Ragusan trade diaspora and the commerce of grain in sixteenth century: A network-institutional approach

Abstract

During the sixteenth century, small diasporic communities of businessmen of Ragusa Republic settled in some Mediterranean ports. These communities were made up of commercial agents, merchants and seamen who, using the detailed information system of the motherland and relying on the Republic’s fleet, were engaged in the trade of grain. This study expands previous analysis of Mediterranean Ragusan trade considering it as a trade network diaspora and investigating it in this perspective. In particular, using a network-institutional approach, the role of the Ragusan diaspora in grain trade has been analysed as an instrument of diffusion of the merchant practices in commerce, shipping and finance which have thus become as a cultural heritage of the Ragusa society. The environmental and social pressures conditioned the activity of the merchants and shaped its role as mediators of social capital in support of the economic activity of the motherland.

Keywords:

• Ragusa
• Dubrovnik
• grain trade
• diasporic trade
• network-institutional perspective
• early modern age
• diaspora
• multiple embeddedness
• social capital
• isomorphism
• network

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dario Dell’Osa is Assistant Professor in Economic History at the Department of Economics and Finance, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”. His research primarily focuses on Economic History of the Mediterranean countries between the 16th century and the first half of the 19th century. He is author of papers on rural history and on maritime history. He also studied the commercial and financial relations between the two shores of the Adriatic Sea in the 16th century, with particular emphasis on the role played by the Republic of Ragusa.

Stella Lippolis is Assistant Professor in Accounting and Management at the Ionian Department of Law, Economics and Environment, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”. Her research interests include: the development of accounting and business practices in Mediterranean area in the modern age; the consequences of digital transformations on accounting information systems. She is also the author of studies on corporate governance, specifically, on the nature of the relationship, linking corporate governance structures to the quality of financial information.

Notes

1 Until 1526 Ragusa paid an annual tribute also to the Kingdom of Hungary. For an in-depth analysis on the amount of taxes Ragusa paid to the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, see Bojović (2003) and Miović (2013).

2 On the international legal status of the Republic of Ragusa, and its diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire and the great European powers see also the works of Inalcik (1973), Mitić (1988, p. 101), Stulli (2001, p. 273), Harris (2003), Faroqhi (2007, p. 89) and Kunčević (2013).

3 The term ‘Levantine’ is used here only in the geographical sense, to identify goods and people coming from the eastern Mediterranean considering, in particular, the areas currently occupied by Greece, Turkey, Syria, Palestine and Egypt. For a broader examination of the Levantine concept, see the volume of Rothman (2012, p. 211).

4 The term ‘diaspora’ is used in the historiography with reference to the three classical diasporas, of the Armenians, Greeks and Jews, but it can be also considered an ‘umbrella’ definition (Alexander, 2017; Baghdiantz McCabe et al., 2005; Brubaker, 2005; Elo & Minto-Coy, 2019), which can refer to ‘wider categories which reflect processes of politically motivated uprooting and moving of populations, voluntary migration, global communications and transport’ (Shuval, 2000, p. 42). In defining the concept of diaspora see also the works of Sheffer (1986, 2003), Safran (1991), Clifford (1994) and Trivellato (2009).

5 According to Monge and Muchnik (2019, p. 256) the paradox of the relations between the diasporas and the sources of political power of whatever kind (monarchical, municipal, ecclesiastical, etc.), is therefore both at the origin of the diaspora and at the heart of the reception, of its temporality, its geography, and its modalities.

6 The merchant Stefano Radognich, for example, lived many years in Messina and on his death, in 1587, left sums of money to religious institutions of this city. Državni Arhiv u Dubrovniku (State Archives in Dubrovnik, from now on D.A.D.), X, Testamenta Notariae, v. 47, c. 266.

7 Recent studies on the city of Ancona show that in the first half of the 17th century, and therefore in a period of economic crisis, some Ragusan merchants implemented a strategy for greater integration. This is the case, for example, of Giovanni Sturanovich (Sturani) who moved to the city for business, then in 1630 married a woman of Ragusan origin, and he was later included in the patriciate of Ancona becoming one of the leading exponents of the landowning aristocracy (Galeazzi, 2009). A similar story concerns the Gondola family that has been permanently integrated in the city of Ancona after 1624 since the third generation (Niccoli, 2004, p. 52).

8 In some cases, the Ragusan merchants took the citizenship of the Italian cities in which they were operating; this practice was mainly due to the need to take advantage from tax, customs, and duty benefits, and then it could be primarily aimed at doing their business rather than at actively participating in the political life of the city (Del Bo, 2014; Zannini, 2009, pp. 23 and 113). This is the case, for example, of the Ragusan Benedetto Gondola who assumed the Ancona citizenship in 1553 together with other foreign merchants (Paci et al., 1982, p. 631).

9 For this reason, the Ragusan colony had to leave Venice in 1484 due to the increased duties on the Ragusan goods that landed in Venetian ports (Appendini, 1802, I, p. 308).

10 In 1602 the island of Lastovo rebelled against Ragusa acknowledging Venetian sovereignty and was occupied by the Venetians until 1606. The intervention of Ragusan diplomacy in the most important European courts and the help of the Porte, managed to bring Lastovo back under the control of the Republic (Madunić, 2013, p. 342).

11 Coercive isomorphism ‘results from both formal and informal pressures exerted on organizations by other organizations upon which they are dependent and by cultural expectations in the society within which organizations function’ (Dimaggio & Powell, 1983, p. 150). These common legal environmental pressures are not the object of investigation in this study.

12 The concept of praxis contains a twofold value: reflective, which implies the search for alternatives to existing social schemes, and active, which implies action aimed at modifying the existing order perceived as not compliant with the needs and interests of the actors (Seo & Creed, 2002).

13 Human capital consists of explicit knowledge, gained in educational centres, and implicit knowledge, gained thanks to individual experience in a specific field (Discua Cruz & Cerrato Sabillon, 2019; Polanyi, 1962).

14 D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 7/a, Ledger by Tommaso and Vincenzo Stefani Skocibuha (1555-1572); D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 10/a, Book of testamentary executors of Giovanni Sigismondo de Giorgi; D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 31 and 38, Ledger and Journal by Stefano di Polo Radognich (1585-1587); D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 32, Journal by Vincenzo Stefani Skocibuha (1585-1588); D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 42, Book of creditors and debtors of Michele Miossa in Venice (1581-1586); D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 44/c, Book of creditors and debtors of Martolo de Giorgi in Venice (1880-1584).

15 See for example the accounting records of three voyages made by Stefani’s firm in the Levant for charging grain in 1555 D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 7/a, cc. 61, 64, 66; three voyages made by Stefani’s firm with grain by Levant to Sicily, and by Sicily to Longhorn, D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 7/a, 94, 103, 111.

16 See, for example, D.A.D., XXVII.1, Litterae et Commissionis Levantis, v. 30, cc. 3 and 26.

17 The size of the Ragusan ships was measured in carri of the size of Naples. The carro is a measure of volume: 1 carro = 23 venetian staia = 7,2 salme = 1,991.5 liters. A carro of grain is about 1,600 kg (Fenicia, 2003, p. XIV).

18 In the logbook of medium Ragusan ship it can be seen that about the fifth of whole expenses for the armament were incurred for the purchase and maintenance of artillery pieces D.A.D., LVI.2, Noli et securitate, 1, cc. 1-4. On this topic see also Sagri (1571, c. 63).

19 When, in April 1580, the Viceroy of Naples had to find ships to transport men and supplies to the Iberian Peninsula for the annexation of Portugal, in the port of the city there were six boats, five of which were Ragusans and three of these arrived in Naples with load of grain from Barletta (Fenicia, 2003, p. 92).

20 After 1563 in the ledgers of the Stefani company (D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 7/a, and 32) there are no more accounts related to voyages in the Levant for the supply of grain, instead the voyages from Apulia and Sicily towards the ports of the Tyrrhenian Sea were intensified.

21 From the logbook of the Ragusan ship Santa Maria Maddalena we learn that this medium-sized ship in 1579 made two voyages with grain from Manfredonia and Barletta to Neaples lasting about a month. In 1581 the same ship made two voyages with loads of grain from Sicily to Genoa, the first in 72 days and the second in 63 days. Between 1579 and 1584 this same ship, with a capacity of 300 carri, was never used on the Levant routes. D.A.D., LVI.2, Noli et securitate, 1.

22 D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 7/a, cc. 61, 64, 66, 94, 103, 111.

23 In all the documents studied it can be perceived the strong interaction between finance and business. Ragusan merchants could not operate without the services of the great Genoese and Florentine bankers for the transfer of the cash to carry out commercial business. This practice is evident from the study of the documentation concerning the activity of the Stefani company for the years 1555-1572 (D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 7/a), but also from the analysis of the ledger drawn up by the executors of Ragusan nobleman Giovanni de Giorgi (D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 10/a).

24 For example, it is possible to observe the close relationship that existed between Banco Pisani and Tiepolo and the work of the agent Martolo De Giorgi in Venice. In as many as 20 sheets in a book featuring a total of 115 sheets there is at least an account in the name of this private bank. D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 44/a. Similarly, the agent Nicolò Miossa in Venice acted as an intermediary for the investment of the Ragusan capital in the fairs of exchange fairs in Lyon and Besançon, interacting with the Florentine bankers Capponi, Bandini, Strozzi and Baglioni. D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 42, cc. 13, 16 and 40.

25 In the same period, for the financing the purchase of grain in the Levant, the merchants of Ragusa resorted to the interaction with the Genoese bankers who anticipated the cash needed for the operation and often compensated for their credit by purchasing the cargo on the return of the ship in Genoa (Grendi, 1970, p. 138).

26 Accounts for voyages made by individual merchants can be found in the documents. E.g., in D.A.D., Privata, XIX, 7/a, c. 98 there is an account to a Viaggio di Levante in mano di Francesco Grissone [Voyage of the Levant entrusted to Francesco Grissone]. Here it can be find a note of the money entrusted to the merchant Grissone for the purchase of wheat in the Levant, and a note for the sums obtained from the sale of wheat in Genoa in 1558.

27 In D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 7/a, c. 283 there is an explicit reference to the work of a sopra-carico that grants money to the captain of a ship during a trip to the Ottoman Levant in 1567.

28 D.A.D., X, Testamenta Notariae, 40, c. 22v.

29 According to Braudel (1976, p. 638) and Aymard (1966, p. 97) in the second half of the 16th century the grain of the Levant could be bought only with cash and not through the use of bills of exchange. Quoting Venetian sources Braudel states that ‘the bill of exchange, which moved freely throughout Christendom, made only exceptional appearances in Islam, so exceptional indeed as to suggest that it was unknown in the East’ (Braudel, 1976, pp. 497–498). However, according to Trivellato (2019, pp. 35 and 304) this topic requires further investigation since, basing on works of Eldem (1986, pp. 87–97) and Eldem (1999, pp. 124–147), it is certain that a system of exchange letters was often employed at Istanbul in the 18th century but there is no evidence that this also happened in previous centuries, except occasionally and for very small sums. According to Ragusan accounting books, we can affirm that the grain was paid in cash, even though this was a cause of serious problems of liquidity at the time of the departure of a ship directed towards the Levant for the grain supply, and of safety during navigation. According to Braudel the Ragusans paid their tribute to Constantinople by means of a special system of bills of exchange accepted as payment for customs duties levied on Ragusan merchandise arriving from the Balkans. But this system could not be used for the purchase of grain. In this, the network of Ragusan diasporic communities was very supportive in the procurement of the money to be used for the payment of wheat. D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 7/a, c. 10, 115, 123.

30 An example of extra expense was the ransom paid to the Ottoman commander Caramustafà, Viceroy of Metelino, for a Ragusan ship during a voyage for the purchase of grains in the Levant is in D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 7a, c. 94.

31 D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 7a, c. 62.

32 From D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 7/a, cc. 18 and 64, it is possible to reconstruct financial transactions related to the sale of a load of wheat made in Genoa in 1555 with the intermediation of merchants Lazzaro Vivaldi, Agostino Biscotto and Isnardo Cattaneo. The revenues from the sale of cereals were invested in the exchange fairs of Besançon from 1555 to 1559.

33 According to Gervais (2014, p. 36) the objective of an eighteenth-century trader was to track closely the credit flows which underpinned every commercial activity at the time, and not the profit calculation.

34 See for example D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 7a, c. 42, 108, 242, 294; D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 31, cc. 24, 26 and 34.

35 D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 7a, cc. 42 and 108.

36 D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 7a, c. 115.

37 D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 7a, cc. 10. In this case, a ship that went to the Levant to buy grain carrying cash was attacked by North African pirates near the Strait of Messina in the summer of 1558.

38 These include double-entry recordings of complex and compound articles that would have been treated by the Italian manuals in the first decades of the seventeenth century (Flori, 1636).

39 The use of compound entries in the accounting books of Ragusan merchants of the 16th century can be deduced directly from the reading of some copies of the Journal that have come to the present day. In other cases, in the absence of the Journal, it can be derived indirectly from the reading of some ledgers kept in the historical archive of the Ragusa Republic. Examples of compound entry recordings are in D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 32, c. 32 a. 1585; DAD, XIX, Privata, 44/c, c. 2, a. 1580; D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 42, c. 34, year 1582.

40 Among the many Ragusans who went to other countries to open commercial agencies in the last quarter of the 16th century, we can remember: Nicolò di Gozze, active as an agent from London; Lorenzo Jesussi who was correspondent from Messina; Francesco Antonio di Marino and Giovanni Maria Sagri who worked in Neaples; Benedetto and Marino Gondola in Ancona.

41 D.A.D., XIX, Privata, 42.

42 D.A.D., XIX, Privata, n. 44/a, 44/b and 44/c.

43 See Cotrugli (1573) and Cotrugli and Tucci (1990).