Page 85 - 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. 85
innovations in agr icultur e and population growth in fr iuli ...
it is more plausible to think of an increase in fertility. It remains to be seen
how this could have happened. On the other hand, a phenomenon already
invoked in the Irish context may have occurred, i.e. an advance in the age
at marriage and/or a decrease in celibacy. Although I personally favour
this hypothesis, it must be recognized that even this element is very dif-
ficult to verify empirically, since the relevant sources are the parish reg-
isters. In addition to the difficulties already mentioned, we must also add
the fact that in the marriage registers of this period, the age of the spous-
es is not normally reported. This can be calculated only by linking togeth-
er information from different registers.
Conclusion
In the context of seventeenth-century Friuli, and in particular after the
great subsistence crisis of 1629, the consumption of maize became more
widespread. Not all of Friuli was interested in this phenomenon in the same
way. By linking two different datasets built at the village level, it was pos-
sible to demonstrate that the spread of the new crop directly affected pop-
ulation growth and that this growth was more sustained in those territo-
ries that had adopted it earlier. The causal relationship between the spread
of maize and population increase, and the mechanisms that underlie this
growth, are not yet clear. However, the evidence emerging from this study
is consistent with an interpretation that has also been used in other cir-
cumstances to explain the mechanisms of population growth. With the in-
troduction of maize and its spread, more resources became available for
the general population and for families. Thanks to this improved situation,
the balance between population and resources became looser and, there-
fore, the preventive behaviours that populations had adopted to contain
fertility also slackened. In this context, there may have been a reduction in
the age at marriage and also a reduction in celibacy. In populations with
natural fertility, the growth of nuptiality also led to an increase in fertili-
ty, which is the factor that directly determines population growth. It can-
not be excluded, however, that the decrease in mortality, that of children in
particular, played a role in demographic dynamics. Although the mecha-
nisms of growth in the Friulian population of the seventeenth century can-
not be fully clarified, at least at this stage, the link between innovation in
agriculture and demographic development is reflected in this analysis. This
connection seems to work in Malthusian terms: the introduction of maize
stimulated population growth and not vice versa.
83
it is more plausible to think of an increase in fertility. It remains to be seen
how this could have happened. On the other hand, a phenomenon already
invoked in the Irish context may have occurred, i.e. an advance in the age
at marriage and/or a decrease in celibacy. Although I personally favour
this hypothesis, it must be recognized that even this element is very dif-
ficult to verify empirically, since the relevant sources are the parish reg-
isters. In addition to the difficulties already mentioned, we must also add
the fact that in the marriage registers of this period, the age of the spous-
es is not normally reported. This can be calculated only by linking togeth-
er information from different registers.
Conclusion
In the context of seventeenth-century Friuli, and in particular after the
great subsistence crisis of 1629, the consumption of maize became more
widespread. Not all of Friuli was interested in this phenomenon in the same
way. By linking two different datasets built at the village level, it was pos-
sible to demonstrate that the spread of the new crop directly affected pop-
ulation growth and that this growth was more sustained in those territo-
ries that had adopted it earlier. The causal relationship between the spread
of maize and population increase, and the mechanisms that underlie this
growth, are not yet clear. However, the evidence emerging from this study
is consistent with an interpretation that has also been used in other cir-
cumstances to explain the mechanisms of population growth. With the in-
troduction of maize and its spread, more resources became available for
the general population and for families. Thanks to this improved situation,
the balance between population and resources became looser and, there-
fore, the preventive behaviours that populations had adopted to contain
fertility also slackened. In this context, there may have been a reduction in
the age at marriage and also a reduction in celibacy. In populations with
natural fertility, the growth of nuptiality also led to an increase in fertili-
ty, which is the factor that directly determines population growth. It can-
not be excluded, however, that the decrease in mortality, that of children in
particular, played a role in demographic dynamics. Although the mecha-
nisms of growth in the Friulian population of the seventeenth century can-
not be fully clarified, at least at this stage, the link between innovation in
agriculture and demographic development is reflected in this analysis. This
connection seems to work in Malthusian terms: the introduction of maize
stimulated population growth and not vice versa.
83
