; that equalled roughly 13 litres, given that one staio of Vicenza amount-
ed to 27,043175 litres (Martini 1883, 823). These amounts are not enormous,
but neither are they irrelevant; in those years, maize was probably already
a well-known and cultivated product, at least in small quantities, even if
we do not know whether it was used for human feeding or for the animals.
32
ceived part of their remuneration in kind and often in minor cereals (millet
and rye mostly), maize was completely absent (Demo and Ongaro 2020).
The role played by rye, millet, barley, buckwheat, oat and spelt in feeding
the peasants, especially in the area of the province close to the mountains,
is confirmed by the already mentioned survey of “food and mouths” dated
1546. Figure 1 show the percentage of minor cereals and wheat reported to
the Venetian authorities in various villages.
The picture is not surprising and it is certainly not typical only of the
Province of Vicenza: in almost all the rural villages, more than 50 percent
of food availability was guaranteed by legumes and minor cereals, and of-
ten wheat played a marginal role. Certainly, we are in the period before the
“boom” of wheat production in the Republic of Venice (in the second half
of the century) (Zannini 2010), but it is quite probable that the situation was
the same also in the following decades. Furthermore, especially in the hilly
and mountainous areas, the consumption of minor cereals and legumes
was quite high, between 75 and 97 percent.
Maize in the countryside of Vicenza
When and where can we place the arrival of maize in the countryside of
Vicenza? Fassina was quoted on the previous pages, who asserts that the
first example of maize cultivation is dated 1611 and located in the north-east-
ern part of the province, in the plain between the Tesina and Brenta rivers.
Moreover, we referred above to new discoveries that seem to anticipate the
arrival of maize – still in the area close to the mountains – at the end of the
previous century.
Beyond these examples, new researches help to redefine the chronol-
ogy and geography of maize diffusion in the Province of Vicenza: Silvano
Fornasa wrote that an inventory dated 1570, which referred to goods owned
by the Panciera family in a village close to Creazzo, reports “a basket with a
small amount of sorgo turco” (Fornasa 2013, 200-201). Furthermore, a sur-
vey of agricultural products in private houses drafted by the public officers
of San Vito di Leguzzano (a village close to Schio) in 1572 reports “half
a staio of sorgo turco” (Snichelotto 2019, 146-148) owned by a local fami-
ly; that equalled roughly 13 litres, given that one staio of Vicenza amount-
ed to 27,043175 litres (Martini 1883, 823). These amounts are not enormous,
but neither are they irrelevant; in those years, maize was probably already
a well-known and cultivated product, at least in small quantities, even if
we do not know whether it was used for human feeding or for the animals.
32
