Pietro de' Crescenzi ( 1230/35 – c. 1320), la, 'Petrus de Crescentiis', was a Bolognese

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

,Robert G. Calkins, "Piero de' Crescenzi and the Medieval Garden", in ''Medieval Gardens'', ed. Elisabeth B. MacDougall, Dumbarton Oaks, 1986: 155–173
Selected pages at Google Books
/ref> now remembered for his writings on

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

and

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

, the ''Ruralia commoda''. There are many variant spellings of his name.

Life

Pietro de' Crescenzi was born in Bologna in about 1235; the only evidence for his date of birth is the annotation "septuagenarian" in the ''Ruralia commoda'', dated with some certainty between 1304 and 1309. He was educated at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

in logic, medicine, the natural sciences and law, but did not take his doctorate. Crescenzi practiced as a lawyer and judge from about 1269 until 1299, travelling widely in Italy in the course of his work. In January 1274 he married Geraldina de' Castagnoli, with whom he had at least five children. She died in or shortly after December 1287. In January 1289 he married Antonia de' Nascentori, with whom he also had several children. After his retirement in 1290 he divided his time between Bologna and his country estate, the Villa dell'Olmo outside the walls of Bologna. During this time he wrote the ''Ruralia commoda'', an agricultural treatise based largely on classical and medieval sources (mostly

Albertus Magnus Albertus Magnus (c. 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop. Later canonised as a Catholic saint, he was known during his life ...

), as well as his own experience as a landowner.

Pierre Toubert Pierre Toubert (born 29 November 1932) is a French historian. He is a professor of medieval history at the University of Paris and the Collège de France. Focusing on medieval history, his most monumental work is ''Les structures du Latium médié ...

(1984)
Crescenzi, Pietro de'
(in Italian). ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', Volume 30. Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. Accessed October 2013. It is not known when de' Crescenzi died. His last will is dated 23 June 1320; a legal document dated 20 February 1321 describes him as dead, at the age of almost ninety.

The ''Ruralia commoda''

The ''Ruralia commoda'', sometimes known as the ''Liber ruralium commodorum'' ("book of rural benefits"), was completed some time between 1304 and 1309, and was dedicated to

Charles II of Naples Charles II, also known as Charles the Lame (french: Charles le Boiteux; it, Carlo lo Zoppo; 1254 – 5 May 1309), was King of Naples, Count of Provence and Forcalquier (1285–1309), Prince of Achaea (1285–1289), and Count of Anjou and Maine ( ...

. King

Charles V of France Charles V (21 January 1338 – 16 September 1380), called the Wise (french: le Sage; la, Sapiens), was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380. His reign marked an early high point for France during the Hundred Years' War, with his armi ...

ordered a French translation in 1373. In 1471 it was printed in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for the first time, in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

and

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

. After circulating in numerous manuscript copies, Crescenzi's treatise became the first printed modern text on agriculture when it was published in Augsburg by

Johann Schüssler Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

in 1471. Some 57 editions in Latin, Italian, French, and German appeared during the following century,Frank J. Anderson, ''An Illustrated History of the Herbals'', New York, 1977
Selected pages at Google Books
/ref> as did two editions in Polish.

Sections

The structure and content of the ''Ruralia commoda'' is substantially based on the ''De re rustica'' of

Columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...

, written in the first century AD, even though this work was not available to de' Crescenzi, and was known only in fragments until a complete version was discovered in a monastery library by

Poggio Bracciolini Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini (11 February 1380 – 30 October 1459), usually referred to simply as Poggio Bracciolini, was an Italian scholar and an early Renaissance humanist. He was responsible for rediscovering and recovering many classi ...

during the

Council of Constance The Council of Constance was a 15th-century ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418 in the Bishopric of Constance in present-day Germany. The council ended the Western Schism by deposing or accepting the res ...

, between 1414 and 1418. While de' Crescenzi cites Columella twelve times, all the citations are indirect, and taken from the ''Opus agriculturae'' of

Rutilius Taurus Aemilianus Palladius Rutilius Taurus Aemilianus Palladius, also known as Palladius Rutilius Taurus Aemilianus or most often just as Palladius, was an ancient writer who wrote in Latin, and is dated variously to the later 4th century or first half of the 5th century ...

. Like the ''De re rustica'' of Columella, the ''Ruralia commoda'' is divided into 12 parts: # Siting and layout of a manor, villa or farm, considering climate, winds, and water supply; also the duties of the head of the estate # Botanical properties of plants and horticultural techniques # Agriculture of cereals and building of a granary # Vines and winemaking # Arboriculture—trees useful for food and medicine # Horticulture—plants useful for food and medicine # Management of meadows and woodland # Pleasure gardens # Animal husbandry and bee keeping # Hunting and fishing # General summary # Monthly calendar of tasks

Legacy

Crescenzi was so well known his name was used to advertise books as late as 1602. He also inspired a genre of German literature called '' Hausväterliteratur'' ('reading for the father of the family'), practical guides about crop husbandry, gardening, cattle breeding, hunting, etiquette, and so on for peasant farmers . Books in this genre were published into the 19th century.

References and notes

External links