Ruralia commoda of Pietro de Crescenzi and cattle farming in Medieval Bohemia

• Authors: Zuzana Vařáková
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The paper focuses on the agronomical encyclopaedia Ruralia commoda by Pietro de Crescenzi in connection with cattle farming at the Bohemian aristocratic courts in the Middle Ages. The objective is to investigate the ideal form of cattle husbandry described in Crescenzi’s text, and to relate it to the actual practice of farming and breeding. This is achieved by employing a combination of various types of sources and interdisciplinary approaches. As a result, the conventionally held notion of primitive medieval cattle husbandry is challenged and replaced with the concept that cattle were provided with the best possible and available care, based on their biological needs and processes.

Keywords

EN

cattle farming; dairy cattle; aristocratic farming; interdisciplinarity; Pietro de Crescenzi; Opus ruralia commoda

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Mediaevalia Historica Bohemica
• Year: 2023
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 61-81
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Zuzana Vařáková

• Historický ústav AV ČR, v. v. i., Prosecká 809/76, 190 00 Praha 9, Czech Republic