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1. Global economy 1.1. Asia to 1800Throughout tropical and subtropical Asia, rice has been grown for millennia; in the early modern period, too, it was enormously important as a basic foodstuff. The major forms of production were growing in coastal and riverine lowlands that were naturally or artificially flooded (marsh rice or wild rice), terrace cultivation with artificial irrigation, and the cultivation of less demanding varieties at higher altitudes (upland rice, dry rice). South Asia and East Asi…

The donkey enjoyed considerable importance in early modern societies by reason of its physical strength, but this was not its only role. It was also portrayed in early modern art as an attribute of Christian scenes and an object of pagan veneration [13]. In European literature, the donkey became synonymous with stubbornness and stupidity from at least the French translation of the  Disputation de l'asne (1544; “Disputation on the Donkey”) by Mayurqi Abdallah Ibn-Abdallah. The animal's character was the same in its appearance in the fables of La Fontaine (1668-1693), for example  L…

1. Oil plants and typesIn southern Europe, the long-lived olive tree ( Olea europea), much prized by Jews and Arabs and mentioned in both the Bible and the Quran, was the main supplier of lipids for a wide range of uses [7. 8–14]. Brindisi and Bari were already important trading centers for olive oil from the 13th century [9. 184–193]. Trading networks developed in the 15th and 16th centuries in Spain and France, hand in hand with the emergence of regional centers of production. From the 17th century, Marseille and Nice were important foci of the tra…

1. Legal aspects 1.1. DefinitionA lease (German Pacht) today is understood to be the contractual transfer of an object or right in exchange for money (cf. Interest [banking]), whereupon the recipient may use or – in contrast to rent and loans for use (commodatum) – enjoy the fruits of the object for a certain time. In contrast to a renter, the lessee is broadly responsible for the maintenance of the object of the lease. Leases based on loan contract, which could in theory be canceled at any time and la…

1. Denotation and usage Consumption of fresh fruit remained generally low into the second half of the 19th century (see Fruit; Food) [16. 234]. In the early modern era, tropical fruits were treated as a separate product; they enriched the quality of cuisine and imparted an element of creativity and luxury to early modern era food culture. Products such as bananas, pineapples, avocados, pomegranates, persimmons, lychees, mangos, and papayas, all commonly available in the tropics and subtropics, were more of a rare ple…

1. System Métayage (French; also Italian  mezzadria, Spanish  aparcería) was a form of contract by which a lessee ( métayeur, mezzadro, aparcero) would work a piece of land for the owner, with the partners dividing between them the necessary equipment and the yields. This form of sharecropping was very widespread in a number of European countries from the late Middle Ages on, and it assumed radically different forms [4]. In Italy [10], it was particularly common in Tuscany, Umbria, the Marche, and Emilia Romagna, in Spain in the north of the country, and in G…

1. Extraction 1.1. IntroductionSalt (sodium chloride, NaCl) is an essential foodstuff (see below, 2.). Sufficient, regular intake of salt is a prerequisite of life for the human organism. The extraction of salt and its trade and distribution have therefore been of outstanding importance since prehistoric times. Historically known as “white gold,” table salt in particular was a valuable commodity (see below, 2.), and for many districts and regions, possession of salt deposits and production areas (M…