Los enemigos del campesino. La lucha contra el lobo y otras "alimañas" nocivas para la agricultura en la Galicia de la Edad Moderna

Abstract

During the Ancien Régime everyday life for Galician farmers not only consisted in cultivating lands and raising cattle with the limitations of the terrain and the arbitrariness of the elements, or coping with  illness among their livestock or increasing the productivity of their land; they also had to defend themselves againts a whole range of harmful animals natural enemies which were, to a greater or lesser extent, responsible for ruining their harvests and weakening their flock. From small insects and rodents to larger animals (wild pigs, wolves and bears) these were the declared enemy of the farmers for they destroyed harvests and killed domestic animals. The aim of this study is to offer a glimpse at the age-long struggle of Galician farmers against their natural enemies; a struggle which, at times, became absolutely essential during the Modern Age in order to guarantee the continuinity of their farms and secure the subsistence of their families.