From Disappearance to Rebirth Politics and Business in Mantua Between 1630 and 1650

Abstract

Until 1630, the population of Mantua was about 30,000 inhabitants and its economy was really sturdy, thanks to agriculture and some manufacturing activities. The war and its overwhelming effects were added to the ones of the humongous plague epidemic. In 1631, the city counted less than 7,000 inhabitants and each economic activity was absent. Thus the new dukedom’s government tried to boost both the population and the economic growth by guaranteeing tax exemptions for those people who chose to move to Mantua. This paper analyzes the stories of these entrepreneurs, who took advantage of the incentives, making private negotiations with the new government. The outcome was kind of surprising because the demographic growth was really fast, in 1640 already, the city was back to 25,000 inhabitants, but mostly the economic recovery was focused on new areas, such as stockings and caps factories and paper industry. The Plague and the war erased a city but a new one arose in its place, followed by a new ruling class and new economic basis.