Dinamica economiei agricole din Moldova oglindită în izvoarele veacurilor XIV-XVII

Abstract

The present article contains a thorough analysis of the medieval rural world of the Eastern Carpathian area. Such an article meets the necessity of an enlarged database, as it takes into consideration information provided by foreign travelers, by chroniclers and chronographers, as well as by simple clerks, scribes and copyists. By corroborating disparate and often anachronistic or confusing data, the author points out agrarian aspects, directions and methods used by local medieval communities of Moldavia. Special aspects of interest are the evolution of agricultural technologies and of specific implements, the development of work relationships (in both craftsmanship and commerce) and of social-legal regulations, etc. The historical background, as determined by the political and military context of the epoch, became a decisive factor for state individualization in the area between the Carpathians and the Nistru (Dniester). The repeated invasions, the conflicts with nomadic populations and with the armies of neighboring states, as well as climatic variations, epidemics and natural disasters, all influenced the rate of economic development of the Moldavian state. In other words, under the impact of the above-mentioned factors, the dynamics of agrarian economy displayed stages of involution, but also of real progress, when the Moldavian territory became a market, a place of storage and a source of raw materials for most of the neighboring states.

Keywords: medieval agrarian economy, Moldavia, written sources, cereals, cattle, trade, tribute, tithe, honey, mills.