Pietro de' Crescenzi (ca. 1230/35-ca. 1320) was an Italian jurist from Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

, now known as a writer on agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

. Educated at the University of Bologna in logic, medicine, the natural sciences and law, Crescenzi practiced as a lawyer and judge from about 1269 until 1299. After retiring to his villa, the Villa Olmo outside the walls of Bologna, he wrote an agricultural treatise based largely on classical and medieval sources, as well as his own experience as a landowner.

Liber ruralium commodorum

His work Liber ruralium commodorum (The Book of Rural Benefits) was completed some time between 1304 and 1309, and was dedicated to Charles II of Naples

Charles II of Naples

Charles II, known as "the Lame" was King of Naples, King of Albania, Prince of Salerno, Prince of Achaea and Count of Anjou.-Biography:...

. King Charles V of France

Charles V of France

Charles V , called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380 and a member of the House of Valois...

 ordered a French translation in 1373. After circulating in numerous manuscript copies, Crescenzi's treatise became the first printed modern text on agriculture when it was published in Augsburg

Augsburg

Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...

 by Johann Schüssler in 1471. Some 57 editions in Latin, Italian, French, and German appeared during the following century..

Sections

Crescenzi's book was organized in 12 parts:

1. Siting and layout of a manor, villa or farm, considering climate, winds, and water supply; also the duties of the head of the estate
2. Botanical properties of plants and horticultural techniques
3. Agriculture of cereals and building of a granary
4. Vines and winemaking
5. Arboriculture—trees useful for food and medicine
6. Horticulture—plants useful for food and medicine
7. Management of meadows and woodland
8. Pleasure gardens
9. Animal husbandry and bee keeping
10. Hunting and fishing
11. General summary
12. Monthly calendar of tasks

External links

• Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries High resolution images of works by Pietro Crescenzi in .jpg and .tiff format.