Farms, Families, and Open Space

Title

Farms, Families, and Open Space

Description

As previously discussed, the disabitato had a bad reputation amongst Romans before the 12th century due to its uncultivated land, antique ruins, and lack of human settlement. However, starting in the 12th century, agriculture became more common in the disabitato. Vineyards and farm fields graced the slopes of the hills, as well as the valleys between. Farm animals grazed among the ruins of once-grand Roman buildings. Powerful families, such as the Frangipani, the Savelli, and the Pierloni controlled much of this agricultural land. Throughout the 12th-13th century and beyond, this family power was constantly shifting. Families built vast fortified complexes complete with towers and imposing walls in order to keep their holdings their own, and lands inevitably traded from hand to hand. While agriculture and family power flourished, however, the area remained, true to its name, largely uninhabited. Within the city walls, the disabitato had more in common with the countryside than with the city itself.

Abstract

Throughout much of the medieval period, Rome’s population was a fraction of what it had been at its peak. With much of the population clustered near the banks of the Tiber River, there lay a vast expanse of predominantly uninhabited land between the medieval city and the 19 km circumference of the Aurelian walls left from the 3rd century.

Creator

Lindsay Brandt (2017)

Source

Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. &nbsp,

Identifier

disabitato_2015

Coverage

1200s

Spatial Coverage

Clivo di Rocca Savella, 10, 00153 Roma RM

Description

As previously discussed, the disabitato had a bad reputation amongst Romans before the 12th century due to its uncultivated land, antique ruins, and lack of human settlement. However, starting in the 12th century, agriculture became more common in the disabitato. Vineyards and farm fields graced the slopes of the hills, as well as the valleys between. Farm animals grazed among the ruins of once-grand Roman buildings. Powerful families, such as the Frangipani, the Savelli, and the Pierloni controlled much of this agricultural land. Throughout the 12th-13th century and beyond, this family power was constantly shifting. Families built vast fortified complexes complete with towers and imposing walls in order to keep their holdings their own, and lands inevitably traded from hand to hand. While agriculture and family power flourished, however, the area remained, true to its name, largely uninhabited. Within the city walls, the disabitato had more in common with the countryside than with the city itself.

Creator

Lindsay Brandt (2017)

Coverage

1200s

Source

Krautheimer, Richard. Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. &nbsp,

Geolocation