Farm animals, now and in the past, are mid-way between production and household consumption. They can be a resource of meet and secondary products (milk, butter, cheese, eggs, honey, wax), or an investment in productivity (draught animals) and manure. They could be young, strong specimens or, conversely, old and weaker ones, which could be acquire in the second hand market for a lower price. In this two-day seminar, a number of scholars from Spain, Italy, France and England will share evidence of these phenomena in the light of the current debates of the rural economic and social history of the later middle ages in their respective areas under exploration. 

Argument

Farm animals, now and in the past, are mid-way between production and household consumption. They can be a resource of meet and secondary products (milk, butter, cheese, eggs, honey, wax), or an investment in productivity (draught animals) and manure. They could be young, strong specimens or, conversely, old and weaker ones, which could be acquire in the second hand market for a lower price.

In this two-day seminar, a number of scholars from Spain, Italy, France and England will share evidence of these phenomena in the light of the current debates of the rural economic and social history of the later middle ages in their respective areas under exploration. Here they will discuss the very reasons behind the possession of such animals, the economic logic behind their acquisition and its relation with the current debates about the relevance of markets and self-sufficiency for the rural economy.

Programme

Thursday, 30 November 2017 

• 9:00 Welcome and presentation of the seminar  Antoni FURIÓ and Luis ALMENAR 
• 9:30 Paolo NANNI (Università di Firenze - Accademia dei Georgofili) Working Oxen within the Tuscan “Mezzadria” (15th Century) 
• 10:00 Carmel FERRAGUD and Ricardo M. OLMOS DE LEÓN (Universitat de València) Farm animals, their diseases and the medical care in Europe during the late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period 
• 10:30 Discussion 

11:00 Coffee break 

• 11:30 Phil SLAVIN (University of Kent)  Cattle husbandry in late medieval England: the demesne and peasant sectors 
• 12:00 Frederic APARISI (Universidad Cardenal Herrera) Dovecotes in Medieval Valencia 
• 12:30 Discussion 

13:00 Lunch 

• 15:00 Antoni MAS (Universitat de les Illes Balears) “Bestiars axí domèstichs com salvatges”: Draught animals supply and management among of the peasantry of Majorca (13th-16th centuries) 
• 15:30 Davide CRISTOFERI (Universiteit Ghent - Università di Siena) Husbandry and Transhumance in the Late Medieval Tuscany: contribution from a recent research on the Customs of Pasturages of Siena (1353-1419) 
• 16:00 Discussion 

16:30 Coffee break 

• 17:00 Antoni FURIÓ (Universitat de València) Draught and farm animals in late medieval Valencian peasant holding 
• 17:30 Mickael WILMART (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris) Poultry in the rural economy of Southern France (13th-15th centuries) 

Friday, 1 December 2017 

• 9:00 Alexandra SAPOZNIK (King’s College London) Bees, beekeeping and the production and trade of bee products in medieval Europe 
• 9:30 María Antonia CARMONA RUIZ (Universidad de Sevilla) Beekeeping in Andalusia in the later Middle Ages 
• 10:00 Elvis MALLORQUÍ (Universitat de Girona) Oxen and asses in peasant “masos” from Old Catalonia, 13th-14th centuries 
• 10:30 Discussion 

11:00 Coffee break 

• 11:30 Jordan CLARIDGE (London School of Economics) Peasant Horse Breeding in late Medieval England 
• 12:00 Pau VICIANO (Universitat de València) Oxen and horses. Draught animals and agrarian innovation in the Kingdom of Valencia in late Middle Ages 
• 12:30 Xavier SOLDEVILA (Universitat de Girona) Domestic husbandry and credit agreements in medieval Catalonia. (The coastal side of the bishopric of Girona, 1290-1510) 
• 13:00 Discussion 

13:30 Conclusion and closing act 

13:45 Farewell lunch