The Decline of the Mediterranean Economy

In the early months and years of this blog – back in those pre-Covid days of the 2010s – I posted up a few old essays I had written during my degree. The blog seemed a suitable home for the blood, toils, tears, and sweat that I expended on researching, drafting, and writing my old essays. And so, here is one which focuses on the Mediterranean economy.

Yes, I agree – this choice of essay was an odd one. But I picked it perhaps because it offered a complete blank page in my historical knowledge. I remember scanning through various old books in the library in an attempt to enhance my own understanding of economic history. The key focus of the essay charts the decline of the Mediterranean as the hub of economic life in Europe, with it shifting toward the Atlantic world in the 1500s-1600s.

To Fernand Braudel the Mediterranean was a sea ‘complex, awkward, and unique’, to another observer it was the ‘great axis of trade and civilization’, while Van Gogh saw it, somewhat philosophically, as ‘the colour of mackerel…You don’t always know if it is green or violent, you can’t even say it’s blue, because the next moment the changing reflection has taken on a tint of rose or grey’.

Throughout history the Mediterranean appeared to many to be the centre of the known universe, the ‘lynchpin for intercontinental trade’ that spread from east to west, between both Christendom and Islam. However, between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the belief in the power of this sea came to an end, ousted by more bustling regions, such as that of the Atlantic.

The specific question of whether or not the decline came during the sixteenth century has grown silent in recent years. Much study is available upon the sandwiching eras of the all consuming seventeenth crisis and the earlier Black Death misery (especially those historians, Miskimin and Lopez, who looked upon the Italian states in this time). Franco Franchesi, giving a twenty-first century perspective, believes any idea of a crisis within these two eras has ‘been losing ground’, the writer eager to stress how the dramatic word “crisis” has given way to such non-specific terms, such as ‘re-conversion’ and ‘transformation’.

However, it is the word decline that grabbed my attention, with the suggestion that there must have been something of worth beforehand. Yet, as this essay must discover, did this change come within the sixteenth century? Braudel, in the conclusion to his masterwork on the Mediterranean in these times, calls the 1500s ‘ambiguous years’, of boom and of bust. Yet towards the end of the fifteenth century it could be said that only a cynic would think of anything other than further economic prosperity.

At this time, Northern Italy was hailed as one of the richest regions of the sea, the ‘one in which the widest range of economic activities was concentrated’. The region was home to the manufacturing centres of Milan and Florence, the ports of vast merchant fleets at Venice and Genoa, along with the added kudos of being the birthplace of the Renaissance. Italy was not alone in positioning the Mediterranean as the hub of activity. Joining this peninsula were the Eastern and Muslim centred cities of Constantinople and Cairo, thriving alongside the regions of southern France and Spain.

Glamann boasts of the ‘great variety of commodities’ available within the self sufficient sea, ranging from food to raw materials. Hale believes the poorer Baltic was ‘as active’ as the Mediterranean, yet the luxury goods, in which the Italians took delight in trading, created greater profits. A luxury item to all was the much coveted spice trade, in which Venice held a ‘virtual monopoloy’. Other goods that came from the same Asiatic route included Chinese and Persian silks and precious stones, the majority of which ended in the ports of the Italian states, securing for the Italians an importance second to none.

However, despite such encouraging activity, the arrival of the French wars in the 1490s shook the Italian states from their golden times, to become what Cipolla calls the ‘age of iron and fire, of destruction and misery’. The Italian region played host to conflict for little over half a century, with the results destroying the centres of economic activity. Milan and Florence faced ruin, while Genoa and Rome were sacked with gruesome accounts later told, one speaking of ‘the stench of dead bodies’, continuing by describing how ‘men and beasts have a common grave, and in the churches I have seen corpses that dogs have gnawed’.

Everywhere production fell. Miskimin reports on the collapse of industrial areas as Como, Bologna, and Milan. Between 1500-1540, the number of workshops in Florence decreased by three-fourths, while Cipolla notes the decline in the woollen cloth in Brescia, from 8,000 pieces a year to 1,000 towards 1540. Cochrane laments the drop in population in these once flourishing states, writing on how ‘natural disaster followed man made disaster’ in the form of famine and plague as people fled for more secured and prosperous regions. The horror and hysteria of these times were recorded in 1533 by a Venetian ambassador who wrote:

‘Milan is totally ruined; such poverty and ruin cannot be remedied in short time…the people have died out, which is why industry is lacking’.

The misfortune of Italy became the opportunity of others. In these times Braudel talks of an ‘invasion’ of the sea, of northern European ships accessing the Mediterranean and taking the advantage and position in trading which more local cities had held before the arrival of the French swords.

Mediterranean dominance was further challenged with the discoveries from those of the Iberian peninsula. Europeans now had direct contact to ‘West African slaves and gold, Indian pepper and ivories and Chinese silks’, all of which opened new markets and expanded European trade. Of course, Spain itself can claim rights to being a Mediterranean region due to its geography, however, its new trade with their American colonies took the emphasis away from the sea in question, helping dent its superiority and creating an Atlantic dominance in the process. The blows upon those states in the Mediterranean, who depended on the sea as its major source of trade, were direct and almost immediate. As early as 1501 Girolamo Priuli commented that the loss of the spice monopoly to Venice was ‘like the loss of milk to an infant’.

The Ottomans presented another negative factor, of whom Christendom was ‘terrified’, due to their all consuming taking of territory. Due to our western centred view the Turks have not fully been taken into account during these times. However, Braudel believes this rival empire was itself experiencing economic hardship towards the end of the sixteenth century, titling one of his chapters: ‘The Turkish financial crisis’. It appears that despite being divided by religion, the two sides remained connected by money.

However, despite war and other reverses, certain regions of the Mediterranean did experience success in trade and economic activity. The most notable of these, and a rather large fly in the ointment to the belief in a decline within the 1500s is Venice. During ‘Italy’s darkest period’ Venice prospered, attracting the talents of those fleeing from war zones, aiding her in this boom and growth of a durable and tough economy, resisting attempts from outside powers to ‘carve up’ her own land empire.

Miskimin notes the boom in glassmaking and mirror manufacturing, soap making, lace, leather working, candle manufacture, and jewellery production. Woollen cloth production soared while the number of silk weavers climbed from five to twelve hundred between 1493 and 1554. Printing exploded in the state and Venice became one of Europe’s leading book producing centres.

Outside events also aided in inspiring the Venetians to greater heights. The state responded to the Ottoman threat by doubling the size of its naval yard, the Arsenal, employing some 3,000 men. Perhaps a greater delight was the return of a share of the spice trade. The chief reason given, by the likes of Cipolla and Koenigsberger, was due to the poor quality of Portuguese cargo when arriving in Europe after making the long haul around Africa. Venice had the advantage in the shorter route and Koenigsberger describes a favourable turnaround when in 1585 the Venetian senate ‘had the satisfaction’ of turning down an offer to run the failing Portuguese spice monopoly. Towards 1600, Venice saw 700-800 ships come in and out of her ports every year, while Braudel enthusiastically writes of the ‘overflowing…coffers of the Venetian state treasury’.

Venice was not alone in stuffing the holes in wallets. A little to the west came the re-emergence of Genoa. Braudel claims the bankers of the city ‘became the masters of international payments’. They became heavily tied in with the vast wealth of American gold, taking a leading role most prominently between 1570-1620. The Genoese undoubtedly impressed, with a Spanish merchant living in Florence writing these words in 1590:

‘They are a kind of people who would think the world itself but a small thing to take on’.

Complimenting these two booming states were many other Italian cities. The overdue return of peace meant an increase in production. For example, Bergamo which struggled to produce 7,000 pieces of cloth a year in 1540 expanded to 26,500 by 1596. Such figures do not suggest a region in crisis, but rather one enjoying growth, the hailed “Indian summer” before the real disasters fell in the 1600s. But to those Venetians living in the 1500s the belief of growth would have been far from their minds. The 1580s saw the loss of Cyprus, the collapse of many banks and increased competition from northern European shipping – making the case for what Pullan calls a ‘black decade’. The gains the Venetian state had made could not hide the ‘fact that the base on which it rested was somewhat narrower than in the past’.

Furthermore, it must be noted that a share of Venetian profits came not from the sea, but rather from its growing land holdings. With such knowledge, is it wholly correct to use the Venetian state as an example of the Mediterranean’s prosperity in these times? Despite this, many historians, such as Franchesi, believe that even at the start of the last third of the 1500s the Mediterranean remained the ‘centre of European economy and culture’.

The general agreement then, is that despite periods of stagnation, the sixteenth century was not one of decline for the Mediterranean. All, it appears, are in union of belief that decline was effectively felt in the 1600s. But, it cannot be ignored that this later crisis has its origins within the 1500s, if not its actual beginnings. The strongest hints of statement can be found in the sea’s growing dependence on the outside world for not only its wealth, but for its survival, even before the end of that sixteenth century monarch, Philip II, reign was over.

Cochrane looks at the serious issues affecting the future of the sixteenth century old Mediterranean, which include the decline of shipbuilding due to the inability to get the basic resources, and also the tied in reliance with the Spanish economy. In 1596 the Spanish crown went bankrupt ‘for what proved to be far from the last time’. The relationship between the two economies became deadly. Every time the crown went bust it dragged down the cooperating Italian banks with it. A Venetian ambassador remarked upon this destructive cycle, saying:

‘Spain cannot exist unless relieved by others, nor can the rest of the world exist without the money of Spain’.

This decline in Venetian ships opened the door to the northern Europeans. Looking at the shipping numbers in the middle of the century, Braudel was able to claim that vessels of the Mediterranean exacted ‘revenge’ upon rival European regions.7 Signs were positive, such as Venice’s revival of the spice trade, yet the lack of new boats made the sea’s ports more dependant on outside help for some of its ‘most essential needs’. This is seen with the most devastating impact in the amount of famines that occurred in the latter half of the century, with six hitting Naples alone. The once large stores of the Mediterranean had gone and the sea became reliant on importing grain from other areas, with Dutch and English vessels being most active.

The encroaching dominance of these nations, coupled with the burgeoning ‘ocean traffic’ of the Atlantic, meant those Mediterranean states, like Venice, had to fight harder and harder for trade with each passing year. The fight was increased by other opposing factors, such as the increased use of land transportation on which Sella believes was turned to due to the increase of piracy on the uncertain waters. A bigger factor perhaps was the control of the guild regulations on which Cipolla lays much blame for their insistence on using ‘ancient methods’, thus making the Italian economy less able to match the output of rival Europeans. However, a more recent study by Franco Franchesi states the guilds were not a hindrance, that they played a big role in helping ‘adopt’ new technologies, and that this was a part of Venice’s own success story.

Along with the increased dependence on the outside world, any of the above and other smaller factors (such as taxation) could only prove to have a negative effect. The reality was that the smaller states of the Mediterranean could not expect to compete with the power of the growing nations such as France and England.

‘In general,’ writes Heaton, ‘western and northern Europe had learned how to dispense with Italy’s services.’ The above has shown that certain ports within the sea possessed much power, particularly in the case of Venice, and that on entering 1600 Italy remained one of the ‘highly developed regions’ of Europe. However, it cannot be doubted that the centre of power had shifted towards the Atlantic and those economies of north-western Europe. Towards the end of the century, the Mediterranean was no longer the lynchpin, the axis, or a ‘world of its own’.

Endnotes

Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II (Volume 1), William Collins Sons & Co, Norwich, 1974, p.17

William Gilbert, Renaissance and Reformation, Lawrence, KS: Carrie, 1998 – from

http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/gilbert/11.html (accessed in April, 2007)

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/v/vincentvan164299.html (as accessed on 30/4/2007)

Brian Pullan (ed), Crisis and Change in the Venetian Economy in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Methuen & Co, Bungay, Suffolk, 1968, p.1

Franco Franchesi, Prosperity or Hard Times? – from John M Najemy, Italy in the Age of the Renaissance, Oxford University Press, Norfolk, 2004, p.125

Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II (Volume 2), William Collins Sons & Co, Norwich, 1974, p.1239

Kirstof Glamann, European Trade 1500-1750 – from Carlo M. Cipolla (ed), The Fontana Economic History of Europe (The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries), Collins/Fontana Books, Glasgow, 1981, p.434

ibid. p.436

John Hale, The civilization of Europe in the Renaissance, Fontana Press, Glasgow, 1994, p.21

Koenigsberger and Mosse, Europe in the Sixteenth Century, Longman, Great Britain, 1969

Carlo M. Cipolla, Before the Industrial Revolution (European Society and Economy: 1000-1700), Methuen & Co Ltd, USA, 1981, p.248

Peter Partner, Renaissance Rome (1500-1559) – A Portrait of Society, University of California Press, USA, 1979, pp.30-31

Harry Miskimin, The Economy of Later Renaissance Europe (1460-1600), Cambridge University Press, USA, 1977, p.118

Cipolla, Carol M., Before the Industrial Revolution (European Society and Economy: 1000-1700), Methuen & Co Ltd, USA, 1981, p.254

Eric Cochrane, Italy (1530-1630), Longman, Singapore, 1988, p.15

Carlo M. Cipolla, Before the Industrial Revolution (European Society and Economy: 1000-1700), Methuen & Co Ltd, USA, 1981, p.255

Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II (Volume 1), William Collins Sons & Co, Norwich, 1974, p.606

Koenigsberger and Mosse, Europe in the Sixteenth Century, Longman, Great Britain, 1969, p.46

ibid. p.47

H G, Koenigsberger, H G, Early Modern Europe (1500-1789), Longman, Hong Kong, 1987, p.81

Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II (Volume 2), William Collins Sons & Co, Norwich, 1974, p.1195

Harry Miskimin, The Economy of Later Renaissance Europe (1460-1600), Cambridge University Press, USA, 1977, p.118

D S Chambers, The Imperial Age of Venice (1380-1580), Thames And Hudson, Norwich, 1970, p.65

Harry Miskimin, The Economy of Later Renaissance Europe (1460-1600), Cambridge University Press, USA, 1977, p.119

loc.cit

H G, Koenigsberger, H G, Early Modern Europe (1500-1789), Longman, Hong Kong, 1987, p.91

Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II (Volume 1), William Collins Sons & Co, Norwich, 1974, p.391

ibid. 393

ibid. 394

Carlo M. Cipolla, Before the Industrial Revolution (European Society and Economy: 1000-1700), Methuen & Co Ltd, USA, 1981, p.256

Brian Pullan (ed), Crisis and Change in the Venetian Economy in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Methuen & Co, Bungay, Suffolk, 1968, p.8

Domenico Sella, Crisis and Transformation in Venetian Trade – from Brian Pullan (ed), Crisis and Change in the Venetian Economy in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Methuen & Co, Bungay, Suffolk, 1968, p.90

Franco Franchesi, Prosperity or Hard Times? – from John M Najemy, Italy in the Age of the Renaissance, Oxford University Press, Norfolk, 2004, p.131

Jan De Vries, The Economy of Europe in an Age of Crisis (1600-1750), Cambridge University Press, USA, 1982, p.27

Eric Cochrane, Italy (1530-1630), Longman, Singapore, 1988, p.182

Cipolla, Carol M., Before the Industrial Revolution (European Society and Economy: 1000-1700), Methuen & Co Ltd, USA, 1981, p.252

Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II (Volume 1), William Collins Sons & Co, Norwich, 1974, p.545

Kirstof Glamann, European Trade 1500-1750 – from Carlo M. Cipolla (ed), The Fontana Economic History of Europe (The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries), Collins/Fontana Books, Glasgow, 1981 –

Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II (Volume 1), William Collins Sons & Co, Norwich, 1974, p.585

Herbert Heaton, Economic History of Europe, Harper & Row, London, 1963, p.231

Domenico Sella, Crisis and Transformation in Venetian Trade – from Brian Pullan (ed), Crisis and Change in the Venetian Economy in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Methuen & Co, Bungay, Suffolk, 1968, pp.92-93

Carlo M Cipolla, The Economic Decline of Italy – from Brian Pullan (ed), Crisis and Change in the Venetian Economy in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Methuen & Co, Bungay, Suffolk, 1968, p.135

Franco Franchesi, Prosperity or Hard Times? – from John M Najemy, Italy in the Age of the Renaissance, Oxford University Press, Norfolk, 2004, p.139

Herbert Heaton, Economic History of Europe, Harper & Row, London, 1963, p.262

Carlo M Cipolla, The Economic Decline of Italy – from Brian Pullan (ed), Crisis and Change in the Venetian Economy in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Methuen & Co, Bungay, Suffolk, 1968, p.127… Cipolla compares the number of woollen cloth firms active in Milan in 1600 at 60-70 (producing 15,000 cloths a year) to one lonely firm in 1709 (producing 100 clothes a year), p.128.

Kirstof Glamann, European Trade 1500-1750 – from Carlo M. Cipolla (ed), The Fontana Economic History of Europe (The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries), Collins/Fontana Books, Glasgow, 1981, p.439