PALAFANGUERS. LOS ESPECIALISTAS DEL DRENAJE AGRÍCOLA MEDIEVAL EN HUMEDALES MEDITERRÁNEOS IBÉRICOS.

The palafanguers had the responsibility of establishing and maintaining agricultural drainage networks in Valencia and other Iberian Mediterranean areas since the 13th century. Most of them came from the kingdom of France and other regions where the spade was the agricultural tool par excellence, and where the transformation of wetlands was of greater magnitude and complexity than in the Mediterranean environment. The development of qualifications among these professionals, from the 15th century onwards, generated an internal differentiation from which emerged those who were recognised as masters. The migratory dynamic, favoured by the discontinuity of local demand, seems to have played an important role in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]