Producing the City-State

Production and Power in Medieval Lucca

Image coming soon

Extent: 196 pages

Publisher: Wiley-VCH

Subjects: Medieval Studies

Series: Archaeology of the Mediterranean World

Language: English

Hardback (Forthcoming)

(January 2027)

ISBN: 9782503622583

Price: $100.00

This book examines rural producers as active agents in the economic and political transformations of medieval Lucca, Italy, between 1000 and 1300. It challenges traditional top-down narratives of state formation by foregrounding the choices and agency of non-elites. Rather than treating commercial growth, urban expansion, and regional integration as processes driven solely by urban authorities and elites, the study argues that these developments were made possible in part by a transformation of the rural economy and the choices of rural producers. It suggests that rural cultivators altered their agricultural and landscape choices to increase participation in commercial exchange, particularly with the city of Lucca. While these decisions were shaped by structural constraints, they would have involved the conscious participation of rural communities. Archaeological in focus, the study employs GIS-based agricultural suitability modelling to analyze landscape use and settlement shifts in the hinterland of Lucca. The locations of more than 400 churches are used as a proxy for rural settlements. Over the analysis period, the results demonstrate increased agricultural specialization and the growing importance of commodities such as wine and olive oil, alongside shifts toward more commercially connected landscapes. This book argues that these changes were not merely imposed by urban authorities but reflected deliberate decisions by rural actors themselves, underscoring their role as integral participants in medieval socio-political change.


This book examines rural producers as active agents in the economic and political transformations of medieval Lucca, Italy, between 1000 and 1300. It challenges traditional top-down narratives of state formation by foregrounding the choices and agency of non-elites. Rather than treating commercial growth, urban expansion, and regional integration as processes driven solely by urban authorities and elites, the study argues that these developments were made possible in part by a transformation of the rural economy and the choices of rural producers. It suggests that rural cultivators altered their agricultural and landscape choices to increase participation in commercial exchange, particularly with the city of Lucca. While these decisions were shaped by structural constraints, they would have involved the conscious participation of rural communities. Archaeological in focus, the study employs GIS-based agricultural suitability modelling to analyze landscape use and settlement shifts in the hinterland of Lucca. The locations of more than 400 churches are used as a proxy for rural settlements. Over the analysis period, the results demonstrate increased agricultural specialization and the growing importance of commodities such as wine and olive oil, alongside shifts toward more commercially connected landscapes. This book argues that these changes were not merely imposed by urban authorities but reflected deliberate decisions by rural actors themselves, underscoring their role as integral participants in medieval socio-political change.