Chapter Economic inequality in early fourteenth-century Siena and in its countryside: evidence from the Tavola delle Possessioni (1316-20)

Abstract

The paper presents the first statistically up-to-date analysis of economic inequality in early fourteenth-century Siena and in three rural settlements by integrating an existing database with a selected study of the Tavola delle Possessioni (1316-8), the earliest and most complete fiscal cadaster for an Italian medieval city. For Siena, the paper shows the highest level of economic inequality in Tuscany before 1348 and analyzes the distribution of immovable property at both geographical and household levels. The study of the Sienese countryside is still preliminary and contextualizes the statistical evidence found at the agricultural and socio-economic levels.