Page 88 - 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. 88
integr ated peasant economy in a compar ative perspective
at a reasonably low price and then resell them at a profit. Peasants could
earn more by selling directly to foreign merchants who had found their
way to the countryside, but this practice was not legal (Žontar 1956–57, 38).
By being present in the local markets and making contacts with foreign
merchants, peasants gained an insight into trade, as well as becoming very
mobile by performing transport services at the behest of their lords (sei-
gniories). They were becoming more and more acquainted with the routes
and important trading centres in the area. Little wonder then, that some of
them had become involved in long-distance trade by the mid-1300s; at first
they increased the range of their own products and traded them abroad in
exchange for other goods (iron, grains, salt, wine, etc.) which they would
sell at home or even carry them further across the provincial border. Grad-
ually, they took over certain activities like salt and peasant craft trade and
finally began to trade in other goods.
At the beginning of the 1490s, the permanent conflict between the in-
terests of the towns and those of the nobility escalated to the point where
the prince had to interfere in order to reach an agreement between the two
sides concerning peasant trade and crafts, since the seigniory was the ini-
tiator as well as the patron of these activities. The treaty of 23rd March 1492
was intended as an integral regulation of relations between towns and the
countryside that protected the rights of the former, but no longer to the ex-
tent reflected in the earlier bans (Otorepec 1959, 28).
The treaty comprised six articles:
1) Restriction on non-urban crafts: there can only be one black-
smith, one tailor, one shoemaker and one tavern in the area sur-
rounding bigger towns in a diameter of one mile and smaller ones
in a diameter of half a mile.
2) Prohibition of crafts and trade in the form of church fairs.
3) Permission for peasants to engage in wine trade: import and ex-
port of sour wines and import only of sweet wines.
4) Permission for peasants to engage in sea salt trade: import and
export, permission to trade it for wine and grains (with the men-
tioned restriction in wine trade).
5) Permission for peasants to engage in cattle trade, i.e. import from
Hungary, whereas the export to Italy was restricted to cattle raised
on their own farms.
6) Prohibition of peasant resale of commercial goods (olive oil, iron,
cattle, skins).
86
at a reasonably low price and then resell them at a profit. Peasants could
earn more by selling directly to foreign merchants who had found their
way to the countryside, but this practice was not legal (Žontar 1956–57, 38).
By being present in the local markets and making contacts with foreign
merchants, peasants gained an insight into trade, as well as becoming very
mobile by performing transport services at the behest of their lords (sei-
gniories). They were becoming more and more acquainted with the routes
and important trading centres in the area. Little wonder then, that some of
them had become involved in long-distance trade by the mid-1300s; at first
they increased the range of their own products and traded them abroad in
exchange for other goods (iron, grains, salt, wine, etc.) which they would
sell at home or even carry them further across the provincial border. Grad-
ually, they took over certain activities like salt and peasant craft trade and
finally began to trade in other goods.
At the beginning of the 1490s, the permanent conflict between the in-
terests of the towns and those of the nobility escalated to the point where
the prince had to interfere in order to reach an agreement between the two
sides concerning peasant trade and crafts, since the seigniory was the ini-
tiator as well as the patron of these activities. The treaty of 23rd March 1492
was intended as an integral regulation of relations between towns and the
countryside that protected the rights of the former, but no longer to the ex-
tent reflected in the earlier bans (Otorepec 1959, 28).
The treaty comprised six articles:
1) Restriction on non-urban crafts: there can only be one black-
smith, one tailor, one shoemaker and one tavern in the area sur-
rounding bigger towns in a diameter of one mile and smaller ones
in a diameter of half a mile.
2) Prohibition of crafts and trade in the form of church fairs.
3) Permission for peasants to engage in wine trade: import and ex-
port of sour wines and import only of sweet wines.
4) Permission for peasants to engage in sea salt trade: import and
export, permission to trade it for wine and grains (with the men-
tioned restriction in wine trade).
5) Permission for peasants to engage in cattle trade, i.e. import from
Hungary, whereas the export to Italy was restricted to cattle raised
on their own farms.
6) Prohibition of peasant resale of commercial goods (olive oil, iron,
cattle, skins).
86
