Tithe in the Middle Ages: new perspectives

RHN 40/2021 | Event

Organisers: Antoni Furió and Frederic Aparisi

1–2 July 2021, València, Spain

 

Tithe in the Middle Ages: new perspectives
 El delme a l’edat mitjana: Noves claus interpretatives
 El diezmo en la edad media: nuevas claves interpretativas

 

Tithing records allow to go beyond of the data about production. The structuring of the territory and the country-city relations can also be studied from the analysis of the decimal documentation. In this sense, it should be asked what was the destination of the rent: the local market, the large metropolises or international circuits? There is no single answer for all territories nor for all times, nor all products. The primacy of cereal – wheat in particular – explains the interest of large capitals to gain the dominance of the producing areas, which implied obtaining all possible income, including also the tithe or, in the Valencian case, the third-tithe. But local elites played a key role in the collection and management of the tithe since, ultimately, they represented the last link in the chain until reaching the producer himself.

Furthermore, these ‘coqs du village’ knew well the local environment and the evasive strategies of their neighbours. And precisely this aspect – the forms of passive resistance of producers to satisfy the income and the resulting conflict – is another aspect that requires a closer look. This renewal of tithe studies from new perspectives and lines of analysis justifies the need for a meeting in Valencia on the next 1st and 2nd July. This conference aims to serve as a space for discussion and historiographic updating of various aspects related to tithe such as but not only:

  • Territorial particularities of the tithe. Approach to the documentary sources.
  • Mechanisms of collecting the rent. 
  • The buildings of the tithe. Storage and management of the tithe product.
  • The collection of the tithe and the evolution of agricultural production.
  • The forms of passive resistance of the peasantry to satisfy the rent.

 

For more information, please contact the organisers: antoni.furio@uv.es and frederic.aparisi@uv.es