Page 40 - 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. 40
maize to the people!
Graph 2. Wheat prices in Padua (decimalized Venetian lire per staio of Padua), San Vito
and Bassano (decimalized Venetian lire per staio of Vicenza)6
In this case too, the coefficients of correlation between the series are
quite high: 0.77 between Padua and San Vito; 0.79 between San Vito and
Bassano. Moreover, the comparison of the maize prices in San Vito and the
wheat prices in Padua and Bassano produces coefficients of correlation of,
respectively, 0.5 and 0.72; therefore, the correlation is quite higher between
San Vito and Bassano.
In conclusion, not only did the maize in San Vito start its process of
inclusion in the cereal market in the 1580s, but the market itself went be-
yond the borders of the Province of Vicenza, and it was strongly related to
the price trends in the bordering markets. Furthermore, as anticipated, the
mechanism of the tithes itself testifies to the relevance of the new cereal al-
ready at the end of the sixteenth century; however, beyond this, it would be
relevant to understand, as Gasparini suggests, “why and when […] it was
included in the rentals as were the other cereals, and which were the con-
tract terms” (Gasparini 2002, 13), because these elements could contribute
to understanding its emergence.
Conclusions
The picture sketched on the previous pages testifies, on the one hand, to
the precocious inclusion and diffusion of maize in the villages of the area
6 About sources, prices of wheat in San Vito are in ASCSv, for Bassano see Lombardini
1963, while for Padua data has been collected by Professor Luciano Pezzolo. I want to
thank him for shared them with me.
38
Graph 2. Wheat prices in Padua (decimalized Venetian lire per staio of Padua), San Vito
and Bassano (decimalized Venetian lire per staio of Vicenza)6
In this case too, the coefficients of correlation between the series are
quite high: 0.77 between Padua and San Vito; 0.79 between San Vito and
Bassano. Moreover, the comparison of the maize prices in San Vito and the
wheat prices in Padua and Bassano produces coefficients of correlation of,
respectively, 0.5 and 0.72; therefore, the correlation is quite higher between
San Vito and Bassano.
In conclusion, not only did the maize in San Vito start its process of
inclusion in the cereal market in the 1580s, but the market itself went be-
yond the borders of the Province of Vicenza, and it was strongly related to
the price trends in the bordering markets. Furthermore, as anticipated, the
mechanism of the tithes itself testifies to the relevance of the new cereal al-
ready at the end of the sixteenth century; however, beyond this, it would be
relevant to understand, as Gasparini suggests, “why and when […] it was
included in the rentals as were the other cereals, and which were the con-
tract terms” (Gasparini 2002, 13), because these elements could contribute
to understanding its emergence.
Conclusions
The picture sketched on the previous pages testifies, on the one hand, to
the precocious inclusion and diffusion of maize in the villages of the area
6 About sources, prices of wheat in San Vito are in ASCSv, for Bassano see Lombardini
1963, while for Padua data has been collected by Professor Luciano Pezzolo. I want to
thank him for shared them with me.
38
