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The ‘backbone’ of the Serenissima: Venice and the trade with the Holy Roman... 625

was lifted temporarily in 1646 due to the war with the Ottoman Em-
pire. In 1671, two years after the end of the Candian War, this was
completely lifted, presumably as the old prohibition was no longer ten-
able after a quarter century of legal trade . Important too was an in-
34
terpretation of “Germans”, who could gain access to this nation in
Venice with all its privileges that strongly helped the merchants of the
Southern German imperial cities. With the help of their home cities
and towns, these merchants – practically all Lutheran Protestants –
were able to exclude Reformed Swiss and Lutheran North German
merchants from the privileges of the Fondaco around 1650/60 and to
keep the privileges of Italian-speaking imperial subjects from the Tren-
tino a bit less nuanced than they were for themselves .
35
Thus, the German nation in Venice, in theory, had a solid standing
around 1670. Its privileges were substantial and against these stood only
the obligation that their trading operations had to take place in the capital
and not in the Terraferma. Furthermore, they could only sell their prod-
ucts via official brokers, called sensali. With these obligations for the Ger-
mans, the Venetian state saw its core wishes heeded. Trade was centred
on the Dominante and remained there under supervision of the state .
36
Smuggling was for the German guests unattractive, as these had too
much to lose in such a privileged position .
37
Despite such a convenient system of mutual benefit, the situation
of the German nation in the third quarter of the 17 century was crit-
th
ical. The principal reason for this was the generally difficult circum-
stances for long-distance trade along the alpine routes. The German
merchants in Venice, as a group that was principally earning its
wealth via long distance trade towards Central Europe, were particu-
larly exposed to the competition with Dutch and English shipping to
and from the Mediterranean. There were some further complications
as well. Despite being principally privileged in the customs system,
they were at a disadvantage for some products. The value of mirrors,

34 From this time onwards at the latest, the Venetians also received formal permission to
trade in Germany as well. See: M. Ressel, Protestantische Händlernetze cit., p. 241.
35 On the privileges of the Germans in Venice in detail: ibidem, pp. 243-280.
36 On the sensali in regard to the German nation in Venice, see: J.F. LeBret,
Staatsgeschichte der Republik Venedig […], Vol. 1, Hartknoch, Leipzig, Riga 1769, pp.
626-627; H. Simonsfeld, Der Fondaco, pp. 23-28.
37 This does not contradict the fact of heavy smuggling in Venice, which is sufficiently
confirmed by attentive contemporary witnesses: B. Hendrich, Ein Wirtschaftsbild Gen-
uas-Venedigs-Livornos um die Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts nach den Reiseschilderungen
des Grafen Karl von Zinzendorf [unpublished PhD-Ms., Univ. Vienna], Vienna, 1964, 125.
However, for the German guests in Venice, smuggling was very difficult as they could
only enjoy their substantial privileges if the trade went via the Fondaco and was there
constantly controlled by the Visdomini del Fontego. As the privileges were very attractive,
smuggling made for the Germans economically hardly any sense.

Mediterranea – ricerche storiche – Anno XIX – Dicembre 2022
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)