Page 36 - 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. 36
maize to the people!
and other legumes, chestnuts and various fruits; it is interesting, even if not
for the aims of this paper, that the prices of mulberry leaves, which were
widely used for the rearing of the silkworms, were also included.
The fact that, as we will see on the following pages, the prices of maize
were strongly related to those of other cereals and particularly to those of
wheat, suggests that already at the end of the 1580s, so before the famine of
the 90s, the sorgo turco was widespread and used especially for human con-
sumption, together with other cereals.
Before a more specific analysis of the transition of maize from being
a ‘garden cereal’ to its complete inclusion in the market dynamics, it is in-
teresting to propose a hypothesis about the geography and chronology of
this process. First, it is clear that, at least according to the archival sourc-
es which have come to light so far, maize appeared for the first time in the
villages in the north-western part of the Province of Vicenza: it was the
most densely populated area of the province, where relevant villages, such
as Arzignano, Schio or Valdagno, were located. Therefore, it was an area
with an important demographic pressure in terms of the equilibrium be-
tween population and food resources, given also that the area close to the
mountains and its valleys (Chiampo, Leogra and Agno) were certainly not
the most suitable for the cultivation of wheat. As shown in Figure 1, in this
area consumption of minor cereals assured the survival of the population:
quoting Fornasa, who refers to the Agno Valley (where Valdagno, Trissino
and Castelgomberto were located), in that valley “peasants preferred to cul-
tivate the minor cereals that guaranteed a more certain yield”; during the
early modern period “the yellow maize polenta and the grey one made with
buckwheat stood out in the peasant diet in the Agno Valley, with a differ-
ence due to the elevation: in the villages on the valley floor the first one pre-
vailed, while the second one characterized the villages in the hills and in
the high valley” (Fornasa 2012, 38-39). The case of San Vito in the Leogra
Valley is another clear example of this: in this village, according to the 1546
survey, 92% of the harvest consisted of minor cereals; an absolutely pre-
ponderant percentage. Therefore, it is not surprising that that was exact-
ly where maize found fertile ground for a rapid diffusion, also for human
nourishment. Indeed, not only was the morphology of the area not suita-
ble for the extensive cultivation of wheat – contrary to the southern part of
the province – but the economic structure also developed according to this
characterization: as anticipated, between the fifteenth and sixteenth centu-
ry a flourishing textile industry was strengthened in these very villages and
34
and other legumes, chestnuts and various fruits; it is interesting, even if not
for the aims of this paper, that the prices of mulberry leaves, which were
widely used for the rearing of the silkworms, were also included.
The fact that, as we will see on the following pages, the prices of maize
were strongly related to those of other cereals and particularly to those of
wheat, suggests that already at the end of the 1580s, so before the famine of
the 90s, the sorgo turco was widespread and used especially for human con-
sumption, together with other cereals.
Before a more specific analysis of the transition of maize from being
a ‘garden cereal’ to its complete inclusion in the market dynamics, it is in-
teresting to propose a hypothesis about the geography and chronology of
this process. First, it is clear that, at least according to the archival sourc-
es which have come to light so far, maize appeared for the first time in the
villages in the north-western part of the Province of Vicenza: it was the
most densely populated area of the province, where relevant villages, such
as Arzignano, Schio or Valdagno, were located. Therefore, it was an area
with an important demographic pressure in terms of the equilibrium be-
tween population and food resources, given also that the area close to the
mountains and its valleys (Chiampo, Leogra and Agno) were certainly not
the most suitable for the cultivation of wheat. As shown in Figure 1, in this
area consumption of minor cereals assured the survival of the population:
quoting Fornasa, who refers to the Agno Valley (where Valdagno, Trissino
and Castelgomberto were located), in that valley “peasants preferred to cul-
tivate the minor cereals that guaranteed a more certain yield”; during the
early modern period “the yellow maize polenta and the grey one made with
buckwheat stood out in the peasant diet in the Agno Valley, with a differ-
ence due to the elevation: in the villages on the valley floor the first one pre-
vailed, while the second one characterized the villages in the hills and in
the high valley” (Fornasa 2012, 38-39). The case of San Vito in the Leogra
Valley is another clear example of this: in this village, according to the 1546
survey, 92% of the harvest consisted of minor cereals; an absolutely pre-
ponderant percentage. Therefore, it is not surprising that that was exact-
ly where maize found fertile ground for a rapid diffusion, also for human
nourishment. Indeed, not only was the morphology of the area not suita-
ble for the extensive cultivation of wheat – contrary to the southern part of
the province – but the economic structure also developed according to this
characterization: as anticipated, between the fifteenth and sixteenth centu-
ry a flourishing textile industry was strengthened in these very villages and
34
