Centro o periferia? Schio e la Pedemontana vicentina tra medioevo ed età moderna (XV-XVIII sec.)

The paper aims at observing the development of the manufacturing sector in Schio (especially wool and silk manufacturing) on the long run. It will be based mainly on the enumeration and description of the productive structures in the estimi (fiscal surveys) produced by the local authorities. We will also outline the characteristics of some economic players between sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, underlying the fields of investment and the connections with the urban families. The particularity of the case study will allow us to discuss the concept of economic “periphery” and “centre” – the latest often identified with the cities, where capitals, know-how and innovations were gathered. The case study of Schio shows the complexity of such definitions and, mainly, the importance of focusing on the networks and of the relationships between various areas and players.