Alcohol in Public Space: The Example of Medieval Dubrovnik

Alcohol in Public Space: The Example of Medieval Dubrovnik
Gordan Ravančić (Zagreb)
“Considerantes civitatem nostram esse male fultamvino et presertim bono quod est una de pricipalioribus et eccesarioribus rebus requisitis sanitati corporum humanorum, sine qua sanitate omnia cetera huiusmodi mundialia bona parum mortalibus prodesse possunt.”1
In medieval Dubrovnik, as in the entire medieval world, wine was con-sidered food.2 Moreover, it was also an important commodity. However, perceptions of wine differed from one European region to another: in the North it was considered a luxury, while in the South it was an item of everyday suste-nance.
Therefore, it is not uncommon to find examples of various authorities wanting to control such trade and the profit it produced. The cases I have ex-amined originate from medieval Dubrovnik, where the most common alcoholic beverage was wine, so my conclusions and observations will mostly reflect me-dieval attitudes towards wine and some aspects of its use.3
Dubrovnik’s authorities wanted to be part of the wine trade. If one takes a look at the complete work of all of Dubrovnik’s councils it is clear that the public sphere was quite extensive – normative regulations covered a great part of the commoners’ daily lives. Thus, it is not surprising that wine was very often
1 Acta Consilii Maioris, Historical Archives in Dubrovnik, s.8, vol.1, fol.8 (hereafter ACMai).
2 E.g. “Quicumque enim tempore messis vel tempore vindemiae non necessitate sed propter cupiditatem comparat annonam aut vinum, verbi gratia de duobus denariis comparat mo-dium unum et servat usque dum iterum vendurare possit contra dinarios quatuor aut sex seu amplius, hoc turpe lucrum dicimus, si autem propter necessitatem comparat, ut sibi habeat et aliis tribuat, negotium dicimus.” In Monumenta Germania Historica (henceforth MGH) Legum, Cap. Reg. Franc. I, 132.
3 After reading the literature about medieval nutrition, I do not believe that the “image” of wine and attitudes towards it that existed in medieval Dubrovnik differed much from the rest of contemporary Europe, e.g. Massimo Montanari, La fame e l’abbondanza – Storia dell’ alimentazione in Europa (Rome: Laterza & Figli Spa, 1997), passim; Massimo Monta-nari, Alimentazione e cultura nel Medioevo, 2nd ed. (Rome: Laterza & Figli Spa, 1989), pas-sim. 53
the subject of councils’ discussions, because wine was a recurrent part of daily life.4 The commune could obtain a significant income just from the taxation of the wine trade, but at the same time wine, which was to be given to the poor, was exempt from taxation.5
Regarding all these regulations on wine and the wine trade, one can state that the government had “a certain plan” in taking care of wine – a kind of “wine policy.” Thus, although officials existed in medieval Dubrovnik whose duty was to take care of wine and vineyards, the government wished to be in medias res. For example, in 1345, the Senate elected five wise men to modify existing regulations on wine and to take care of their implementation.6 This shows that the government really was concerned about the quantity of wine and its distribution within the city. Moreover, it shows care for the needs of all in-habitants of the town. Such regulations about the elections of wine officials – usually there were three of them – were not rare.7 The elected officials had to go through the city, visit taverns and private cellars, and investigate the quantity and quality of the wine. Their task was also to see to wine distribution within the city.
Sometimes, when there was not enough domestic wine because the wine from the previous vintage was already consumed, the government imported wine from abroad, even though such importation was basically prohibited.8 One of these cases is particularly interesting, for it shows how crucial wine was for everyday life. In June 1415, the Minor Council decided to import some wine from the Italian province of Marche, because of the insufficiency of wine in the city. For this they elected three patricians to go there, but a significant fact here was that the money for this purchase came from state funds which had been in-tended for grain acquisition.9 For the commune, grain was undoubtedly the most important staple because the regional production did not cover the daily need for it. For them wine came second, just after the concern about grain.10 But this decision shows that sometimes wine was considered as important as grain. It
4 One can easily find this out just from reading the preserved records of these discussions, kept in the Historical Archives in Dubrovnik in the series Acta consilii maioris, Acta con-silii minoris, Acta consilii rogatorum and Reformationes.
5 Liber omnium reformationum, Transcribed and edited by A. Solovljev, Zbornik za istoriju, jezik i književnost srpskog naroda, s. 3, vol. 6. (henceforth LOR); LOR, 16, c. 4.
6 Libri reformationum, Monumenta Spectancia Historiam Slavorum Medionalium, vols. 10; 13; 27; 28 (henceforth MSHSM); MSHSM, vol. 10, 179.
7 E.g. on 16 August 1349, Misse condam Zugni de Dersa, Jache de Menzio and Maroe Dyme de Menzio were elected as officiales vini. See MSHSM, vol. 13, 76.
8 E.g. see MSHSM, vol 10, 272; MSHSM, vol. 28, 20; Acta Consilii Minoris, Historical Ar-chives in Dubrovnik, vol. 1, fol. 29 (hereafter ACMin); ACMin, vol. 1, fol. 8.
9 ACMin, s. 5, vol. 1, fol. 29’.
10 Dušanka Dinić-Knežević, “Trgovina vinom u Dubrovniku u XIV veku” (The wine trade in Dubrovnik in the fourteenth century) Godišnjak Filozofskog fakulteta u Novom Sadu 9 (1966): 83.
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seems that the scarcity of wine in the city worried the government as much as the lack of grain.
Likewise, Dubrovnik’s authorities took care of the quality of wine. A good example of this is another decision of the Minor Council in 1415, where it is stated that the three wine officials, during their investigation, should create two separate lists: one of the good and another one of the bad/spoiled wine in the city. The punishment for hiding wine or giving false information about the quality of wine was 25 perpers.11
The government also took care of the quality of imported wine. For ex-ample, from one instruction we learn that 4000 quinqui of wine which would be imported from Ancona had to be of the best quality.12 The imported wine was then stored, and its distribution could begin only at the moment when the quan-tity of wine in the city was low. For example, on 3 June 1415, the Major Council decided that the wine which had been bought in Marche could be sold only when there was wine left in six city taverns only, and only if the quantity of this wine was less than 30 quinqui. Moreover, this communal wine could be sold only until 20 August.13 The probable reason for this limitation on sales was the Council’s assessment that, by this time, everyone would have bought enough wine to last until the next vintage, which would provide them with sufficient amounts of domestic wine. In the same way, in 1347, the same council decided that the communal imported wine might be sold (i.e. distributed) only if there was not enough domestic wine in the city, but not before 1 August.14
The sale of the communal wine could also be prescribed as far as quality and quantity was concerned. There are several examples of such regulations. On 27 September 1415, the Minor Council decided that the communal malmsey could be sold, but that no one could buy more than ½ quinqui.15 In the same way, on 17 June 1434, it was concluded that one half of the stored communal malmsey could be sold, but it is interesting to note that in the document it ex-plicitly states that it must be the worse half of the stored wine.16 Moreover, the next day wine officials were permitted to set the price and quantity of the wine with the tavern-owners, but in such a way that the quantity of wine to be sold should not be more than three-quarters of the entire communal wine store.17 It is clear that the government had a rational plan and that it took the problem of
11 ACMin, s. 5, vol. 1, fol. 28’.
12 MSHSM, vol. 28, 22-23; Quinquum (bucket) in medieval Dubrovnik was a measure for wine that contained approximately 21 l (quinquo grosso) or 18 ¾ l. (quinquo parvo). See Irmgard Mahnken, Dubrovački patricijat u XIV veku (Patricians of Dubrovnik in the four-teenth century) (Belgrade: Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, 1960), 105.
13 ACMai, s. 8, vol. 1, fol. 8.
14 MSHSM, vol. 10, 219.
15 ACMin, s. 5, vol. 1, fol. 41’.
16 ACMin, s. 5, vol. 6, 141’-142.
17 ACMin, s. 5, vol. 6, 142.
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wine distribution within the city very seriously. It seems that their principle was that under no circumstances should the city suffer from a scarcity of wine.
Therefore, it is not surprising that in the case of war or other disaster the government took care of all sustenance which was essential for normal daily consumption. Grain was, of course, the most important. Usually, in such circum-stances, they would have brought grain from the district into the city where it would be safe within the city walls. In 1402, just before the war with the Bos-nian King Ostoja, the government allowed all inhabitants of the peninsula of Pelješac (in the vicinity of Dubrovnik) to bring their wine to the fortress of Ston. However, the total quantity of the wine was not to exceed 1000 quinqui, for it would obstruct the defense of the fortress.18 One can find similar cases even in an earlier period: in 1378, during the war with Venice, the communal authorities prohibited any kind of wine storage in the district, ordering it to be brought into the city.19
The next example shows that their attitude towards wine was not just protection of their subjects’ property, but also reflects a general feeling about the value of wine. In 1402, the government negotiated with the local hinterland lord Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić, who was already at war with King Ostoja. The subject of the negotiations was Hrvoje’s request to hide his wine in Dubrovnik.20 Unfortunately, from the existing evidence it is not clear whether Hrvoje brought in his wine or not, but it is probable that he did not. The reason why I assume this is that the same record states that a patrician, Theodore de Prodanello, was supposed to be sent to Ostoja in order to discuss this question with him. In fact, it seems that the commune was afraid that if they responded positively to Hrvoje’s request, Ostoja would attack them. However, the result of the negotiation is not important. The significance of this document is that it shows that Dubrovnik’s communal authorities saw wine as a substantial commodity, which had to be protected during war.
When considering the importance of wine, an additional instance can be mentioned. On 3 June 1415, the Major Council decided to send some people to the Italian province of Marche. These envoys had to buy 2000 quinqui of vinum tribianum (white dry wine), for there was very little good wine in the city.21 But the interesting fact in this decision was the government’s explanation of this intended importation. They stated that wine was one of the first and most neces-sary things for the health of the human body (vna de principalioribus et necce-sarioribus rebus requisitis sanitati corporum humanorum). In the same way, some of Dubrovnik’s physicians maintained the healing effects of wine, and in this manner explained their requests for wine importation. Thus, in 1407, the physician Peter from Venice (magister Petrus Albertini de Camurata, phisicus
18 Reformationes, Historical Archives in Dubrovnik, s. 2, vol. 32, fol. 115 (henceforth Ref.).
19 MSHSM, vol. 28, 161.
20 Ref., s. 2, vol. 32, fol. 120.
21 ACMai, s.8, vol. 1, fol. 8.
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de Veneciis) received permission to import a smal quantity of malmsey because he needed it for the preparation of some medications.22 In 1455 another doctor stated, as the reason for his request to import wine, that this was essential for him to keep himself in good health and that otherwise he would not be able to do his job properly.23
However, such an attitude towards wine was by no means unique to Du-brovnik, for one can find similar examples in other parts of the Mediterranean region. For example, in the thirteenth century a Spanish physician, Arnoldus de Villanova, wrote a book on wine (Liber de Vinis), where he maintained that wine can have therapeutic effects.24 Even in the Bible it is shown that wine has healing powers.25
Perhaps the examples quoted from Dubrovnik are the most representative, for they show the nature of the Dubrovnik government’s attitude towards wine. They managed to incorporate their appreciation of wine within a traditional framework, but one should not forget that one of their motives was probably their own taste.
On the other hand, wine had also concrete economic value – it was im-portant merchandise and the government could receive a decent income from it. At the same time, sometimes wine was also considered a substitute for payment, or occasionally a substitute for a daily wage. For example, in 1378, the Senate of Dubrovnik ordered that all the workers who worked on the reconstruction of the town harbor of Pile should be given one tercerium of wine for each day of their work.26 Similarly, one can find such examples in other parts of Europe, but there wine was an addition to the daily wage.27 However, occasionally giving wine as a substitute for wages was prohibited. Such a case happened in the late fifteenth century, when the government forbade employers to pay their workers in wine.28 The reason for this was that employers often tried to cheat their employees, giving them low quality products instead of money.
22 Risto Jeremić and Jorjo Tadić, Prilozi za istoriju zdravstvene kulture starog Dubrovnika (Contributions for the historiy of the health culture in the old Dubrovnik) vol. 1 (Belgrade: Biblioteka Centralnog higijenskog zavoda, 1938), 24.
23 Ibidem, 34.
24 Helmut Hundsbichler, “Der Wein als Kulturaufgabe und als Kulturtäger im Mittelalter,” Studien und Forschungen aus dem Niederösterreichischen Institut für Landeskunde 13 (1990): 59 (henceforth Hundsbichler, “Der Wein als Kulturaufgabe”).
25 Luke 10:34.
26 MSHSM, vol. 28, 167. The measure called tercerium contained approximately 0.7 l., and this tercerium was the 24h part of the small quinquum (Milan Rešetar, Dubrovačka numiz-matika (Numismatics in Dubrovnik), vol. 1 (Sremski Karlovci: Srpska kraljevska akade-mija nauka i umetnosti, 1924), 94-100.
27Hundsbichler, “Der Wein als Kulturaufgabe,” 61.
28 Bariša Krekić, “Slike iz gradske svakodnevnice: prilozi proučavanju života u Dubrovniku u doba humanizma i renesanse,” (Images from urban daily life: contribution to the study of life in Dubrovnik at the time of humanism and the Renaissance) Anali Zavoda za povijesne znanosti Jugoslavenske akademije znanosti i umjetnosti u Dubrovniku 26 (1988): 8-9.
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However, as was suggested, wine could often be a substitute for (re)pay-ment in money. Many preserved private contracts of different kinds confirm this. For example, when the father of a bride did not have enough money to give his daughter a dowry, he often gave the right of usage of his vineyard to his fu-ture son-in-law, but only up to the moment when the son-in-law would obtain the pre-established amount of money from the wine produced from the vineyard. Similar arrangements can be found in wills, when the testator did not have enough money to repay all of his or her debts.29 Repaying debts with wine was quite frequent, as one can easily see in one of the archival series called Diversa cancellariae.30
Up to here economic and practical aspects of wine in late medieval Du-brovnik have been examined. However, usage of wine also had another side – besides this practical aspect, wine consummation inspired some to sing ballads below windows of their beloved or to pick up fights with passers-by. Thus, we have an example of Paskvo Marineli who often (under the influence of a few glasses of wine) disturbed the dreams of his favorite lady, Rosa.31 Others, like Bogoe Guercum monoculus, often made trouble when they were drunk. Once Bogoe beat tavern-keeper Stanka (Stancha tabernaria) because she would not give him wine on credit. Another other time he banged on someone’s doors, then forced the tenants to go out because he was convinced that it was his own house.32
Similarly, a number of criminal cases were caused mostly because the perpetrators were under the influence of too much wine. If we assume that peo-ple who visited taverns in medieval Dubrovnik, while they gambled and joked, often drank too much, it is not difficult to imagine what would be the “normal” result. A brawl or fight was the most common “answer” to any kind of unpleas-ant “question” or remark.33
However, one must admit that some of those attacks were obviously pre-meditated, such as the case in 1350 when Peter from Korčula (Petrus de Cruçola) immediately attacked tavern-keeper Slavoe after entering the tavern.34
29 E.g. Spisi dubrovačke kancelarije (Acts of Dubrovnik’s office), Tr. and ed. Josip Lučić, Monumenta Historica Ragusina, vol. 2; 3; 4., cc. 20, 225, 328, 335, 721, 1350.
30 E.g. see Ibid., cc. 124, 635, 1048, 1225.
31 Zdenka Janeković-Römer, “Post tertiam campanam – Dubrovački noćni život u srednjem vijeku,” (Post tertiam campanam – Night life in Dubrovnik in the Middle Ages) Otium 1, (1993): 10.s
32 Lamenta de intus et de foris. Historical Archives in Dubrovnik, 53, sv. 1, fol. 82, 83, 97.
33 See Gordan Ravančić, “In taberna quando erant – život u dubrovačkim krčmama prema kaznenim spisima 14. stoljeća” (In taberna quando errant – life in Dubrovnik’s taverns ac-cording to the criminal records from the fourteenth century), Anali Zavoda za povijesna is-traživanja u Dubrovniku 36 (1998): 33-44; Gordan Ravančić, “Crime in Taverns of Late Medieval Dubrovnik,” Medium Aevum Quotidianum 38 (1998): 31-45.
34 Liber de Maleficiis, Historical Archives in Dubrovnik (henceforth LM); LM, s. 50-1, vol. 10, fol. 117.
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On the other hand, this case is interesting also regarding emotions that could be stirred up by wine intoxication. Namely, from the testimonies of the witnesses (mostly from Peter’s testimony) it becomes clear that the night before the victim and the attacker had been drinking a great deal. On their way home, Slavoe started to tell jokes about Peter’s wife. At that time Peter laughed but in the morning he reconsidered the night before and realized that Slavoe had insulted his wife – of course then he felt that he had to defend his wife’s honor.
Another “crime” that criminal records witness, mostly caused by wine intoxication, were insults. The examples are rather interesting, for one can find there many everyday offences, such as tua mater est meretrix et magiça35 or tu es bastardus36 or filius meretricis.37 These forms of personal insult followed the pattern which could be found everywhere in Europe.38
On the other hand, wine also left some traces in the literature of late me-dieval and renaissance Dubrovnik. Unfortunately, in the literature written in Dubrovnik in this period one cannot find many examples. However, these com-bined with some wine-reflections in the Italian literature in the approximately same period can reveal some aspects and attitudes towards wine in this period.39
Here, as I do not want to discuss wine in Italian popular literature in too great detail, but to take just a few examples from the well-known collection of stories of the famous Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio – the Decameron.40 In this work wine is mentioned several times. I will note only three of them, which I think can also be indicative for medieval Dubrovnik. In the fourth story of the second day Boccaccio talks about a man, Landolfo Ruffolo, who after many adventures, ends up shipwrecked on an island. Then the lady who finds him gives him, in order to cure him, wine and cookies. As one can notice, a similar attitude – the therapeutic effect of wine – was already mentioned in the Du-brovnik Major Council regulation.41 In another place, the fifth story of the sec-
35 Your mother is a whore and a witch. LM, s. 50-1, vol. 4, fol. 210.
36 LM, s. 50-1, vol. 6, fol. 312.
37 [You are] a son of a whore. LM, s. 50-1, vol. 8, fol. 287.
38 Eva Österberg and Dag Lindström, Crime and Social Control in Medieval and Early Mod-ern Swedish Towns, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Historica Upsaliensia 152 (Up-psala: Almquist & Wiksell International, 1988), 107.
39 This parallel might not look overly reliable, but one must remember that Italian literature of the period was well known in Dubrovnik and that many poets from Dubrovnik imitated Petrarch. This sharing of culture is not surprising, if one recalls that both sides of the Adriatic had frequent and varied contacts throughout the entire Middle Ages (and later up to the present).
40 Boccaccio’s works found a good reception in medieval and early Renaissance Dubrovnik for we can find some reflections of his work in the poems of the first of Dubrovnik’s poets Šiško Menčetić and Džore Držić. Even the famous playwright of Dubrovnik, Marin Držić, imitated some of Boccaccio’s stories. See Frano Čale and Mate Zorić, postscript to Gio-vanni Boccaccio, Decameron i druga djela (The Decameron and other works) (Zagreb: Školska knjiga, 1964), 173.
41 See above (ACMai, s. 8, vol. 1, fol. 8.).
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ond day, wine is mentioned, again along with a cookie, as a meal which is given to an esteemed guest. The third example is from the second story of the sixth day, and it tells us about the baker Cisti who treated papal legates, in order to honor them, to his excellent white wine. Again, one can find here a similarity with a statutory regulation from Dubrovnik, according to which during the feast of Saint Blaise the rector of the city had to present two quinqui of white wine to the abbot of the Benedictine monastery on the island of Lokrum and to other clerics.42 Perhaps this can lead to the conclusion that the medieval men in Du-brovnik preferred white wine, but unfortunately there is not enough extant evi-dence to support such a statement. However, one can note that a similar investi-gation in Central Europe showed that it was believed that there red wine was healthier.43
Bearing in mind these attitudes towards wine, one can find some similar feelings about wine also in Dubrovnik. One of the first theorists of economy lived in late medieval Dubrovnik in the mid-fifteenth century – Beno Kotrul-jević (Benedetto Cotrugli), who wrote a book Della mercatura et del mercante perfetto (“About trade and a perfect merchant”).44 In this textbook for any mer-chant, Kotruljević tried to elaborate all aspects of a merchant’s personality and he gave a great deal of practical advice to future merchants on business and daily life. He describes a number of interesting examples, and in some of them he mentions wine. As wine is not the main topic of his consideration but just an illustration for some of his theories and ideas, I believe that one can rely on his opinion about wine, regarding it as a transmission of the public opinion about wine. Thus, Kotruljević thinks that a merchant should not drink too much wine in order to avoid shame and disgrace.45 Similarly, he believes that immoderation in drinking can provoke slowness of spirit, impotence and various other dis-eases.46 Likewise, in the chapters where he discusses a merchant’s family, Kotruljević insists on the sobriety of a merchant’s wife. He also states that wet nurses should be nicely built, honest, healthy, and above all, sober.47 Moreover, when speaking about a merchant’s wife, he gives the good example of Roman women, who never drink wine.48 Although it might seem that Kotruljević’s atti-tude towards wine is negative, it is not completely so because in other places he explicitly states that a merchant should have a vineyard from which to obtain
42 Statut grada Dubrovnika, (Statutes of the town of Dubrovnik) (Dubrovnik: Historijski arhiv Dubrovnik, 1990), lib. 1, c. 2.
43 Hundsbichler, “Der Wein als Kulturaufgabe,” 52.
44 For this article I have used the translation of Žarko Muljačić: Beno Kotruljević, O trgovini i savršenom trgovcu, ed. Rikard Radičević and Žarko Muljačić, Djela znanosti Hrvatske 1, (Zagreb: Jugoslavenski Akademija Znanosti i Umjetnosti, 1985), 117-240 (hereafter Kotruljević, O trgovini).
45 Kotruljević, O trgovini, 164-165.
46 Ibidem, 164-165, 205-206.
47 Ibidem, 225.
48 Ibidem, 219.
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wine for his consumption.49 Similarly, Kotruljević thinks that merchant’s house should have a cellar to store this wine from vineyard.50 Besides this, one should bear in mind that Kotruljević’s statement on how praiseworthy would be if women would not drink wine in fact means that daily practice was the quite op-posite (i.e. women in Dubrovnik drank wine).
A century later – in the second half of the sixteenth century – the phi-losopher and politician Nicola Vitov Gučetić (Nicola Viti de Gozze) lived and worked in Dubrovnik. In two of his works, Governo della Famiglia51 and Dis-corsi sopra la Metheore d’Aristotele,52 though he does not speak particularly of wine, one can find some telling remarks about this beverage. As is well known, these tracts were not written in the Middle Ages. However, we can assume that some common values – such as the attitude towards wine – do not change over long periods, or they undergo only slight modifications.53 Thus, I suggest that one can use Gozze’s work in this analysis, especially because in these tracts he is not discussing wine as his main topic, but uses wine as an example for his theses. It seems that he chose wine examples for wine was simply an unavoid-able phenomenon – a daily companion of mankind. Thus, since wine was not his main subject, one can suppose that Gozze was transmitting the common notion. Observing this in such a manner shows how much the cultural inheritance was (and still is) important in the Mediterranean environment in which Gozze was formed,
In Discorsi, Gozze tried, on the basis of the physical characteristics of wine, to determine its position in the metaphysical image of the world. Thus, he finds that wine has some attributes of water, for it can (among other things) congeal at low temperatures. Comparing wine with other similar “mixtures,” he puts it into the group of water and earth (where one can also find vinegar).54 On the other hand, he admits (following Galen’s ideas) that wine has a “hot nature” for it is not permissible to give it to persons having fever (Galeno ha mostrato che il vino sia di temperamento caldo, e perció si prohibisce nella febre…).55 But one can also connect this statement of Gozze’s with the fact that wine can stir up the emotions of the one who consumes it.
With these two statements Gozze committed a slight contradiction. Thereby he introduces the idea of the double nature of wine. In other words, he thinks that wine should be observed in two ways: 1. according to its essence (secondo la sua materia), and 2. according to its form (secondo la sua forma).
49 Ibidem, 228.
50 Ibidem, 211.
51 Nicola Vito de Gozze, Governo della Famiglia (Venice: Appresio Francesco Ziletti, 1589) (henceforth Gozze, Governo).
52 Nicola Vito de Gozze, Discorsi Sopra le Metheore d’Aristotele (Venice: Appresio France-sco Ziletti, 1584) (henceforth Gozze, Discorsi).
53 On this see Norbert Elias, The Civilizing Process (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000), passim.
54 Gozze, Discorsi, 137-137.
55 Ibidem, 137.
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Thus according to its essence, Gozze considers wine as watery, cold, and humid (di natura aqueso, freddo & humido); he thinks that such a way of thinking originated with Aristotle. On the other hand, according to Galen, wine can warm human blood (il vino veramente riscalda) and therefore Gozze connects it with cholera and fever.56
If one combines these “scientific” points of view of Gozze’s with his di-dactic thoughts and advice concerning the family, his words will reflect the eve-ryday life of one family from Dubrovnik. In Governo della Famiglia, discussing the education of children, Gozze considers that drinking – that is, drunkenness – stirs up lust, looseness of moral and causes damage to the head (bere sprona alla lussuria, offende il capo, fá le persone scandalose…).57 After this, he compares lack of moderation in drinking with gluttony and finds that guzzling is worse. In addition, Gozze thinks that moderation is always worthy of praise, and as an example he quotes Lycurgus’ law.58 Further examining the treatment of servants, he deals with the case when a family gets together around a table. In such circumstances, he thinks that there must not be too much wine on the table.59 Thus, one can easily notice that wine was usually served on such occa-sions, and, by the same token, one can easily understand Gozze’s opinion of wine and drinking.
However, putting together all his ideas about wine, one can conclude that Gozze appreciates wine as a good daily sustenance, but only if it is moderately used. Yet, if a person guzzles, he or she will be intoxicated, and that will lead to lust and inappropriate scenes. This is Gozze’s personal opinion, but if one keeps in mind the didactic purpose of his work and that he is not dealing with wine as his main topic, one can assume that he transmitted some common ideas about wine.
56 Ibidem, 138.
57 Gozze, Governo, 83-83.
58 Ibidem, 83.
59 Ibidem, 113.
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Inhaltsverzeichnis
The Public (in) Urban Space, II
Papers from the Daily Life-Strand
at the International Medieval Congress (Leeds, July 2003)
Edited by Judith Rasson and Gerhard Jaritz
Juhan Kreem, Between Public and Secret:
Town Archives and Historiographic Notes …………..………………… 5
Judit Majorossy. Archives of the Dead:
Administration of Last Wills in Medieval Hungarian Towns ……….. 13
Ingrid Matschinegg, Student Communities and Urban Authorities ………….. 29
Florence Fabijanec, L’influence des pouvoirs publics sur le commerce
et sur la vie des marchés urbains en Dalmatie (XIIIe-XIVe siècles) …… 37
Gordan Ravančić, Alcohol in Public Space:
The Example of Medieval Dubrovnik …………………………………. 53
Tom Pettitt, Moving Encounters: Choreographing Stage and Spectators
in Urban Theatre and Pageantry ……………………………………….. 63
Rezensionen ………………………………………………………………….. 94