Page 75 - 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. 75
peasant income integration in early modern slovenia: a historiographical review
tain vineyards,” for which they paid in kind or in money; it can therefore
be assumed that they also traded in wine or other goods. As the popula-
tion began to expand in the 16th century, other types of rural population
were formed, i.e. cottagers (kajžarji) and landless peasants (gostači), who
“are staying at the homes of other peasants, and trading in linen and other
items” (Vilfan 1952, 112; Granda 2005, 287). The area of Ribnica and Kočevje
is especially known for its woodenware craft. As described by Valvasor, “all
of the inhabitants of the Kočevje [karstic] plain make boxes, plane wood-
en plates and bowls, make spoons, sifters and sieves; they make all kinds of
wooden products and transport them.” In the valley of Ribnica in the same
region of Kočevje, there are also “many potters and those who make sifters,
hoops, bowls, plates, pails and plane other woodenware, and carpenters,
who transport and sell their products at home as well as abroad” (218–219).
The discipline of ethnology has shown greater interest in these activities
and has devoted itself to this topic especially for the period of the 19th and
20th centuries (Bras 1982; Drnovšek 2007; individual articles in Orel and
Matičetov 1951; etc.), and less so the discipline of history. Nevertheless, we
can outline a few elements of these activities for the Early Modern period.
Trade in woodenware is already attested by the market deed of 1492, when
Emperor Frederick III granted a privilege to the subjects in Kočevje and
Ribnica, allowing them to take their livestock, linen and anything else they
would rear and produce by themselves to Croatia and other lands, with
which he tried to restore the villages in the area of Ribnica and Kočevje that
had been ruined by Turkish raids. This privilege became the foundation for
local peddling (Otorepec 1982, 83; Gradišnik 2012, 13). In the 16th century,
the trade in wooden products had become so widespread that the authori-
ties wanted to tax it. In time, the original occupation expanded into several,
more specialised industries, such as pail-making, spoon-making, pot-mak-
ing, etc. (Trošt 1950–51, 36–7). Woodenware makers (suhorobarji) also sold
their products as pedlars, as was already mentioned by Valvasor, “both in
their province and abroad.” The raw material was provided by the vast for-
ests of Snežnik and Gottschee. The peasants beneath the mountain Snežnik
had an easement to use commercial wood for selling and trading in wood-
en products. Just as the Kočevje peasants were granted a privilege to sell
wooden products, so were the peasants beneath Snežnik granted the afore-
mentioned right in order to recover economically from the Turkish raids
of the 16th century (Kačičnik Gabrič 2004, 48–9). As regards subjects in the
Snežnik manor, let us mention in passing that in the 18th century they in-
73
tain vineyards,” for which they paid in kind or in money; it can therefore
be assumed that they also traded in wine or other goods. As the popula-
tion began to expand in the 16th century, other types of rural population
were formed, i.e. cottagers (kajžarji) and landless peasants (gostači), who
“are staying at the homes of other peasants, and trading in linen and other
items” (Vilfan 1952, 112; Granda 2005, 287). The area of Ribnica and Kočevje
is especially known for its woodenware craft. As described by Valvasor, “all
of the inhabitants of the Kočevje [karstic] plain make boxes, plane wood-
en plates and bowls, make spoons, sifters and sieves; they make all kinds of
wooden products and transport them.” In the valley of Ribnica in the same
region of Kočevje, there are also “many potters and those who make sifters,
hoops, bowls, plates, pails and plane other woodenware, and carpenters,
who transport and sell their products at home as well as abroad” (218–219).
The discipline of ethnology has shown greater interest in these activities
and has devoted itself to this topic especially for the period of the 19th and
20th centuries (Bras 1982; Drnovšek 2007; individual articles in Orel and
Matičetov 1951; etc.), and less so the discipline of history. Nevertheless, we
can outline a few elements of these activities for the Early Modern period.
Trade in woodenware is already attested by the market deed of 1492, when
Emperor Frederick III granted a privilege to the subjects in Kočevje and
Ribnica, allowing them to take their livestock, linen and anything else they
would rear and produce by themselves to Croatia and other lands, with
which he tried to restore the villages in the area of Ribnica and Kočevje that
had been ruined by Turkish raids. This privilege became the foundation for
local peddling (Otorepec 1982, 83; Gradišnik 2012, 13). In the 16th century,
the trade in wooden products had become so widespread that the authori-
ties wanted to tax it. In time, the original occupation expanded into several,
more specialised industries, such as pail-making, spoon-making, pot-mak-
ing, etc. (Trošt 1950–51, 36–7). Woodenware makers (suhorobarji) also sold
their products as pedlars, as was already mentioned by Valvasor, “both in
their province and abroad.” The raw material was provided by the vast for-
ests of Snežnik and Gottschee. The peasants beneath the mountain Snežnik
had an easement to use commercial wood for selling and trading in wood-
en products. Just as the Kočevje peasants were granted a privilege to sell
wooden products, so were the peasants beneath Snežnik granted the afore-
mentioned right in order to recover economically from the Turkish raids
of the 16th century (Kačičnik Gabrič 2004, 48–9). As regards subjects in the
Snežnik manor, let us mention in passing that in the 18th century they in-
73
