The impact of floods and extreme rain events in northern Italy, ca. 1300-1800

Extreme meteorological events, and particularly floods, have been much used by paleo-climatic studies as a possible indicator of long-term climate change. In its turn, climate change has been considered by some recent works of economic history as one of the factors able to shape long-term economic development. The first section of this chapter focuses on floods, proposing a comparative chronology of those occurring in northern Italy in the period ca. 1300-1800 based on the currently available information. First, the chronology is analyzed in the light of the recent literature on long-term climatic change. Secondly, a general discussion of the economic and demographic impact of floods is proposed. The second section focuses on other extreme meteorological events. It provides a brief overview of the connection between these events and famines, and later it focuses on less well-known aspects. In particular, new archival information about the Sabaudian State in northwestern Italy is used to measure the damage to the public finances that some of these events could cause.