Page 172 - 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. 172
integr ated peasant economy in a compar ative perspective
orably decline in the space of a few decades. Nevertheless, for centuries up
to that time such activities had provided a valuable supplement to the econ-
omy of the region.
Here, as elsewhere, a varied world of arts and crafts serving the needs
of the community was accurately recorded in the descriptions of govern-
mental and feudal agents. Even the smallest settlements were never with-
out a number of craftsmen (blacksmiths, carpenters, stonemasons, masons,
cobblers, tailors, bakers, millers, butchers, a barber, an apothecary and the
mandese) whose presence served to ensure a degree of local self-sufficiency.
But it is not necessary to go into this here.
Rather, we aim to focus on the activities that allowed communities to
be part of distribution circuits of all sizes and which were, therefore, able to
bring in a return (Bulgarelli Lukacs, 1998, 255–93; Bulgarelli Lukacs 2006,
45–55).
The goods produced in mountain areas, that were able to ensure a sup-
plementary income for the resident population, came from the raw mate-
rials available locally, especially leveraging the female workforce that re-
mained in the village and the driving force of waterways.
Produce was sold in the medium to short physical range, also crossing
the boundaries of the Kingdom in the direction of the Papal State. On the
other hand, raw materials from the mountain (wool, leather, silk, timber)
and saffron were distributed across a wider range, reaching the north of
the Italian peninsula as far as, depending on the century, Tuscany (Middle
Ages), Venice (13th–14th centuries), and the valleys of Bergamo and Brescia
in the Lombardy and Veneto area (16th–17th centuries). Saffron in particu-
lar followed international routes, as there was demand in Germany, Swit-
zerland and France.
3.1 Textiles
The primary finished or semi-finished products were textiles: lower quality
woolen cloths (bassi and carfagni) and cloaks made in the areas with large
herds (Leonessa, L’Aquila, Scanno, Taranta, Palena, Montorio, Pietracame-
la, Isola del Gran Sasso), reeled and spun silk (San Valentino, Caramanico,
Sulmona, Pacentro), and spun and woven linen and other mixed fabrics.
But there was also pottery (mainly from Castelli, but also Palena, Anver-
sa degli Abruzzi, Rapino, Tagliacozzo), tanned and packaged leathers (so-
les and shoes), timber (Castiglione Messer Marino, Pretoro and Arischia),
wrought iron (Pescocostanzo, Guardiagrele, Tossicia and Scanno), gold
170
orably decline in the space of a few decades. Nevertheless, for centuries up
to that time such activities had provided a valuable supplement to the econ-
omy of the region.
Here, as elsewhere, a varied world of arts and crafts serving the needs
of the community was accurately recorded in the descriptions of govern-
mental and feudal agents. Even the smallest settlements were never with-
out a number of craftsmen (blacksmiths, carpenters, stonemasons, masons,
cobblers, tailors, bakers, millers, butchers, a barber, an apothecary and the
mandese) whose presence served to ensure a degree of local self-sufficiency.
But it is not necessary to go into this here.
Rather, we aim to focus on the activities that allowed communities to
be part of distribution circuits of all sizes and which were, therefore, able to
bring in a return (Bulgarelli Lukacs, 1998, 255–93; Bulgarelli Lukacs 2006,
45–55).
The goods produced in mountain areas, that were able to ensure a sup-
plementary income for the resident population, came from the raw mate-
rials available locally, especially leveraging the female workforce that re-
mained in the village and the driving force of waterways.
Produce was sold in the medium to short physical range, also crossing
the boundaries of the Kingdom in the direction of the Papal State. On the
other hand, raw materials from the mountain (wool, leather, silk, timber)
and saffron were distributed across a wider range, reaching the north of
the Italian peninsula as far as, depending on the century, Tuscany (Middle
Ages), Venice (13th–14th centuries), and the valleys of Bergamo and Brescia
in the Lombardy and Veneto area (16th–17th centuries). Saffron in particu-
lar followed international routes, as there was demand in Germany, Swit-
zerland and France.
3.1 Textiles
The primary finished or semi-finished products were textiles: lower quality
woolen cloths (bassi and carfagni) and cloaks made in the areas with large
herds (Leonessa, L’Aquila, Scanno, Taranta, Palena, Montorio, Pietracame-
la, Isola del Gran Sasso), reeled and spun silk (San Valentino, Caramanico,
Sulmona, Pacentro), and spun and woven linen and other mixed fabrics.
But there was also pottery (mainly from Castelli, but also Palena, Anver-
sa degli Abruzzi, Rapino, Tagliacozzo), tanned and packaged leathers (so-
les and shoes), timber (Castiglione Messer Marino, Pretoro and Arischia),
wrought iron (Pescocostanzo, Guardiagrele, Tossicia and Scanno), gold
170
