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

by Paolo Squatriti

• ISBN13: 9780521621922
• ISBN10: 0521621925
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-07-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

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 both the workings 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.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	viii	(2)
List of abbreviations	x
Introduction	1	(9)
1 Water for everyday use	10	(34)
2 Water, baths, and corporeal washing	44	(22)
3 The wet and the dry: water in agriculture	66	(31)
4 Water, fish, and fishing	97	(29)
5 Water and milling in early medieval Italy	126	(34)
6 Conclusion: the hydrological cycle in the early Middle Ages	160	(5)
Bibliography	165	(27)
Index	192