Maps as Maintenance : Designing and Controlling the Kingdom of Sardinia and the State of Milan’s Boundaries and Rivers in the 18th Century

This chapter concentrates on the role of maps as agents of political, economic, and social maintenance. Focusing on the 18th-century Kingdom of Sardinia and the State of Milan, this work analyzes rivers and other water roads as infrastructures of communication which need to be kept in operation and maintained in the long run for the purpose of political, economic, and social stability. In this sense, maps show conflicting boundaries, where a whole society is reflected at least at three levels. The first consists of the diplomatic relations between the various political actors who control the states crossed by the Ticino River, as knowing the mapped territory is a prelude to its better management. The second concerns cartography itself: drawing a map means communicating a political vision of the territories to be drawn, starting from a collection of information on the ground and respecting the political directives of the ruler. The third level consists of the acts of maintenance necessary to ensure the usability of the waterway, with all that this implies in a communicative sense in the relationship between the sovereign and his subjects.