When the Mountain Serves the City: The Production of Cheese and Wool in Eighteenth-Century Bresciano (Italian Alps)

Abstract

This article analyses the livestock holdings in the Alps, with a particular focus on the relationship between the city of Brescia and the neighbouring alpine valleys. Two economic activities are studied in more depth: cattle breeding for the production of cheese and sheep farming for the production of wool. In the first case, we observe that the cheese dealers of Brescia managed the production and marketed the final goods, since the cheese was largely exported. In the second case, the business was managed by local farmers who constituted a wealthy social class whose activities went beyond farming and include banking.