Transhumant sheep farming and seigniorial economy in the Veronese pre-Alps (twelfth-fourteenth centuries)

The chapter delves into the transhumant pastoralism practiced in the pre-Alpine area of Verona; it explores the overlapping interests of rural communities utilising mountain pastures for their own needs on the one hand, and of lay landowners and ecclesiastical lordships exploiting the same resources to produce goods to be sold in the civic market on the other one. The case study examined is that of val d’Illasi, analysed through the rich archives of S. Giorgio in Braida of Verona, which enabled fresh insights on the practical dimension of transhumant sheep farming, seasonal cheese production in the mountain pastures, the social competition rising around these resources, and eventually the demographic development of the pre-Alpine belt.