Page 220 - Mediterranea-ricerche storiche, n. 48, aprile 2020flip

220 Beatrice Zucca Micheletto

His strong connections with the Ospedale di Carità are testified also
by the fact that he was a tenant in a property of the institution, in the
central parish of San Giovanni, where he lived with his family. Notarial
deeds show that his business was successful and he could enjoy
wealth and social prestige. In November 1744, having become
widower, he celebrated his second marriage with Miss Francesca
Cristina Pola, a woman belonging to an eminent family hailing from
the city of Asti. Cristina's brother and her paternal uncle were both
members of the local clergy. In addition, Cristina brought into the
marriage a sizeable dowry of 1500 lire. Another evidence of Cornelio's
successful career – or, at least, the position of social prestige he
acquired – is the hefty dowry he was able to convey to his first daughter
Ottavia. In January 1727 the girl received 4000 lire and a trousseau
in cash and goods estimated more than 1600 lire.
A further step in Cornelio's path towards integration was achieved
when, in September 1726, he was granted Turinese citizenship. At the
beginning of the eighteenth century, citizenship, which was awarded
by the city under the supervision of the king, was imbued less with an
economic or political meaning than a symbolic value. The municipality
motivated this concession on account of Cornelio’s economic success,
his effort to give employment to the poor and ‘other good and valuable
qualities and virtues’. Thus citizenship was a further acknowledge-
ment of the entrepreneur’s integration in the local community and his
link with the public powers .
54
The marriage of Cornelio's daughter Ottavia with Gio Batta
Iachasselli falls within this same perspective. Gio Batta belonged to an
important family of Turinese merchants and in 1759 he was appointed
capitano di quartiere of the neighbourhood (isola) of San Federico. The
capitano was an officer, supposed to regularly visit all the households
in the neighbourhood under his supervision and to report suspicious
persons and occurrences. He was also expected to pacify altercations
and intervene in case of violence in the streets or in private house-
holds. The post was on a volunteering basis but despite this entailed
no remuneration, in addition to respectability and reputation, he and
his family benefited from fiscal exemptions and other privileges. He
also had the right to bear arms, could not be pursued for debts and
was exempted from guard service to which all other male inhabitants
were subjected . Ultimately, the case of Cornelio Wanderkrik is
55
representative of a specific pattern that concerned many other foreign
entrepreneurs who were able to enter the system of charity

54 Asct, Coll. I, vol. 296, ff. 104r-v.
55 Ast, I sez., Materie economiche, Vicariato, m. 2, II add., fasc. 10, Viglietto di SM.

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XVII - Aprile 2020
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)