Calamities and the Economy in Renaissance Italy The Grand Tour of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Italy faced a number of catastrophes in the long sixteenth century. This economic and demographic history follows the consequences of these catastrophes - the action of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse - War, Famine and Plague, all followed by Death. Guido Alfani considers the short-term effects of the calamities affecting Renaissance Italy as well as the impact they had, in the medium- and long-term, on the general economic and demographic trend of the peninsula. The calamities are shown to be not only the source of destruction, but also the cause of a significant redistribution of population and wealth; in other words, they produced winners as well as losers. This overall picture of the economic conditions of Italy in the late Renaissance challenges the received wisdom that suggests, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Italian economy was still healthy, innovating and dynamic.

Guido Alfani is Associate Professor at Bocconi University, Italy, and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow, UK. He is chief editor of the journal Popolazione e Storia. An economic and social historian and an historical demographer, he published extensively on Early Modern Italy, specialising in social alliance systems (particularly godparenthood), in the history of epidemics and famines, and in economic inequality.

Introduction
1. War
2. Famine
3. Plague
4. Winners and Losers
5. Population and the Economy: Underlying Trends
Conclusion: Towards the Seventeenth Century
Appendix
Bibliography
Index