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River and Society in Northern Italy

River and Society in Northern Italy

The Po Valley, 500-1000 AD

This book considers for the first time the relationship between the river environment and the economic and political structures of northern Italy in the post-Roman period. Through the study of the relationship between river and society over time, it shows how the Carolingian conquest and other major political events in northern Italy did not seem to introduce radical changes in the daily life or broad economic systems. In fact, ecological circuits, local networks, family strategies and monastic policies seem to have been equal factors that shaped the relationship between river and society. This monograph offers an innovative approach to the study of the early Middle Ages, integrating social sciences, historical records, archaeological and geoenvironmental data analyses to overcome the lack of written and material sources. These new integrated perspectives on the post-Roman world shed light on the relationship between humans and their environment and on the social complexity of the riverscape, topics not yet fully investigated in the historiographical debate.
  • Cover
  • Table of Contents
    • Acknowledgements
    • Prefatory Note
    • Abbreviations
    • 1. Introduction: Studying the Po Riverscape in the Early Middle Ages
      • 1.1 Early Medieval Water and Rivers: A Historiographical Context
      • 1.2 Approaches for a Historical Ecology of the Po
      • 1.3 Sources for a Historical Ecology
    • 2. The Po River in Early Medieval Mentalities
      • 2.1 Rivers, Borders, and Identity
      • 2.2 The Threats of the River
      • 2.3 River, Hagiographies, and Legitimation in Early Medieval Italy
    • 3. Climate, Environments, and Resources of the Po Valley
      • 3.1 Geomorphological Setting of Northern Italy
      • 3.2 Early Medieval Climate in the Po-Venetian Plain
      • 3.3 Hydrology Between Roman and Medieval Times
      • 3.4 Vegetation and Crops in Early Medieval Northern Italy
      • 3.5 Animal Consumption of the Riverscape
      • 3.6 Riverscapes, Resources, and Human Impact
    • 4. Rivers and Roads: Connectivity in the Po Valley
      • 4.1 Sources to Retrace Early Medieval Routes and Connectivity
      • 4.2 Roads and Bridges
      • 4.3 Rivers and Navigation
      • 4.4 The Development of a System
    • 5. Circuits of Goods and People: The Socio-Economic Networks
      • 5.1 Between Autarchy, Agrarian Surplus, and Trade
      • 5.2 The Tales of Ceramic and Material Evidence: A Problem of Markers
      • 5.3 Merchants, Guilds, and Market
      • 5.4 Considerations on Early Medieval Mobility and Connectivity of the Riverscape
    • 6. River and Settlements in Early Medieval Northern Italy
      • 6.1 River Cities of the Po Valley
      • 6.2 Ferrara: An Early Medieval River City
      • 6.3 Rural Settlement and Rivers
      • 6.4 River Cities, Countryside, and Riverscape: Some Considerations
    • 7. River Management, Agency, and “Other” Socio-Economic Uses
      • 7.1 Canals and Water Deviations
      • 7.2 Watermills and Society
      • 7.3 Fisheries and Fishing Activity
      • 7.4 Who Were the Lords of the River?
    • Epilogue
    • Bibliography
      • Primary Sources
      • Secondary Sources
    • Index
  • List of Illustrations
    • Figures
      • Figure 1. Detail of the Brioschi Commission, Tavola 8 (Piacenza). After Geoportale AIPO (Agenzia Interregionale del fiume Po)
      • Figure 2. Milanese amphibious culture, 1845. Public domain
      • Figure 3. Etruscan helmet attachment that depicts Acheloos, a river-god (sixth century BC). Public domain. Courtesy of The MET
      • Figure 4. River-god Po reclining on a rocky bank, Scultori 1538. Public domain. Courtesy of The MET
      • Figure 5. Seasonal flood near Ferrara (photo by Bruno Pecchioli)
      • Figure 6. Floods in the Po Valley (darker areas) between Alessandria and Piacenza. Multi-temporal image (two images) captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission on 13 November and 25 November 2019. ESA (European Space Agency)
      • Figure 7. Winter transhumance in Golena del Po, ca. 1970s (photo by Mario Fornasari)
      • Figure 8. Pavia in the early Middle Ages. After Dall’Aglio et al. 2011
      • Figure 9. Piacenza in the early Middle Ages. After Dall’Aglio et al. 2011
      • Figure 10. Cremona in the early Middle Ages. After Dall’Aglio et al. 2011
      • Figure 11a. Ferrara in the early Middle Ages. After Stefani and Zuppiroli 2010
      • Figure 11b. The Ferrarese and Po delta areas. After Patitucci-Uggeri 2002 and Uggeri 2002
      • Figure 12. Nogara site. After Panato 2020, Saggioro 2011. I thank Fabio Saccoccio for his help in designing this figure.
      • Figure 13. Curtis Gena, territory between Nonantola and S. Agata. After Chouquer 2020 and Gelichi et al. 2014. I thank Fabio Saccoccio for his help in designing this figure.
      • Figure 14. Nonantola, abbot’s house, Torbido canal. After Ferri 2022 and Cianciosi et al. 2018. I thank Fabio Saccoccio for his help in designing this figure
      • Figure 15. S. Agata, canal and wooden structure. After Librenti and Pancaldi 2014. I thank Fabio Saccoccio for his help in designing this figure.
      • Figure 16. Villa Lancia, Testona. After Pantò and Occelli 2009. I thank Fabio Saccoccio for his help in designing this figure.
    • Maps
      • Map 1. Northern Italy, 500–1000: Topography, hydrology, environmental settings. I thank Fabio Saccoccio for his help in designing this map.
      • Map 2a. Archaeobotanical sites. After Mercuri et al. 2015
      • Map 2b. Archaeozoological sites. After Salvadori 2019
      • Map 3a. Roman roads and centres. After Talbert 2000
      • Map 3b. Roads and ports (eighth century). After Table 1
      • Map 3c. Roads and ports (ninth century). After Table 1
      • Map 3d. Roads and ports (tenth century). After Table 1
      • Map 4. Early medieval shipwrecks. After Table 2
      • Map 5. Early medieval pottery sites. After Cantini 2013, Lusuardi Siena et al. 2004, and Negro Ponzi 2004
      • Map 6. Early medieval soapstone distribution. After Alberti 1997 and Cortelazzo 2018
      • Map 7a. Market and merchants in northern Italy (eighth century). The numbers are from Rapone 2011, Appendix 1, pp. 204–218.
      • Map 7b. Market and merchants in northern Italy (ninth century). The numbers are from Rapone 2011, Appendix 1, pp. 204–218.
      • Map 7c. Market and merchants in northern Italy (tenth century). The numbers are from Rapone 2011, Appendix 1, pp. 204–218.
      • Map 8. Places mentioned in Chapter 6
      • Map 9. Mills (black dots) and fishing activity (white dots) in the Breve de terris (879-905)
      • Map 10. Places mentioned in Chapter 7
    • Tables
      • Table 1. Northern Italian porti in diplomas, placita and polyptychs (715–1000)
      • Table 2. Northern Italian shipwrecks (400–1200)
      • Table 3. River proxies in the Breve de terris (879–905)
      • Table 4. Mills in the Breve de terris (879–905)

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