Page 72 - Panjek, Aleksander, Jesper Larsson and Luca Mocarelli, eds. 2017. Integrated Peasant Economy in a Comparative Perspective: Alps, Scandinavia and Beyond. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 72
integr ated peasant economy in a compar ative perspective
Let us also mention smuggling, which culminated in this area at the
end of the 16th century, and was carried out by both peasants and the towns-
people. Smuggling boomed especially after the introduction of the forced
route toward Trieste and the measures with which the state regulated the
payment of tolls, the regulations at the stations in Lož, Planina, Postojna
and Podkraj towards the Gulf of Trieste (the Adriatic Sea), and increased
supervision on routes and at fairs with road patrols (toll collectors called ib-
lajtarji or Überreiter). Peasant merchants resisted these measures and the
violent iblajtarji by using other, unusual routes, thus avoiding the tollhous-
es, or by making their way past the tollhouses using violence (Gestrin 1963,
78–9; 1965, 81–2; 1991, 277; Vilfan 1963, 2–4; Panjek 2002b, 162–3).
2.4 Northern Istria
The forced route towards Trieste and smuggling mostly affected northern
Istria (the coastal towns of Koper, Piran and Izola and their countryside),
which belonged to the Republic of Venice. Gestrin believes that the situa-
tion was the worst in Piran. “Ever since the mid-15th century, the trade in
wood from the hinterland was declining there. After 1500, the only lively
trade [had to be] the peasant trade, including the smuggling trade, whi-
ch continued to bring cereals and other food, and items of peasant trade
to Piran; on the other hand, the chief product that was being sent inland
was salt” (Gestrin 1963, 79).8 In addition to Piran, the Austrian (Hapsburg)
state measures were also highly detrimental to Koper. The podestà of Ko-
per, the local representative of the Venetian state, mentioned in the mid-17th
century that the trade with the Hapsburg hinterland had been lively in the
past, but was now dying away. Every day, Hapsburg subjects allegedly came
to Koper with 200 to 300 horses each; “in exchange for the local products,
they would bring cereals, cheese, wool, hides, iron, meat, especially beef for
the needs of the town’s butcher’s shops, and other products, mostly made
of wood, such as barrels, various tubs, buckets, pails, chests, etc.” (Darovec
2000, 50; 2004, 178).
The goods exported from the Littoral to the hinterland show that the
coastal Venetian areas had rather well-developed agricultural industries;
their surplus produce could have been sold by peasants, who would thus
have gained an additional source of income. Some of these industries are
salt production, fishery, oil manufacture and viticulture. However, this hy-
8 For more on the smuggling of salt from Koper and Piran, see Žitko 1979; Bonin and
Bonin, 2015, 189–206.
70
Let us also mention smuggling, which culminated in this area at the
end of the 16th century, and was carried out by both peasants and the towns-
people. Smuggling boomed especially after the introduction of the forced
route toward Trieste and the measures with which the state regulated the
payment of tolls, the regulations at the stations in Lož, Planina, Postojna
and Podkraj towards the Gulf of Trieste (the Adriatic Sea), and increased
supervision on routes and at fairs with road patrols (toll collectors called ib-
lajtarji or Überreiter). Peasant merchants resisted these measures and the
violent iblajtarji by using other, unusual routes, thus avoiding the tollhous-
es, or by making their way past the tollhouses using violence (Gestrin 1963,
78–9; 1965, 81–2; 1991, 277; Vilfan 1963, 2–4; Panjek 2002b, 162–3).
2.4 Northern Istria
The forced route towards Trieste and smuggling mostly affected northern
Istria (the coastal towns of Koper, Piran and Izola and their countryside),
which belonged to the Republic of Venice. Gestrin believes that the situa-
tion was the worst in Piran. “Ever since the mid-15th century, the trade in
wood from the hinterland was declining there. After 1500, the only lively
trade [had to be] the peasant trade, including the smuggling trade, whi-
ch continued to bring cereals and other food, and items of peasant trade
to Piran; on the other hand, the chief product that was being sent inland
was salt” (Gestrin 1963, 79).8 In addition to Piran, the Austrian (Hapsburg)
state measures were also highly detrimental to Koper. The podestà of Ko-
per, the local representative of the Venetian state, mentioned in the mid-17th
century that the trade with the Hapsburg hinterland had been lively in the
past, but was now dying away. Every day, Hapsburg subjects allegedly came
to Koper with 200 to 300 horses each; “in exchange for the local products,
they would bring cereals, cheese, wool, hides, iron, meat, especially beef for
the needs of the town’s butcher’s shops, and other products, mostly made
of wood, such as barrels, various tubs, buckets, pails, chests, etc.” (Darovec
2000, 50; 2004, 178).
The goods exported from the Littoral to the hinterland show that the
coastal Venetian areas had rather well-developed agricultural industries;
their surplus produce could have been sold by peasants, who would thus
have gained an additional source of income. Some of these industries are
salt production, fishery, oil manufacture and viticulture. However, this hy-
8 For more on the smuggling of salt from Koper and Piran, see Žitko 1979; Bonin and
Bonin, 2015, 189–206.
70
