Page 54 - 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. 54
plex Gateways
Heerma van Voss 2006). In the eyes of the urban elites, who nurtured
prejudices against all the mechanical or physical occupations, they were
considered the most trivial forces, just useful and therefore barely tol-
erated. Such an image was also associated with the fact that many por-
ters came from hilly areas, where the cultivated urban populations usu-
ally located the underdeveloped and even wild world (Garzoni 1585, 346;
Belfanti 1994, 67–70; Mocarelli 2005; Zannini 2000; Mocarelli 2009). The
organization habits of the porters and the workers themselves, with their
rude and vulgar manners, also contributed to spread this image. The com-
panies were cohesive groups with a strong sense of belonging and soli-
darity. In conflicts between companies, with the authorities but also with
the social environment, they proudly defended their interests and their
honour. The problem, however, was that many porters flirted with pover-
ty and could become a social burden or even offenders in times of crisis.3
Because of all this, they received special attention from the elites and the
authorities, who considered them a potentially subversive and dangerous
category for public order. In the eighteenth century, when in their pur-
suit of the conquest of society, in accordance with the principles of the
good and useful, the social élites began to treat marginals in the same
way as criminals, porters also became subject to special security norms
(Mocarelli 2007).
Porterage in Trieste: peculiarities and dilemmas
During the eighteenth century, when Trieste became the main Austrian
port,4 the market for porters grew rapidly. The importance of the por-
3 We can highlight the point looking at the various names given to the porters. Thus,
for example, in Naples they were called lazzaroni because, with their tattered at-
tire, they were similar to Saint Lazarus, symbolizing extreme poverty. Lazzarone
was the name for a member of the lowest Neapolitan people, and in the wider Ital-
ian area it established itself as the name for unpreparedness (De Bourcard 1858,
7). Even the general Italian term for the porter, facchino, is still used today in con-
nection with rude and vulgar behaviour.
4 After the proclamation of free navigation in the Adriatic Sea in 1717, the Austri-
an Emperor Charles VI in 1719 granted the port cities of Trieste and Rijeka the
status of free ports, and promoted their maritime trade specialization through a
purposeful policy. After decades of uncertainty and the administrative reorgani-
zation of the Adriatic coastal region, during the time of Maria Theresa and Joseph
II, in the second half of the century, Trieste developed economically, and attract-
ed an increasing number of immigrants from the wider hinterland and the entire
eastern Mediterranean. In 1735, the city had a population of about 5,000, and by
the end of the century, more than 20,000. Alongside the medieval town centre,
54
Heerma van Voss 2006). In the eyes of the urban elites, who nurtured
prejudices against all the mechanical or physical occupations, they were
considered the most trivial forces, just useful and therefore barely tol-
erated. Such an image was also associated with the fact that many por-
ters came from hilly areas, where the cultivated urban populations usu-
ally located the underdeveloped and even wild world (Garzoni 1585, 346;
Belfanti 1994, 67–70; Mocarelli 2005; Zannini 2000; Mocarelli 2009). The
organization habits of the porters and the workers themselves, with their
rude and vulgar manners, also contributed to spread this image. The com-
panies were cohesive groups with a strong sense of belonging and soli-
darity. In conflicts between companies, with the authorities but also with
the social environment, they proudly defended their interests and their
honour. The problem, however, was that many porters flirted with pover-
ty and could become a social burden or even offenders in times of crisis.3
Because of all this, they received special attention from the elites and the
authorities, who considered them a potentially subversive and dangerous
category for public order. In the eighteenth century, when in their pur-
suit of the conquest of society, in accordance with the principles of the
good and useful, the social élites began to treat marginals in the same
way as criminals, porters also became subject to special security norms
(Mocarelli 2007).
Porterage in Trieste: peculiarities and dilemmas
During the eighteenth century, when Trieste became the main Austrian
port,4 the market for porters grew rapidly. The importance of the por-
3 We can highlight the point looking at the various names given to the porters. Thus,
for example, in Naples they were called lazzaroni because, with their tattered at-
tire, they were similar to Saint Lazarus, symbolizing extreme poverty. Lazzarone
was the name for a member of the lowest Neapolitan people, and in the wider Ital-
ian area it established itself as the name for unpreparedness (De Bourcard 1858,
7). Even the general Italian term for the porter, facchino, is still used today in con-
nection with rude and vulgar behaviour.
4 After the proclamation of free navigation in the Adriatic Sea in 1717, the Austri-
an Emperor Charles VI in 1719 granted the port cities of Trieste and Rijeka the
status of free ports, and promoted their maritime trade specialization through a
purposeful policy. After decades of uncertainty and the administrative reorgani-
zation of the Adriatic coastal region, during the time of Maria Theresa and Joseph
II, in the second half of the century, Trieste developed economically, and attract-
ed an increasing number of immigrants from the wider hinterland and the entire
eastern Mediterranean. In 1735, the city had a population of about 5,000, and by
the end of the century, more than 20,000. Alongside the medieval town centre,
54
