Transhumance. Welcome to Masseria Canestrello, Apulia

Transhumance page 2

"To be a shepherd or a tax-collector was the destiny of the men in our parts of the land."

A stop along the route

The owners of big flocks from Abruzzo were in fact obliged to transfer their flocks to the plains. To make it more appealing and easier to reach the plains the routes that started in Abruzzo and lead to the Tavoliere were rendered safer to cross. Rules were set to ensure the concession of grazing grounds and compensations given when incidents occurred during the transhumance. Besides, at regular intervals resting places were set up where the shepherds could stop and get bread and a share of salt for every sheep of the flock. The Tavoliere was divided in a series of grazing places- "locazioni", to be rented out to the owners of the sheep - "locati".

Tracks and "locations"

To obtain permission to use the grazing grounds and other services the owners of the flocks were obliged to pay a Royal Fee.
Besides they had to sell all their products in Foggia, seat of the Customs Office: wool, lambs, goats, cheese. The Fair which started every 8th of May and which could last even until the end of August, was frequented by numerous buyers sometimes even French and English.
The aim of this device was to produce a strong and constant revenue for the Crown. Every flock was granted a grazing ground proportionate to the number of sheep and to the quality of the terrain. Every location was in turn subdivided in parts, each of which
had to sustain a certain number of sheep. The "fida" was the tax to be paid.
At the boundary lines of the territory including the locations there were the resting spots, three extensive areas where the flocks would stop until their final destination was determined.
The landscape of this vast zone in South Italy, due to the presence of grazing grounds and the passage of transhumance with all its various services, is marked by these distinct characteristics, so different from any other part of Italy.

A shepherds' field with a boiler

Only very small parts of this territory were cultivated, and these in turn were also subject to very precise provisions:
The Royal Court together with the Barons, Church Institutions and private owners signed perpetual contracts by which it was agreed that the flocks of the shepherds coming from Abruzzo could make use of their lands as of the 29th os September until the 8th of May. Some areas were excluded and reserved for the sole use of the owners who to sow their products and to graze the oxen used for ploughing the land and the other animals employed in the fields.

After Alphonse I of Aragon and until Charles V of Habsburg became king of Spain and Naples, there was a lot of confusion and disorder in the management of the Customs concerning the sheep due to the endless succession of short-lived rulers and viceroys.
Barons and farmkeepers, taking advantage of the lack of control from the central power, unlawfully took possession of extensive areas declaring them their own property. Since most of the fields were repetitively used as grazing grounds they were.

"La Dogana", the Sheep Customs office in Foggia exercised the tax control on the transhumance not only on the territories of royal property but also on those belonging to the Feudataries, to the Holy Institutions and to the Universities.
On these lands appropriate buildings were constructed for the shepherds to help them in their work of sheep raising and the production of cheese - these were called jazzi.
The jazzi were enclosed by a fence and subdivided into compartments. The stables were made of stone and covered either with bricks or wood. These constructions were also used as dwelling-places for the shepherds and close to the big fire-places that were here installed the shepherds would make milk and cheese.

Almost always the Jazzi were provided with a milker. This space which was allotted to the milking of the sheep, was generally a quadrangular construction, not very big and with two communicating openings opposite each other, and with a circular fence outside it.
The grazing fields in Puglia were divided into twentythree locations:Lesina, Apricena, Arignano, Sant’Andrea,Jazzo.

The transfer of the flocks started every year on the 15th of October and took place on the tracks which can be compared to a series of green grassy arteries. These tracks had standard measurements of 111.60 metres, wide enough to allow the sheep to graze as they moved aling. The tracks were a network and linked to other smaller side tracks. Along the routes the shepherds had some resting spots where they could stop and rest on their way.

In 1806, Joseph Bonaparte passed a law by which the lands of the Tavoliere were freed from any obligation. That Act determined the gradual but definite decline during the XIXth century, of the sheep industry. This was also determined by a series of laws passed by the Italian Parliament which annulled the old rights and privileges.

Between the 1800s and the 1900s cultivated land predominated over grazing grounds and transhumance, regulated by the laws of the state, has given way to a private agreement between shepherds and landowners. Today, if shepherds need to move their sheep it is more convenient to load the flocks on trucks.

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