The economic policies of the regional city-states of renaissance Italy. Observations on a neglected theme

Abstract

Investigation of the economic and commercial policies of the Italian city-states has traditionally focused on individual cities and their contadi, with little attention paid to the regional city-states of the Renaissance which incorporated and subjected cities and towns of varying size. To undestand the interactions between them - both complementarities and conflicts -urban network analysisi offers the most promising approach. Yet its methods and concepts, largely pioneered by historians of German, Swiss, and Flemish/Dutch cities have rarely been applied to central-northern Italy. After reflections on the problems of defining regions and frontiers, the essay compares and contrasts the fortunes of the three principal regional states of urban origin and character - Milan, Venice, and Florence - with some further remarks on Siena. It also suggests that regional economic hegemony need not be confined to landed posessions: both Genoa and Venice ( and perhaps latterly Florence) dominated regional hinterland connected by the sea. While acknowledging that fiscal, administrative, jurisdictional, and military considerations remained uppermost in the formulation and implementation of the cities' regional policies ( all of which naturally had economic implications), the essay argues that urban network analysis, stressing the emergence of 'economic units' and spheres of influence ( which might vary over time and space), may help to identify speciafically economic interests and motives which might contribute to a regional identity distinct from the purely political domination of a territory. At the same time, however, these economic interests might pull in different directions: mercantilist policies, for instance, designed to bolster the economy of the regional capitals at odds with the desire to stimulate local manufacturing and agriculture.