Women and Rural Property in Medieval Bologna: Preliminary Evidence from Fiscal Sources

Women’s roles in medieval economies are often difficult to trace, as their activities were inconsistently recorded in historical sources. While scholars have long acknowledged the likelihood of female participation, concrete evidence remains limited and fragmented. This article presents a unique case study of women landowners in late thirteenth-century Bologna, focusing on rural property through the lens of tax returns (known as estimi), which record a number of tax returns filed by women. We present a sample of women’s properties, demonstrating how to analyse these records, and what types of information they yield. We deepen the study of these properties by 1) mapping the locations of properties in GIS; and 2) integrating this information with modern soil data to evaluate the relationship between land use, estimated land value and soil characteristics. With this spatial analysis, we find that properties located on soil most suited for agriculture were valued higher. In this way, the article makes contributions not only on gender and economic practices but also on the structure of landed estates and land use in the Bolognese contado, and in this way contributes to the broader environmental history of this period.