|
ILLUMINISM AND THE
FRENCH REVOLUTION
(go
Back to the main menu of
History of Italy)
Economy, Society and
Culture
The next
fifty years saw a period of relative political stability and
economic progress for all the various Italian States. Judicial
and administrative reforms were carried out, generally marked
by increased efficiency in state structures. This was also due
to the actions of statesmen and enlightened sovereigns like
Maria Teresa of Austria and Joseph II in Lombardy, Bernardo
Tanucci at Naples, Pietro Leopoldo in Tuscany and Pius VI at
Rome.
Following this brief but intense period came first the echo
of the French Revolution (1789) and the tragic end of
the French monarchy (1792) and then the resounding reality of
the Napoleonic armies. The latter's first Italian Campaign (1796)
carried with it the hope of an independent Italy before too
long. Spanish predominance in Italy, extending over some two
centuries, had rather negative consequences for the country,
whose economy, especially in the rich northern and central regions
underwent a disastrous decline. This brought in its train social
and cultural repercussions. The imbalance between the southern
regions and the rest of the country increased, above all in
the agricultural sector. The south had mainly large feudal agricultural
and pastoral estates and exported considerable quantities of
traditional Mediterranean crops (cereals, wine and olive oil)
and sheep products (wool and cheese) to the great urban areas
of Central Italy and the Po Valley. The north, meanwhile, alongside
its large-scale irrigation cultivation was developing the production
of silk (with its main working and trading centres in Lombardy)
and the characteristic landscape of mixed farming (especially
in Tuscany, Umbria and Marche).
Besides silk, which was very profitable, other industrial-type
activities were prospering (even if in this period the production
of the finished goods still had the character of a craft and
an organization based on the medieval corporations), such as
the weaving of wool and flax. The Alpine and Apennine forests
provided the raw material for boat building, a particular speciality
of Venice and Genoa. In addition, the pre-Alpine Lombard and
Venetian regions had well-developed metallurgy, due to the presence
of metal-bearing deposits that had been utilized since ancient
times. Other important areas of production were the manufacturing
of glass at Venice, paper at Fabriano and the continuing quarrying
at Carrara of the splendid marble of the Apuan Alps.
Also in the commercial sector the difference between the north
and south of Italy was apparent in the active presence of merchants
from Tuscany, Genoa and Venice in the Spanish viceroyalty where
they had fondachi or permanent commercial bases. Moreover the
Central and Northern regions were in constant contact with the
rest of Europe through their own trading offices at Lyons, London,
(go Back to the main
menu of
History of Italy)
|
|
