Page 87 - 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. 87
integr ated peasant economy in medieval slovenia: a pr eliminary study
they also improved peasant facilities that led them into non-agrarian activ-
ities – again, at first for their own usage and later also for the market (Ge-
strin 1978, 170–1). One typical feature of this development is the emergence
of settlements of predominantly non-agrarian character near the castles as
seigniorial centres that could (but not necessarily did) gradually evolve into
towns (Bizjak 2012, 438–9).
Based on the current state of historiography, the roots of the following
complementary peasant activities can be traced back to the Middle Ages:
In the primary sector:
– increased intensity of forest exploitation
– specialisation in agriculture (hops growing, viticulture).
In the secondary sector:
– processing of crops and other natural resources (vinery, cheese
production, chalk and charcoal production)
– different crafts
In the tertiary sector:
– selling of crops at the market
– transport over short and medium distances.
1. Peasant trade (commerce)
During the Middle Ages the differentiation between the countryside and
urban trade centres became regulated by law, but in the territory under in-
vestigation the existing laws no longer kept abreast of the evolving rela-
tions as early as the end of the 14th century. From 1389 there is evidence of
a princely ban on peasant trade in Carniola which, as Duke Albert III con-
cluded, caused serious repercussions for towns and a significant drop in
princely tolls (Klun 1855, 21).2 Similar bans became usual in the second half
of the 15th century, when the issue escalated. The charters that we know to-
day were issued in 1461 (Otorepec, 1958, 68), 1488 (Otorepec, 1959, 19) and
1491 (Otorepec, 1959, 25). The problem was as follows: under common law,
peasants were obliged to offer the surplus of their crops to merchants (or
other costumers) in the local market. By doing so, they were required to pay
tolls at the town entrance, whereas local merchants could buy the goods
2 Charter reveals that this is not the first ban of that kind; the duke refers to the for-
mer ban issued by him and his brother Leopold, i.e. in the time before the division of
government (1365–1397), v. Schwind, and Dopsch (1895, 270ff.).
85
they also improved peasant facilities that led them into non-agrarian activ-
ities – again, at first for their own usage and later also for the market (Ge-
strin 1978, 170–1). One typical feature of this development is the emergence
of settlements of predominantly non-agrarian character near the castles as
seigniorial centres that could (but not necessarily did) gradually evolve into
towns (Bizjak 2012, 438–9).
Based on the current state of historiography, the roots of the following
complementary peasant activities can be traced back to the Middle Ages:
In the primary sector:
– increased intensity of forest exploitation
– specialisation in agriculture (hops growing, viticulture).
In the secondary sector:
– processing of crops and other natural resources (vinery, cheese
production, chalk and charcoal production)
– different crafts
In the tertiary sector:
– selling of crops at the market
– transport over short and medium distances.
1. Peasant trade (commerce)
During the Middle Ages the differentiation between the countryside and
urban trade centres became regulated by law, but in the territory under in-
vestigation the existing laws no longer kept abreast of the evolving rela-
tions as early as the end of the 14th century. From 1389 there is evidence of
a princely ban on peasant trade in Carniola which, as Duke Albert III con-
cluded, caused serious repercussions for towns and a significant drop in
princely tolls (Klun 1855, 21).2 Similar bans became usual in the second half
of the 15th century, when the issue escalated. The charters that we know to-
day were issued in 1461 (Otorepec, 1958, 68), 1488 (Otorepec, 1959, 19) and
1491 (Otorepec, 1959, 25). The problem was as follows: under common law,
peasants were obliged to offer the surplus of their crops to merchants (or
other costumers) in the local market. By doing so, they were required to pay
tolls at the town entrance, whereas local merchants could buy the goods
2 Charter reveals that this is not the first ban of that kind; the duke refers to the for-
mer ban issued by him and his brother Leopold, i.e. in the time before the division of
government (1365–1397), v. Schwind, and Dopsch (1895, 270ff.).
85
