Water and Society in Early Medieval Italy, AD 400–1000

Description

This book offers an original discussion of an element - water - and its relationship with people. In particular it shows how early medieval Italian societies coped with the problems of having too much or too little water, and analyzes their use of it. Such treatment illuminates the workings both of postclassical societies and of the environments in which these societies lived. Domestic usage, bathing, irrigation and drainage, fishing, and milling all receive full coverage. This is a groundbreaking, interdisciplinary study which proves that, even after the "fall" of Rome, people continued a dialectical relationship with the natural resources that shaped their experiences just as decisively as their efforts redesigned the waterscape. It will be of interest not only to Italianists; historians of technology, agrarian, social and cultural historians, and environmental historians will all find here much that is stimulating. Acknowledgments page viii List of abbreviations x Introduction 1 1. Water for everyday use 10 2. Water, baths, and corporeal washing 44 3. The wet and the dry: water in agriculture 66 4. Water, fish, and fishing 97 5. Water and milling in early medieval Italy 126 6. Conclusion: the hydrological cycle in the early Middle Ages 160 Bibliography 165 Index 192