Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.21857/m16wjcp5v9
Merchants from Marche and Their Activities in Dubrovnik in the Sixteenth Century
Marco Moroni
Sažetak
As natural allies against Venetian supremacy in the Adriatic, Dubrovnik and Ancona had developed trade relations from medieval times. They reached their heyday in the sixteenth century, after the weakening of Venice under papal pressure and defeat in the battle of Agnadello, but also the Ottoman expansion in the Balkans and Hungarian downfall. By taking control of the Balkan trade, under special tributary terms with the Ottomans, Ragusans enjoyed most favourable privileges. The merchants of Ancona, whose port welcomed Ragusan ships laden with goods from the Balkans and the Levant, were attracted by the trade prospects across the Adriatic. Migration routes between the two Adriatic shores intensifi ed. Archival sources from as early as the fi fteenth century provide data on merchants from the Marche region with residence in Dubrovnik, from which they found it easier to manage their affairs in the Levant. At the same time, the Ragusans opened a consulate in Pesaro, a city from which, together with Ancona and Fermo, came the majority of Marche merchants. Besides trade, archive series Debiti di Notaria and Noli e Sicurtà of the State Archives in Dubrovnik testify to other business dealings undertaken by foreigners from the region of Marche in Dubrovnik, such as credit and insurance activities. Thus it comes as no surprise that these circumstances proved fertile ground for personal relations: Cvijeta Zuzorić, famous Ragusan poetess, spent many years in Ancona with her family, while the writer Michele Gabrieli alias Monaldi, originally from Prato, was highly esteemed by the Ragusan philosopher Nikola Vitov Gozze, who chose him as collocutor in his Discorsi sopra le Metheore d’Aristotile, published in Venice in 1584. Among many distinguished persons who arrived in Dubrovnik from the region of Marche in this period was Girolamo Matteucci, Archbishop of Dubrovnik from 1579 to 1583, and his cousin, Saporoso Matteucci, who acted as the “general of the armsˮ of the Dubrovnik Republic from 1570 to 1577. A name also worthy of mention is Ciriaco Gualterucci, who, upon the prompting of Ragusan merchants in Belgrade, supplied the Serbian market with liturgical books. Although the business relations between Dubrovnik and the cities of the region of Marche developed to mutual satisfaction, the Ragusans managed to protect their monopoly by keeping the ambitious outsiders from the other shore of the Adriatic as partners in smaller merchant ventures, and thus represented no threat to the Ragusan leading business position.
Ključne riječi
Ancona; Pesaro; Fermo; province Marche; Dubrovnik; Balkans; trade; fi nances; 16th century
Hrčak ID:
181193
URI
Datum izdavanja:
10.5.2017.
Posjeta: 1.628 *