The Cardinal's Hat by Mary Hollingsworth

Author:Mary Hollingsworth [HOLLINGSWORTH, MARY]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BIO000000, BIO006000, BIO018000
ISBN: 9781468303858
Publisher: The Overlook Press
Published: 2012-07-10T04:00:00+00:00

Harvests at Bondeno, 1536–7

Bad harvests could be disastrous for agricultural workers and their families who depended on their produce to survive the following winter, but they were not always bad news for those like Ippolito who had large estates that produced a surplus of crops to sell. Poor harvests invariably meant higher prices. In November 1536 the price of a stara of wheat had dropped to 19 soldi, but a year later it was 24 soldi and in 1539, after an even worse harvest, it rose to 57 soldi, a price that caused widespread famine.

By September the crops had been harvested, most of the grain and legumes had arrived at the granaries and the wine harvest had begun. The first barges laden with heavy wooden barrels filled with the new wine arrived from both Bondeno and Codigoro on 8 September, the feast of the Birth of the Virgin (described by Fiorini as Santa Maria di Settembre). The day was celebrated in the church at Bondeno by a special service, followed by a harvest supper for Palamides, the tithe-collectors and the priests, though not the workers, at the local inn. With the hard work over for the year, Ippolito’s agents now turned their attention to the upkeep of the estate buildings. At Bondeno, Palamides commissioned roofers to lay new roofs on the church, the bell-tower, the tithe barn and several of the estate dwellings. At Migliaro, Bigo Schalabrino authorized Domenico da Milano to rebuild the houses where Marti Bolgarello and Antonio Maria Trova lived. Building was expensive. Palamides spent 8 scudi on tiles alone while Bigo spent over 13 scudi on labour and materials for Antonio Maria’s house and nearly 18 scudi on Marti’s.

Meanwhile Fiorini was having serious problems with the kitchen well at the Palazzo San Francesco. The first plumber had made some cosmetic improvements but had failed to clear the blockage, and Renée insisted that it be rebuilt. Fiorini had been too busy in July to organize it himself, and Tomaso Morello had taken charge of the project. The work proved to be substandard. In early September part of the new wall collapsed, and the builders had to be called in again. Fiorini also had a lot of work to do in preparation for the departure of a large party who left for France on 23 September. The men included Scipio Assassino, now fully recovered, Priete the sommelier and Besian the falconer. They took with them two more members of staff who were travelling to France for the first time: Carlo del Pavone, the larderer, and Francesco Salineo, who had been appointed as the official in charge of funds for the stables, in place of Jacomo Panizato, who had been promoted to purveyor in France. All were given travelling expenses by Fiorini – 25 scudi for Assassino, 10 scudi each for the others – and they took a lot of luggage with them. Assassino had bought Ippolito a new breviary, expensively covered in black velvet, and, when they stopped off in Mantua, he picked up two swords which Tassone had commissioned there for Ippolito.

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