This book examines the development of social support systems in the rural areas of the city-states of Northern Italy in the Early Modern Period. This investigation achieves two main purposes: first, it allows researchers to understand the concrete role of welfare and micro-credit activities in the political and socio-economic panorama of rural Northern Italy; secondly, it verifies to what extent the formation of a structured support system influenced the establishment of local identity and the rooting of individuals. The book brings together perspectives from different fields of research ranging from economic and political history to the history of ecclesiastical institutions and incorporates recent research on the anthropological value of welfare actions and the use of multiple historical sources. An understanding of the dynamics informing social support to combat indigence and poverty in the Ancien Régime also provides critical perspective on the retreat of State welfare activity, depopulation of rural areas, and the spread of poverty into previously unaffected segments of society we are witnessing today. It will certainly be of interest to academics and students working in economic and social history. weiterlesen