A History of Verona Page: 136 of 493
x (i. e. xi), 403, [1] p. : front., maps, fold. geneal. tab. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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FOUNDING OF SCALIGERI DYNASTY 117
father and brothers, granting them complete liberty to own property,
sell, buy, bear witness and make wills. Nothing is said of
servi in the deed conferring the marigancia of the da Romano
fiefs on Beroardo da Vicenza and Marcio da Montemerlo in 1260.
In the German settlement at Rovere di Velo there is no sign of
servile status, or even of servile tenure. Here and elsewhere
there is no trace of compulsory labour on the demesne lands of
the lord. Indeed, throughout the thirteenth century the peasants
in the Lessine Alps had been accustomed to pay rent in money
and kind to the various ecclesiastical authorities who owned
the greater part of these mountains, and the payment of rent,
especially in money, is generally accepted as one mark of freedom
of tenure.
The statutes of the rural Communes are of course mainly
concerned with the cultivation of the soil, and the management
of the common woods and pastures. Some minor offences, such
as gambling and blasphemy, are prohibited, but the majority of
the penalties and fines are imposed for robbery and other damage
to crops, flocks, trees, fences, etc. Many of the statutes regulate
such purely agricultural matters as pasturage, wood-cutting,
hay-making, the vintage, and rights of way. Cultivation in
severalty, i.e., on an individual basis, was the rule, but traces of
common cultivation remain. Every community possessed some
land in absolute ownership.1 In some instances this land was
used in common by all the members of the Commune. Elsewhere
it was divided up at regular intervals, and let out to individuals,
the Commune receiving the rent, and sometimes
regulating the cultivation. The technical term for land thus
divided was terra designata, while the actual partition was
styled designatio.
An excellent example of the designatio is to be found at Baldaria,
where in I221 certain woods belonging to the Commune
were ordered to be divided every eight years into shares of
varying sizes. The holders of these shares were bound by very
stringent conditions. They might only cut wood at certain
times fixed beforehand by the majority, and they might not
1 In one case the word alodium, the technical term for land thus held, is used.
Statutes of Castelnuovo dell' Abate, No. 26,54, A.V., vol. xxxv. pt. 2, pp. 378, 382.
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Allen, A. M. A History of Verona, book, 1910; New York. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1025/m1/136/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .