Page 94 - 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. 94
maize to the people!
way into the peasants’ plots and to their dining tables, surely faster than in
the noblemen’s barns.
As far as the present-day Slovenian Styria is concerned, mentions of
maize by Slovenian historians refer generally to the seventeenth century as
the time of its appearance; even for the second half of the century there is
no clear evidence in the literature I was able to review. The most likely con-
firmation of its presence is a statement by the provincial estates of Styria
(that governed in the Slovenian area as well), which stated in 1670 that the
peasants lived on maize, buckwheat and millet the whole year round, be-
cause the heavy grains were used to pay their dues (Sandgruber 1982, 47;
Brunner 1994, 12). In fact, discussing Slovenian Styria, Valenčič mentions
how maize was “considered an important part of popular nutrition already
at the end of the seventeenth century” (Valenčič 1970, 259).
Map 1. Maize diffusion in the seventeenth century
The signs of maize in the present-day Austrian Styria are more numer-
ous, and again one wonders if this might not be a consequence of a lack of
specific research rather than a reflection of historical reality. In fact, in ad-
dition to the already mentioned provincial parliament’s statement, quite
numerous other proofs may be added, especially of maize in peasants’ pro-
92
way into the peasants’ plots and to their dining tables, surely faster than in
the noblemen’s barns.
As far as the present-day Slovenian Styria is concerned, mentions of
maize by Slovenian historians refer generally to the seventeenth century as
the time of its appearance; even for the second half of the century there is
no clear evidence in the literature I was able to review. The most likely con-
firmation of its presence is a statement by the provincial estates of Styria
(that governed in the Slovenian area as well), which stated in 1670 that the
peasants lived on maize, buckwheat and millet the whole year round, be-
cause the heavy grains were used to pay their dues (Sandgruber 1982, 47;
Brunner 1994, 12). In fact, discussing Slovenian Styria, Valenčič mentions
how maize was “considered an important part of popular nutrition already
at the end of the seventeenth century” (Valenčič 1970, 259).
Map 1. Maize diffusion in the seventeenth century
The signs of maize in the present-day Austrian Styria are more numer-
ous, and again one wonders if this might not be a consequence of a lack of
specific research rather than a reflection of historical reality. In fact, in ad-
dition to the already mentioned provincial parliament’s statement, quite
numerous other proofs may be added, especially of maize in peasants’ pro-
92
