Noble Houses Controlling Agriculture
Title
Noble Houses Controlling Agriculture
Description
Although outside of the city of Rome, Castello dello Cecchignola and Casale della Cervelletta are great examples of fortified areas owned by nobles. These fortified areas would often have controlled large areas of agricultural lands surrounding them.
During the middle ages, starting in the 10th-12th centuries, the process of incastellamento became common in agricultural areas. Under this system peasants moved, often under duress, out of their farmhouses to live in or around fortified areas controlled by nobles, and then worked agriculturally in lands also owned by the noble. Families would sometimes rent and work the same land for multiple generations, but sometimes have a short-term lease where land would move from family to family. This system also created the side effect of many peasants becoming commuter farmers, because not all land surrounding fortified areas was arable.
While we often think of sustainability as connected to current climate change and environmental concerns, the idea of sustainability would have been important for agricultural management in Medieval Rome as well. Working in a limited space for a long time would deplete the nutrients of the ground without thoughtful use of the land and would result in other negative consequences. Because of a tripling of the population from 800-1300 there was a corresponding rapid growth in cereal farming to feed the population.
Records of food shortages across the area of Italy during the 14th century, along with records of major erosion in the 13th-14th century, and reaching Rome in the 15th century, suggest that in these rapid expansions, sustainability was not considered enough. With less land to expand into, soil was farmed continuously and stripped away and depleted of its nutrients. During this era, in the 1330s, reports of major deforestation suggest that this lack of sustainable practices extended to forests as well.
During the middle ages, starting in the 10th-12th centuries, the process of incastellamento became common in agricultural areas. Under this system peasants moved, often under duress, out of their farmhouses to live in or around fortified areas controlled by nobles, and then worked agriculturally in lands also owned by the noble. Families would sometimes rent and work the same land for multiple generations, but sometimes have a short-term lease where land would move from family to family. This system also created the side effect of many peasants becoming commuter farmers, because not all land surrounding fortified areas was arable.
While we often think of sustainability as connected to current climate change and environmental concerns, the idea of sustainability would have been important for agricultural management in Medieval Rome as well. Working in a limited space for a long time would deplete the nutrients of the ground without thoughtful use of the land and would result in other negative consequences. Because of a tripling of the population from 800-1300 there was a corresponding rapid growth in cereal farming to feed the population.
Records of food shortages across the area of Italy during the 14th century, along with records of major erosion in the 13th-14th century, and reaching Rome in the 15th century, suggest that in these rapid expansions, sustainability was not considered enough. With less land to expand into, soil was farmed continuously and stripped away and depleted of its nutrients. During this era, in the 1330s, reports of major deforestation suggest that this lack of sustainable practices extended to forests as well.
Creator
Julia Miller (2018)
Source
Hoffmann, Richard C. "Medieval Use, Management, and Sustainability of Local Ecosystems, 1: Primary Biological Production Sectors." In An Environmental History of Medieval Rome, 155-95. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Hughes, J. Donald. "The Mediterranean in the Middle Ages." In The Mediterranean an Environmental History, 59-86. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005.
Hughes, J. Donald. "The Mediterranean in the Middle Ages." In The Mediterranean an Environmental History, 59-86. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005.
Identifier
noblehouseag_2017
Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Vicolo della Cecchignoletta, 14, 00143 Roma RM, Italy
Castello della Cervelletta, 00155 Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome, Italy
Description
Although outside of the city of Rome, Castello dello Cecchignola and Casale della Cervelletta are great examples of fortified areas owned by nobles. These fortified areas would often have controlled large areas of agricultural lands surrounding them.During the middle ages, starting in the 10th-12th centuries, the process of incastellamento became common in agricultural areas. Under this system peasants moved, often under duress, out of their farmhouses to live in or around fortified areas controlled by nobles, and then worked agriculturally in lands also owned by the noble. Families would sometimes rent and work the same land for multiple generations, but sometimes have a short-term lease where land would move from family to family. This system also created the side effect of many peasants becoming commuter farmers, because not all land surrounding fortified areas was arable.
While we often think of sustainability as connected to current climate change and environmental concerns, the idea of sustainability would have been important for agricultural management in Medieval Rome as well. Working in a limited space for a long time would deplete the nutrients of the ground without thoughtful use of the land and would result in other negative consequences. Because of a tripling of the population from 800-1300 there was a corresponding rapid growth in cereal farming to feed the population.
Records of food shortages across the area of Italy during the 14th century, along with records of major erosion in the 13th-14th century, and reaching Rome in the 15th century, suggest that in these rapid expansions, sustainability was not considered enough. With less land to expand into, soil was farmed continuously and stripped away and depleted of its nutrients. During this era, in the 1330s, reports of major deforestation suggest that this lack of sustainable practices extended to forests as well.
Creator
Julia Miller (2018)Coverage
Not ApplicableSource
Hoffmann, Richard C. "Medieval Use, Management, and Sustainability of Local Ecosystems, 1: Primary Biological Production Sectors." In An Environmental History of Medieval Rome, 155-95. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2014.Hughes, J. Donald. "The Mediterranean in the Middle Ages." In The Mediterranean an Environmental History, 59-86. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005.