Coping with Famine: The Changing Demography of an Italian Village in the 1590s
The article seeks to identify the causes of depopulation in a Lombard village at the close of the sixteenth century, when Italy, like much of Europe, experienced severe demographic losses as a result of recurring food shortages spread over nearly a decade. A close analysis of two listings of inhabit...
| Published in: | The sixteenth century journal |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, Inc.
1991
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| In: |
The sixteenth century journal
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
Non-electronic |
| Summary: | The article seeks to identify the causes of depopulation in a Lombard village at the close of the sixteenth century, when Italy, like much of Europe, experienced severe demographic losses as a result of recurring food shortages spread over nearly a decade. A close analysis of two listings of inhabitants indicates that the key factor responsible for a decrease in numbers was not, as has often been too readily assumed, higher mortality, but rather a drastically reduced level of nuptiality. Confronted with a Malthusian crisis of major proportions, the villagers in question responded by postponing or forgoing marriage on a scale sufficient to reduce their numbers by about 15 percent. This case study thus confirms the view that in early modern times population could be deliberately controlled in the face of prolonged hardships. |
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| ISSN: | 2326-0726 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The sixteenth century journal
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/2542731 |