Agriculture in Tuscany
Sharecropping according to a medieval model

Agriculture in Tuscany has evolved slowly. It wasn't until 1979 that the Italian government officially abandoned the in essence medieval method of agriculture known as sharecropping or mezzadria. By implementing this farming reform, Italy could start at a point Northern Europe had left behind itself decades earlier.

How exactly was this mezzadria system constructed? The padrone, or owner of the estate, contracted contadini, peasants, to cultivate his lands. In return for their work, they received fifty per cent of the profits made by the agricultural enterprise, the fattoria. At the end of the agricultural year a great feast was held, the tribbiatura, and on this occasion the produced grain was divided between the owner and the farmers.

The contadini worked under supervision of a foreman who received his orders directly from the padrone. The padrone usually lived in the city, visiting his lands only once in a while.

The eldest man of the family was the capoccio. He controlled the family's finances and he had the final say in family decisions. Marrying, for example, was unthinkable without his approval.

The padrone provided small houses with a piece of land attached for the farmers and their families to reside. The houses remained property of the padrone; only the household effects were the farmers'. The size of alloted land depended on the number of family members. Often more than twenty people lived in a single house.

Thirst-quencher
A peasant's family counted at least seven children, preferably boys, because they could help cultivate the land. Twelve year old boys were considered to be real men and brought into the production chain.

The families of the contadini almost exclusively used what they produced themselves: grain for food, silk for clothing. It is perhaps remarkable that in Tuscany a large part of the land was reserved for the growing of tobacco. Tobacco was not only used for smoking, it also served as an excellent thirst-quencher when chewed on.

There was a strict assignment of duties on the fattoria. Men performed the physically hardest chores such as cultivating the land. Women, however, carried the most responsibility. Besides looking after domestic affaires, such as bringing up the children and managing the kitchen, they were also expected to look after the farm animals.

After the second World War, many Italian families left the fattorie and went to the city. The composition of the families also changed drastically, and as a result the traditional image of the big patriarchal Italian family became a thing of the past.

More about mezzadria:
People: Giancarlo Cherubini

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- This site was realised thanks to the co-operation between the town council and the inhabitants of Torrita di Siena and ten graduated students 2004 from the “Katholieke Hogeschool Mechelen”, Belgium, department communication science, campus De Ham. - © Torrita di Siena