Water-power in pre-industrial Veneto. Management and transformation of hydraulic energy through the archives of the Venetian magistrate of the “Provveditori sopra i Beni Inculti”

In the Venetian state, the relationship between energy, technology, and politics underwent significant changes in the mid-16th century, when the State assumed control over water resources and established a special magistracy, the Provveditori sopra i Beni Inculti (Superintendents of uncultivated lands) to oversee their utilisation and grant their rights of use. This article provides an overview of the magistracy’s functions and its archives. The aim is, firstly, to analyse their role as a source for the assessment of the use of water power in the Venetian mainland state in the medium and long term, from the Renaissance to the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797. Secondly, to highlight the potential of this archival material for the study of water as a (proto-) industrial resource in one of the most advanced manufacturing areas of pre-industrial Italy.