Agricultural History Review, Volume 69 Part 2 (2021), pp. 169–191

Sedentary livestock husbandry became a central activity by which peasants in late medieval Catalonia earned a living and were also able to withstand the economic, environmental, and military crises of the fourteenth century. The case study of the Les Gavarres region and the exploration of its notarial sources demonstrates that animal rearing provided economic autonomy to the servile peasantry. It initially describes the specific leasing contracts that enabled an active market for fattening livestock. Taking into account a sample of 3082 contracts related to this market between 1330 and 1370, it subsequently provides evidence about the wide extent of livestock rearing and about the factors that affected the activity (plague, crop failure, warfare). The case of the ovi-caprine herds ultimately demonstrates the strategies used by peasants in order to cope with short-cycle crisis. By resorting to these resilient animals or enlarging their herds, families could balance cereal or labour shortages. The study challenges the traditional idea of Mediterranean livestock husbandry being ancillary or hostile to settled agriculture. 

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