Disboscamento o cambio d’uso? Un bosco di pianura nella Bassa parmense (XII–inizio XIII secolo) = Deforestation or change of use? A forest on the plains of Parma at the turn of the thirteenth century

The article explores the exploitation of a wooded area on the plains north of Parma between the end of the twelfth and start of the thirteenth century. In particular, the author focuses the analysis on the conflict over what was called the ‘common’ forest. Its usage was contested between the holders of rights on the one hand (the canons of Parma and the Da Pizzo family), and on the other hand, the inhabitants of the localities bordering on the forest (Pizzo and San Secondo Parmense), who had begun to organize themselves into autonomous communes from the end of the twelfth century. Diverse testimonies from countryside dwellers, resulting from an inquest conducted in 1210 by the local mayor, provide us with details about the different ways of managing the forest and its protection. Local inhabitants principally used the forest to obtain wood for domestic fuel or for sale, and various officials guarded the area. Starting from a discussion of the supposedly indiscriminate deforestation in the late medieval period, the article underlines how the forests in the area under consideration were used sustainably, as well as showing not just their economic importance, but also their symbolic and political value.