Food Market and City in the Early Modern Age: A Debate Still Open?

Urban markets provide a privileged perspective for understanding the complexity of early modern European societies and remain a central topic in current historiographical debates. Far from being mere sites of economic exchange, food markets appear as regu--lated spaces shaped by customs and norms, where everyday practices, social relations, and political dynamics intersect. Recent scholarship, influenced by the cultural turn and microhistorical approaches, has broadened the analytical framework by highlighting markets as arenas of urban sociability, negotiation, and conflict, involving actors of dif--ferent social backgrounds and gender roles. At the same time, urban history has empha--sized the structuring role of markets in the development of cities, both in architectural terms and as generative principles of urban space. The control exercised by authorities over provisioning and prices endowed markets with a crucial political function, making them instruments of governance and legitimization of power. Positioned at the intersec--tion of economic, social, and institutional dimensions, the market thus emerges as a multidimensional and interdisciplinary phenomenon. Its study allows scholars to grasp the complex interactions between everyday practices, urban forms, and public policies, confirming the enduring relevance of an open and dynamic field of research.

Keywords: Urban Market, Urban Sociability, Public Space, Food Provisioning Poli--cies, Urban Governance.

Giannantonio Scaglione, Il mercato dei commestibili e la città in età moderna: un dibattito ancora aperto?* in "STORIA URBANA " 180/2025, pp 5-12, DOI: 10.3280/SU2025-180001