“Montagne terribilissime”. Migrazioni e demografia nella valle di Tesino in epoca moderna (secoli XVII–XVIII)

This paper focuses on Tesino, a valley in the alpine region of Trentino affected by a high rate of migration in the early modern era, mainly related to the itinerant trade in Europe of flintstones and prints. Impulses for these migration movements were limited natural resources and precarious economic conditions, as well as the concrete prospects for earnings from foreign trade. During the eighteenth century, however, the peddlers became heavily indebted to the printmakers from whom they purchased prints, which caused a marked deterioration in their general circumstances. The result was, on the one hand, an increase in mortality and, on the other hand, an increase in the number of people engaged in itinerant trade, because they were forced to try and restore family finances. Consequently, the demographic variables in Tesino did not play a pivotal role in migration patterns, but the activities undertaken during migration certainly did have a strong impact on local demographics.