LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND ARBITRATORS ON THE "MOUNTAIN PEAK". TERRITORY, SOCIETY, AND INSTITUTIONS IN VAL BELLUNA DURING THE 17TH CENTURY

The aim of this paper is to show the role of local arbitrators and the use of more veneto arbitration in disputes concerning common goods. Using primary sources of Venice and Belluno, this article studies the link between society, environment and institutions in the use of the commons in early modern age. This study presents a case study regarding a trial between some villages of Belluno's district. The core of this lawsuit was the use of pastures and forests on the Toc Mountain. This lawsuit was managed by arbitrators and mediators (third parties), expressions of local government of these territories, and it was useful to redefine the boundaries between Belluno's and Friuli's jurisdictions. These judgments also influenced the following definition of the cadastres of the common goods.