Pietro de' Crescenzi (; 1230/35 – c. 1320), also known as Pietro Crescenzi(o), Pier Crescenzi(o) and other variations of his name, was an Italian

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

from

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

,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 (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

and

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, the ''Ruralia commoda''.

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 (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

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 ( 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great, Albert of Swabia, Albert von Bollstadt, or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop, considered one of the great ...

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

Pierre Toubert Pierre Toubert (29 November 1932 – 5 June 2025) was a French historian. He was 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 ...

(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 (; ; 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 (1285–1290); he also was King of Albania ( ...

. King

Charles V of France Charles V (21 January 1338 – 16 September 1380), called the Wise (; ), 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 as his armies recovered much of the terri ...

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

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for the first time, in

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

and

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. 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 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: ) was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture and ancient Roman cuisin ...

, 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 humanism, Renaissance humanist. He is noted for rediscovering and recove ...

during the

Council of Constance The Council of Constance (; ) was an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church that was held from 1414 to 1418 in the Bishopric of Constance (Konstanz) in present-day Germany. This was the first time that an ecumenical council was convened in ...

, 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.

Notes

References

External links

Ruralia Commoda
(1490–95)
Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries
High resolution images of works by Pietro Crescenzi in .jpg and .tiff format. *Bibliography and works on line: http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Auteur/Crescenzi.asp?param=en {{DEFAULTSORT:Crescenzi, Pietro de 1230s births 1320s deaths Year of birth uncertain Italian agronomists 13th-century Italian jurists Italian male writers 14th-century writers in Latin 14th-century Italian writers Writers from Bologna 13th-century agronomists 14th-century agronomists