Medieval lessons in sustainability: organizing agriculture around late-medieval Dalmatian towns

The aim of this project is to reconstruct the management of natural resources—such as forests, vineyards, pastures, and livestock around Eastern Adriatic towns during the Middle Ages. By extracting information about these resources from historical sources, we aim to draw conclusions about human interactions with nature and, conversely, how nature’s impacts influenced human decisions regarding resource management. The historical sources to be analyzed include the statutes of towns like Zadar, Dubrovnik, Split, and Korčula, along with other published historical documents, primarily notarial records.

Practically, the project will commence with lectures on environmental history, followed by discussions on the statutes of Eastern medieval towns and the Latin terms associated with specific resources. Students will be required to apply their theoretical knowledge by reading and extracting information from these sources, formulating their own conclusions, and ultimately writing short papers.

To facilitate this research, students will be divided into four or more groups, depending on the number of participants. Each group will focus on a specific resource, for example, gathering information about mills and fishing practices. They will have two weeks to create databases, which they will then present. Following this initial phase, students will be allotted another two weeks to find relevant literature on their topics, encompassing both foreign and Croatian sources. They will present a summary of their findings and will then be given an additional two weeks to write individual short papers, up to seven pages in length.

In addition to deepening their understanding of the subject matter, this project will enhance students’ skills in reading primary sources, formulating research questions and hypotheses, and presenting their findings effectively.

General learning outcomes

• Historical analysis and interpretation of the sources.