The Italian sea republics were State-dependent cities That In the centuries of the Middle Ages they acquired prosperity thanks to trade on the sea and in some cases they became military powers prominent. Generally they consider themselves as a marine republics those of Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa and Venice, but they can also be added to the list Gaeta, Ancona, Noli and Ragusa (today in Croatia); despite having some common characteristics, they flourished in different moments and had different commercial and military expansions: The most long -lived were those of Genoa, Venice and Ragusa, which remained independent until the end of the eighteenth/early nineteenth century.
What were the Italian sea republics
The Marine republics They were autonomous city-state that developed in the Italian peninsula and in Dalmatia during the Middle Ages. Some of them preserved the own independence also in the modern age. According to the historical tradition consolidated in the early 1900s, the four main marine republics are as follows:
- Amalfi (today in the province of Salerno), had a white octagonal cross as a symbol in the blue field
- Pisa – White Pometted Cross in the red field
- Genoa – Red Cross of S. Giorgio in White field
- Venice – Golden Lion of S. Marco
To them can be added four other republics, existed for more or less long periods:
- Gaeta (today in the province of Latina)
- Noli (today in the province of Savona)
- Ancona
- Ragusa (today Dubrovnik, Croatia)
The characteristics of the marine republics
Despite profound differences, the sea republics had some elements in common: first of all they were independent cities-state and, at least in fact, they were not subject to any external power; In addition, they were united by the fact of baseing their prosperity on trade. Their mercantile activities made it possible to introduce in Europe goods from the eastern Mediterranean: both assets produced in the Byzantine Empire, and products from the Far East through the Silk Road. Among the goods that the seafaring republics traded the spices (pepper, nutmeg, saffron, etc.), the fabrics (silk, hemp, velvet, rugs), luxury goods (porcelain, precious stones, coral), perfumes (incense, gray amber), dyes (indigo, carminio, etc.) and much more.
Generally, the sea republics were governed by one mercantile oligarchywhich managed power in judiciary (for example, the Greater advice in Venice). They owned a fleet of merchant ships and often had them representatives in many ports of the Mediterranean. They used one own coinlike the Tarì of Amalfi and the Duchy and the Zecchino of Venice, which were accepted throughout the Mediterranean. In addition, they were equipped for the maritime war and some of them, like Venice, became a leading military powers.
The sea republics made a great contribution to the development of navigation. For example, the Amalfitans improved the compass And they facilitated its diffusion (although it is not true, as it was believed in the past, that the compass had been invented by an Amalfitano, Flavio Gioiawho never existed); The Venetians significantly progressively progressively introduced by introducing the big galleya ship designed for trade and larger size than the galleys used for war. There were also very significant progress in the cartography. Almost all the sea republics participated in the crusades, who made their businesses easier with the East.
The differences between the sea republics: Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa and Venice
The sea republics were very different from each other. First of all, They flourished at different times: Amalfi reached his maximum splendor in the 10th century and later his fortunes began to decline, to the point that in the XII century he lost independence and was incorporated into the kingdom of Naples. The fate of Gaeta was similar. Noli acted as a Republic only between the ‘200 and the’ 400 and was formally subject to Genoa; Pisa lost independence in the 400 and Ancona, which emerged around the year 1000, in the 16th century. Genoa, Ragusa and Venice, active since the Middle Ages, remained independent until the end of the eighteenth century, but in the modern age they lost the prosperity they had enjoyed in the past.
The level of expansion of the republics was also very heterogeneous. Pisa, Genoa and Venice conquered vast territories far from urban centers and both Genoa and Venice occupied a vast portion of their hinterland; between the two theVenetian expansion It was the most pronounced: the city conquered a territory including all Veneto, part of Lombardy, Trentino and Friuli, in addition to the Dalmatian coast and various other Mediterranean territories.
The decline
The decline of the sea republics took place at different times but from the end of the Middle Ages they all lost the role they had played until then. More specifically Venice, Genoa and Ragusa retained autonomybut their importance began to diminish. In fact, between the ‘400 and the 16th century the geographical discoveries revolutionized the commercial routes, moving the axis From the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. The sea republics had no basis on the Atlantic and were not equipped for ocean navigation; In the Mediterranean, moreover, they had to face a new military and commercial power, theOttoman Empirewhich in the 16th century reached the maximum degree of development and subtracted many territories from the still existing sea republics. Their prosperity thus began to decline and in the span of some centuries they all lost autonomy: in 1797 Genoa and Venice were incorporated respectively in the Kingdom of Sardinia and in the Empire of Austria; Ragusa in 1808 will be part of the Napoleonic Empire, to move on to Austria in 1815.
The legacy and memory of the marine republics
The concept of “marine republics” emerged only in the nineteenth century, when the cities-states had lost independence. The scholar who introduced the expression that today identifies them was the Geneva Jean Charles Léonard Simonde de Sismondi (also known as Simondo Sismondi) in a work of 1807. When the cities-state were independent, none of them explicitly qualified as “marine republic”.
Originally, the concept of “marine republic” had negative value, because it served to underline the rivalry existing between cities. However, after the unification of Italy, the history of the republics was re -evaluated in a positive and at the beginning of the twentieth century, thanks to the publication of some historical works, theList of the four “canonical” republics. Today the memory of the glorious past in the city events remains: since 1955 Amalfi, Venice, Genoa and Pisa have established the Historic Regattaa rowing competition, preceded by a historical procession, which is held every year in rotation in the waters of the four cities.
