Page 73 - 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. 73
innovations in agr icultur e and population growth in fr iuli ...
also raised doubts about the real role of maize in population dynamics:
“Presently, lacking reliable evidence on rural diets before maize introduc-
tion, any conclusion about its function in eighteenth-century population
growth is premature, not very useful, and perhaps even misleading” (Finzi
and Baiada 1985, 335). The issue, in short, is still under discussion. Here I in-
tend to propose a further element of reflection on this topic, introducing
some new aspects regarding the use of sources, the territorial scale, the time
scale, and the reference period. It should be noted that: 1) The studies on the
topic usually concentrate on the macro-territorial level, and propose com-
parisons between different areas. In this work, instead, the scale is regional
and comparisons are made between communities. The research hypothesis
is that what is observed at a regional level should also be observed at a more
circumscribed level. 2) The time scale is typically measured in centuries. In
this case, however, the time span is only three decades. The hypothesis here
is that population growth can be observed as soon as the availability of re-
sources begins to increase. 3) The reference period is usually the eighteenth
century, when continental population growth is unequivocal. In this paper,
instead, the first half of the seventeenth century is studied. If the cause of
population increase is to be attributed to the introduction of the new cul-
ture, then the growth would surely be seen from the moment in which the
innovation had its effects in terms of food availability.
After the introduction, I divided the paper into six parts. In the first
part, making use of the literature on the subject, I briefly retrace the way
that maize spread in Italy. In the third paragraph I describe, from an eco-
nomic and social point of view, the territorial context of the study and
present the sources. In the next part I reconstruct the distribution of
maize in Friuli in the middle of the seventeenth century. In paragraph
five, I illustrate the connections between the use of maize and population
growth. In paragraph six, I analyse the results, and offer conclusions in
the last part.
The spread of maize in northern and central Italy
We do not know for sure when maize was first grown in Europe. We know,
however, that it began to appear in sources in the early 1500s. For Italy, the
way in which maize spread has been known roughly for many years, not
least thanks to Antonio Messedaglia (1927). Over the years, the growth of
71
also raised doubts about the real role of maize in population dynamics:
“Presently, lacking reliable evidence on rural diets before maize introduc-
tion, any conclusion about its function in eighteenth-century population
growth is premature, not very useful, and perhaps even misleading” (Finzi
and Baiada 1985, 335). The issue, in short, is still under discussion. Here I in-
tend to propose a further element of reflection on this topic, introducing
some new aspects regarding the use of sources, the territorial scale, the time
scale, and the reference period. It should be noted that: 1) The studies on the
topic usually concentrate on the macro-territorial level, and propose com-
parisons between different areas. In this work, instead, the scale is regional
and comparisons are made between communities. The research hypothesis
is that what is observed at a regional level should also be observed at a more
circumscribed level. 2) The time scale is typically measured in centuries. In
this case, however, the time span is only three decades. The hypothesis here
is that population growth can be observed as soon as the availability of re-
sources begins to increase. 3) The reference period is usually the eighteenth
century, when continental population growth is unequivocal. In this paper,
instead, the first half of the seventeenth century is studied. If the cause of
population increase is to be attributed to the introduction of the new cul-
ture, then the growth would surely be seen from the moment in which the
innovation had its effects in terms of food availability.
After the introduction, I divided the paper into six parts. In the first
part, making use of the literature on the subject, I briefly retrace the way
that maize spread in Italy. In the third paragraph I describe, from an eco-
nomic and social point of view, the territorial context of the study and
present the sources. In the next part I reconstruct the distribution of
maize in Friuli in the middle of the seventeenth century. In paragraph
five, I illustrate the connections between the use of maize and population
growth. In paragraph six, I analyse the results, and offer conclusions in
the last part.
The spread of maize in northern and central Italy
We do not know for sure when maize was first grown in Europe. We know,
however, that it began to appear in sources in the early 1500s. For Italy, the
way in which maize spread has been known roughly for many years, not
least thanks to Antonio Messedaglia (1927). Over the years, the growth of
71
