Teaching in Rural Communities of the Po Valley, 1861-1900: An Idea of Agricultural Education Described by Agrarian Bulletins

Italian agricultural modernization in the late 19th century was partly the result of increased environmental and agronomic knowledge acquired from primary school onwards. The article opens a new research perspective by analysing how primary school teachers and vocational institutes contributed to agricultural and environmental education in rural areas of Northern Italy. These practices also raised awareness concerning social and cultural problems in rural areas. Laboratory activities and field trips played a fundamental role in teaching strategies that combined theoretical and practical lessons, putting students in direct contact with the territory and its resources. In the research presented here, three case studies are analysed. The first is the network of primary schools brought to life by resourceful teachers and the financial support of local authorities in the Monza area. The second focuses on the Practical School of Agriculture in Voghera and its field trips. The third looks at the practical training course for cellarmen that was planned in Stradella. Italian innovation in the final decades of the 19th century gave careful attention to the characteristics of each territory while also looking at highly successful didactic experiences in the most advanced countries

Social support networks in the imperial fiefdoms

Until recently, historiography had not paid particular attention to the study of the social support networks in the territories of the imperial fiefdoms of the Apennines, situated in today’s southern areas of Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Piedmont, and Liguria. Until 1797, the term imperial fiefs was used to refer to all territories subject to the Holy Roman Empire. In the Old Regime, social support practices represented a tool for defining and strengthening the social identity of the patronage actors which exercised, together with charity, an economic, jurisdictional, and social control action through these activities. In the area under investigation, the role of parishes, communities, and families emerged alongside the role of the feudal lord. The aim of the present work is to shift attention from the more eminently jurisdictional, political, and religious aspects to those concerning the activities of intermediate social bodies which were the leading figures in the formation of social support networks

Private bankers in the Italian 19th century. The Parodi of Genoa in the national and international context: credit, financial and political relations, Cham, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.

none1noThe book analyses the role of private bankers who were pivotal in modernizing the economic and financial system of Italy in the XIX century. To achieve this they needed to interact with the international haute banque to organize and place the public loans and the large investments associated with the joint-stock companies. The theme of reputation, which is currently at the centre of the historiographical debate, is fundamental for the study of the private banker figures, whose professional success is linked to the limitless trust accorded to them by their circle of personal contacts. Historiography has studied the role of Italian bankers in the trade, credit and international finance during the modern age (XVI-XVIII centuries), but it has not analysed the banking system in the XIX century and its national and international relations. The case study of Banca Parodi of Genova fills the historiographical gap concerning the role of private bankers and banking institutions in Italy, highlighting the network between the Parodi family and the international haute banque; one of the most emblematic cases is the Rothschild family. The book presents a re-elaborates series of unpublished data, placing them at the disposal of the scientific community and analyses the role of private bankers in the development of Italian banking institutions in the XIX century to launch a scientific debate.noneluciano maffiMaffi, Lucian

Territory, grape growing and wine making in Oltrepò Pavese: From a geographic investigation to the challenges of the modern global economy

La ricerca analizza l’evoluzione della vitivinicoltura nell’Oltrepò Pavese quale elemento caratterizzante il paesaggio di questo territorio. Tale settore produttivo risulta essere una delle principali attività svolte nell’area in esame e ne caratterizza l’economia, il paesaggio collinare, le tradizioni e le forme identitarie, specialmente nellla zona centro-orientale, ossia nei territori che gravitano sui centri urbani di Casteggio, Broni e Stradella. Il lavoro si propone di approfondire anzitutto la valorizzazione della tipicità e del locale, riassunti e rappresentati nel termine terroir, che indica l’insieme degli elementi geomorfologici, climatici, antropici e culturali che rendono unico un prodotto (in questo caso il vino), mettendo così il locale al centro di un’analisi che si può estendere poi a riflessioni di ordine generale. L’indagine geografica ha studiato gli aspetti ambientali e quelli antropici, nonché le loro relazioni. Si è fatto riferimento ai fattori geologici, pedologici e climatici, che altresì sono gli elementi imprescindibili degli studi di «zonazione» che si occupano proprio dell’interazione tra viticoltura e ambiente. L’indagine geostorica-territoriale si è rivolta soprattutto ai seguenti temi: il paesaggio vitivinicolo; i tipi di vitigni impiantati e i relativi sistemi di coltivazione; le produzioni e la commercializzazione del prodotto; la rappresentazione delle proprietà e del territorio attraverso i catasti. Inoltre si approfondiscono i temi geoeconomici sia a scala globale sia a scala locale, grazie alla rielaborazione delle informazioni relative al settore produttivo. Il contesto locale pertanto è confrontato con quello regionale, nazionale e globale, al fine di comprenderne i legami, soprattutto in relazione alle attuali sfide geoeconomiche.In this thesis we analyse the evolution of grape growing and wine making as two of the elements which have contributed to the shaping of the landscape in the Oltrepò Pavese and represent two of the main economic activities of this geographic area, with is often identified with them – particularly in the mid-western part, i.e., the areas around the towns of Casteggio, Broni and Stradella. My main goal is to investigate the ways in which the values of locality and typicity – represented by the term terroir – are promoted. “Terroir” stands for, and comprises, a number of elements such as geo-morphological and climatic features, as well as human and cultural factors, all of which contribute to the uniqueness of a product like wine. My research thus starts from, and gives prominence to, the local level, in order to formulate a set of observations from which more general conclusions may then be drawn. The geographical investigation focusses on the environmental and human factors as well as their interrelationships. In its course, we refer to factors such as geology, pedology and climate, the crucial elements of all studies of «zoning», which describe precisely the complex interaction between grape growing and the environment. The geo-historical analysis concentrates especially on thematic areas such as the landscape; the varieties of grape that are planted and the respective growing techniques; the production and marketing of the produce; the ways in which property boundaries and the territory have been represented in land registries. The geo-economic factors, at both the local and global levels, are investigated through the analysis of the data from the production sector. The local context is thus compared to the regional, national and global ones in order to better understand the nature of their interactions and provide useful insights in relation to the challenges posed by the current geo-economic scenarios