Page 40 - Mellinato, Giulio, and Aleksander Panjek. Eds. 2022. Complex Gateways. Labour and Urban History of Maritime Port Cities: The Northern Adriaticin a Comparative Perspective. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
P. 40
plex Gateways
Giorgio (Piccinno 2000, 67–109). Shipping /maritime litigations and com-
mercial disputes were referred to the Conservatori del Mare and the Civil
Rota, respectively. In any case, mediation and out-of-court settlements
would prevail over recourse to the aforementioned bodies of justice
(Piergiovanni 1988, 17–25). Finally, the policies of the Republic of Genoa
towards foreign businessmen were constantly tolerant and substantially
open, and also to religious minorities. This in spite of the fact that no ac-
tual demographic policies had ever been implemented aimed at favouring
an increase in the city population. Genoa was, therefore, a cosmopolitan
city, where Huguenot, Jewish, French, Catalan, and Flemish merchants,
while not really numerous, would play a significant role by successfully
contributing to port traffic growth (Piccinno and Zanini 2019, 285–96).
Port operations organization and workforce specialization
As previously pointed out, in the modern age, the port of Genoa was not
only key to receiving the supplies needed to sustain the local popula-
tion, but also to exporting the products manufactured in several major
Po Valley centres, thus attracting traffic of imported raw materials and
exported finished goods. In order to fulfil this important role as a lead-
ing Mediterranean commercial hub, a pretty complex organization was
required, with government bodies, businesses, and workforce operating
in a highly synergistic manner. As to the latter category, all types of work
were carried out under the control of about two dozen craft associations.
They were structured as guilds, each with its own independence and dif-
ferent levels of specialization, professionalism, and social status of its
members. They were subject to the authority of the Padri del Comune,
which was the body responsible for the management of the port and of
shore facilities, and the Conservatori del Mare, in charge of all the issues
related to navigation.
Whenever the keeper of the Lanterna - Lighthouse - would signal the
approach of a ship to the port by hanging the appropriate signal (called
coffino) on its top, pilots were the first to be alerted. This optional ser-
vice was generally requested by captains who, when arriving at the port
for the first time, preferred to put their ship in more expert hands in or-
der to manoeuvre her into the port (Piccinno 2000, 123–4). Actually, un-
like the lagoon port of Venice, entering into the port of Genoa when the
weather was good was not particularly difficult, at least for the more ex-
perienced captains or for those who used to call at Genoa more regularly.
40
Giorgio (Piccinno 2000, 67–109). Shipping /maritime litigations and com-
mercial disputes were referred to the Conservatori del Mare and the Civil
Rota, respectively. In any case, mediation and out-of-court settlements
would prevail over recourse to the aforementioned bodies of justice
(Piergiovanni 1988, 17–25). Finally, the policies of the Republic of Genoa
towards foreign businessmen were constantly tolerant and substantially
open, and also to religious minorities. This in spite of the fact that no ac-
tual demographic policies had ever been implemented aimed at favouring
an increase in the city population. Genoa was, therefore, a cosmopolitan
city, where Huguenot, Jewish, French, Catalan, and Flemish merchants,
while not really numerous, would play a significant role by successfully
contributing to port traffic growth (Piccinno and Zanini 2019, 285–96).
Port operations organization and workforce specialization
As previously pointed out, in the modern age, the port of Genoa was not
only key to receiving the supplies needed to sustain the local popula-
tion, but also to exporting the products manufactured in several major
Po Valley centres, thus attracting traffic of imported raw materials and
exported finished goods. In order to fulfil this important role as a lead-
ing Mediterranean commercial hub, a pretty complex organization was
required, with government bodies, businesses, and workforce operating
in a highly synergistic manner. As to the latter category, all types of work
were carried out under the control of about two dozen craft associations.
They were structured as guilds, each with its own independence and dif-
ferent levels of specialization, professionalism, and social status of its
members. They were subject to the authority of the Padri del Comune,
which was the body responsible for the management of the port and of
shore facilities, and the Conservatori del Mare, in charge of all the issues
related to navigation.
Whenever the keeper of the Lanterna - Lighthouse - would signal the
approach of a ship to the port by hanging the appropriate signal (called
coffino) on its top, pilots were the first to be alerted. This optional ser-
vice was generally requested by captains who, when arriving at the port
for the first time, preferred to put their ship in more expert hands in or-
der to manoeuvre her into the port (Piccinno 2000, 123–4). Actually, un-
like the lagoon port of Venice, entering into the port of Genoa when the
weather was good was not particularly difficult, at least for the more ex-
perienced captains or for those who used to call at Genoa more regularly.
40
