Famines in late medieval and early modern Italy: A test for an advanced economy

Abstract

This article analyzes how the advanced economies of Medieval and Early Modern Italy attempted to cope with famines. First, it provides an overview of the occurrence of famines and food shortages in Italy from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century, underlining the connections with overall climatic and demographic trends. Second, it focuses on the 1590s famine (the worst to affect Italy in this period), providing a general discussion and interpretation of its causes and characteristics as well as describing and evaluating the strategies for coping with the crisis that were developed within the Republic of Genoa and the Duchy of Ferrara. The article argues that when such a large-scale food crisis as that of the 1590s occurred, public action played a key role in providing relief.