Page 101 - Panjek, Aleksander, Jesper Larsson and Luca Mocarelli, eds. 2017. Integrated Peasant Economy in a Comparative Perspective: Alps, Scandinavia and Beyond. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 101
integr ated peasant economy in friuli (16th–18th centuries)
plain (Fornasin 2001a). The economic balance was maintained thanks to
activities alternative to agriculture, which provided the population with
the money they needed to buy the required foodstuffs (Fornasin 1998a).
Diagram 4.1: Main socio-economic characteristics of a village on the plain; Friuli, 16th–18th
centuries
Economy Agriculture = No geographical mobility
Local administration Noblemen = No autonomy
Land property Few landlords = No property
Contracts Rent, sharecropping = No autonomy
Family Large = Few number of decision makers
From the point of view of the local administration, the Friulian plain –
especially Carnia, the most populated mountainous area of the entire Prov-
ince – enjoyed ample autonomy (Bianco 1985). Justice was administered by
a local representative, the gastaldo, who exercised his prerogative in almost
all the territory. The village community, therefore, did not have any lim-
itation to its authority through a local giusdicente, if not only relatively. In
addition to this, the communities in the mountains enjoyed (more often
than those on the plain) prerogatives over vast land extensions: almost ev-
ery village managed on its own wide areas of meadows/pastures and for-
ests, and through their lease or exploited on their own, it derived consider-
able proceeds for the benefit of all inhabitants (Bianco 1985; 1994, 103–47;
2001; Lorenzini 2007a; 2011; Barbacetto 2000). Besides, in the mountains
the cultivable land was scarce, but property was at least universal: almost
all families held a lot of land. Also, the breeding of animals was quite devel-
oped, in particular cattle, as well as the production of milk and cheese des-
tined for the markets of the plain and in towns (Fornasin 2005; 2011).
In general, in the mountains the occupations were quite diversified
and the distribution of tasks within the family quite pronounced. The most
renowned case is Carnia. Here, male occupation was mainly focused on ac-
tivities related to emigration. Many emigrants were pedlars or they were
engaged in handicraft. Women, instead, were dedicated to agricultural
activities, such as the cultivation of small lots of land which each fami-
ly held. Besides this general organisation of work at the household level,
there was a wide range of possible activities which could be carried out in
the Friulian mountains. For example, the big textile firm of Jacopo Linus-
sio, which employed a number of workers, mainly weavers, in the Tolmez-
99
plain (Fornasin 2001a). The economic balance was maintained thanks to
activities alternative to agriculture, which provided the population with
the money they needed to buy the required foodstuffs (Fornasin 1998a).
Diagram 4.1: Main socio-economic characteristics of a village on the plain; Friuli, 16th–18th
centuries
Economy Agriculture = No geographical mobility
Local administration Noblemen = No autonomy
Land property Few landlords = No property
Contracts Rent, sharecropping = No autonomy
Family Large = Few number of decision makers
From the point of view of the local administration, the Friulian plain –
especially Carnia, the most populated mountainous area of the entire Prov-
ince – enjoyed ample autonomy (Bianco 1985). Justice was administered by
a local representative, the gastaldo, who exercised his prerogative in almost
all the territory. The village community, therefore, did not have any lim-
itation to its authority through a local giusdicente, if not only relatively. In
addition to this, the communities in the mountains enjoyed (more often
than those on the plain) prerogatives over vast land extensions: almost ev-
ery village managed on its own wide areas of meadows/pastures and for-
ests, and through their lease or exploited on their own, it derived consider-
able proceeds for the benefit of all inhabitants (Bianco 1985; 1994, 103–47;
2001; Lorenzini 2007a; 2011; Barbacetto 2000). Besides, in the mountains
the cultivable land was scarce, but property was at least universal: almost
all families held a lot of land. Also, the breeding of animals was quite devel-
oped, in particular cattle, as well as the production of milk and cheese des-
tined for the markets of the plain and in towns (Fornasin 2005; 2011).
In general, in the mountains the occupations were quite diversified
and the distribution of tasks within the family quite pronounced. The most
renowned case is Carnia. Here, male occupation was mainly focused on ac-
tivities related to emigration. Many emigrants were pedlars or they were
engaged in handicraft. Women, instead, were dedicated to agricultural
activities, such as the cultivation of small lots of land which each fami-
ly held. Besides this general organisation of work at the household level,
there was a wide range of possible activities which could be carried out in
the Friulian mountains. For example, the big textile firm of Jacopo Linus-
sio, which employed a number of workers, mainly weavers, in the Tolmez-
99
