Page 169 - 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. 169
the equilibrium of the mountain economy in the apennines
tial flows of money and goods through the sale of wool but also livestock
(horses and sheep) cheese and skins (Bulgarelli Lukacs 2013, 90–122). Nev-
ertheless, these communities did not only identify with pastoralism: the
registers reveal that the herd owners represent a very small percentage of
the total active population. Out of a population that counted 223 house-
holds in 1656, before the plague, and 147 in 1658 after it, Alfedena had 3
shepherds in 1656 and 10 in 1658. In Pacentro, another centre regularly re-
corded by the Foggia Customs (for the payment of the fida, due to grazing),
the tavolario that describes it for the government in an entry for 1651 makes
no mention of sheep farming among the work carried out by members of
this community (Bulgarelli Lukacs 1989, 120–30).
A century later, the cadastres of Castel del Monte, Calascio, Santo Ste-
fano di Sessanio, Ovindoli, Rocca di Mezzo and Scanno report that sheep
farmers amounted to around 8.2%, a figure also confirmed in the first half
of the 19th century (Piccioni 1989/1990, 192–4; and 1993, 201–5). We may
wonder if these were the signs of a local community organisation invest-
ing small capital in the composition of the flock to be sent to the Tavoliere
plain, maintaining its identity firmly rooted in farming, or if these signs in-
dicate that most of the assets pertaining to herds were in the hands of the
clergy and the nobility, often not appearing on the records of the tax au-
thorities. Both scenarios are possible. However, it is certain that animal
husbandry did not require much of a workforce and offered few employ-
ment opportunities.
Outside the three specific areas mentioned above, both transhumance
and sedentary flocks had little impact on the local economy, with small
flocks and few breeders (Piccioni 1989–90, 172–6). This information brings
in to question the myth that the mountainous Abruzzo Region was a pasto-
ral universe and shows that the unfavourable ratio between the population
and resources in this region cannot be balanced thanks to the agro-syl-
vo-pastoral system alone, with which the mountainous Abruzzo region has
for centuries been summarily identified (Piccioni 1993, 195).
2. Seasonal work
So what activities were carried out to supplement the mountain agrarian
economy? The first point of reference is the integration between mounta-
ins and plain which has already been highlighted with regard to transhu-
mance. The mountains provided cattle and labour, while the plain, espe-
167
tial flows of money and goods through the sale of wool but also livestock
(horses and sheep) cheese and skins (Bulgarelli Lukacs 2013, 90–122). Nev-
ertheless, these communities did not only identify with pastoralism: the
registers reveal that the herd owners represent a very small percentage of
the total active population. Out of a population that counted 223 house-
holds in 1656, before the plague, and 147 in 1658 after it, Alfedena had 3
shepherds in 1656 and 10 in 1658. In Pacentro, another centre regularly re-
corded by the Foggia Customs (for the payment of the fida, due to grazing),
the tavolario that describes it for the government in an entry for 1651 makes
no mention of sheep farming among the work carried out by members of
this community (Bulgarelli Lukacs 1989, 120–30).
A century later, the cadastres of Castel del Monte, Calascio, Santo Ste-
fano di Sessanio, Ovindoli, Rocca di Mezzo and Scanno report that sheep
farmers amounted to around 8.2%, a figure also confirmed in the first half
of the 19th century (Piccioni 1989/1990, 192–4; and 1993, 201–5). We may
wonder if these were the signs of a local community organisation invest-
ing small capital in the composition of the flock to be sent to the Tavoliere
plain, maintaining its identity firmly rooted in farming, or if these signs in-
dicate that most of the assets pertaining to herds were in the hands of the
clergy and the nobility, often not appearing on the records of the tax au-
thorities. Both scenarios are possible. However, it is certain that animal
husbandry did not require much of a workforce and offered few employ-
ment opportunities.
Outside the three specific areas mentioned above, both transhumance
and sedentary flocks had little impact on the local economy, with small
flocks and few breeders (Piccioni 1989–90, 172–6). This information brings
in to question the myth that the mountainous Abruzzo Region was a pasto-
ral universe and shows that the unfavourable ratio between the population
and resources in this region cannot be balanced thanks to the agro-syl-
vo-pastoral system alone, with which the mountainous Abruzzo region has
for centuries been summarily identified (Piccioni 1993, 195).
2. Seasonal work
So what activities were carried out to supplement the mountain agrarian
economy? The first point of reference is the integration between mounta-
ins and plain which has already been highlighted with regard to transhu-
mance. The mountains provided cattle and labour, while the plain, espe-
167
