Family and Public Life in Brescia, 1580 - 1650

Book Review: 'Family and Public Life in Brescia, 1580-1650: The Foundations of Power in the Venetian State' (Joanne M. Ferraro; 1993).

From the former "Famiglia Bresciana di Nord America" (3/24/07):

I just began reading this book, and it should be very interesting, at least as these types of scholarly books go. I thumbed through 'Town and Country under Fascism: The Transformation of Brescia, 1915-192' (1986) a few times and found it to be very mundane overall. Not the subject matter, but just the way it was written. This should be much more illuminating, as it is about something that is truly "Brescian," good or bad. In addition, it's a good way to learn about "Venetian Bresica." The Brescians actually engineered the Venetians to take over from the Visconti family and the Milanese state.

From the cover:

This book focuses on the behavior of the ruling families of Brescia, a rich and strategically vital city under Venetian rule, during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The first part of the book conceptualizes the civic leadership of Brescia, with a profile of its origins and a brief history of the process of aristocratization. Further, it examines the relationship between family structure and the local socio-political structures. Size, wealth, education, and marriage ties were all pivotal factors
which helped determine the family's position in public life. Its strength rested ultimately on its continuity over time. Women and women's property are given careful attention. The second part places the Brescian elite within the Venetian state. Besides controlling urban political institutions, the Brescians held strong economic links with the surrounding countryside, the basis of their power, and they enjoyed ample authority in the rural communities subject to the city. This section of the book examines the different ways in which these families sought to preserve their control over local resources. It also analyzes the Brescian civic leadership's weight in public life, in relation to that of Venetian authorities, illuminating some of the important ways in which the Venetian state was knit together.

From review at Amazon.com:

This book focuses on the behavior of the ruling families of Brescia, a rich and strategically vital city under Venetian rule, during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. The first part of the book conceptualizes the civic leadership of Brescia, with a profile of its origins and a brief history of the process of aristocratization. Further, it examines the relationship between family structure and the local socio-political structures. Size, wealth, education, and marriage ties were all pivotal factors which helped determine the family’s position in public life. Its strength rested ultimately on its continuity over time. Women and women’s property are given careful attention. The second part places the Brescian elite within the Venetian state. Besides controlling urban political institutions, the Brescians held strong economic links with the surrounding countryside, the basis of their power, and they enjoyed ample authority in the rural communities subject to the city.

From review by "Renaissance Quarterly':

With the annexation of Brescia in 1426 and Bergamo in 1428, Venetian dominion over the terraferma stretched from the Friuli well into the heart of Lombardy. Venice's subjugation of the city of Brescia and the surrounding countryside (Bresciano) provided access to a rich supply of minerals, cereals, and mulberries, a new source of indirect taxes (dazi) on foodstuffs and manufactured items, and domination over strategically located roads that were crucial in any confrontation with nearby Milan.

Update:

Halfway through the book now, I can see that the book is very scholarly and extremely repetitious regarding the economics in the early part of the book. Many gems of information and insight are mixed in, but it's written in an overtly scholastic style in which facts are established only after long periods of facts and proof. In other words, in most books the author can state opinion (w/references) like "the evidence clearly shows ...x, y & z." Here you must endure pages and pages of facts and figures to show what can be stated in a sentence or two.

I'm about to enter the chapters regarding the customs and family structure of the ruling aristocracy, which should be of greater interest. Of course, this cannot be the only expression of Brescian culture, but only of this ruling oligarchy. Although allowed to rule the province without many restrictions from the government in Venice, taxation was heavy, and they only operated within the provincial territory. Once positive was the unity, as the elites did have much contact with the countryside. In fact, some were actually from the surrounding countryside.

At times, I try to read between the lines of this period, and see the human side for the average citizen. For example, an adventurous young man from the Camunian mountain community could join the Venetian navy. There is little doubt that some Brescians fought in the "Battle of Lepanto," one of the greatest battles in history. Some could have become Venetian merchants and worked for the expansion of Venetian concerns in more of a direct way. This is especially true when we consider that the Brescian oligarchy was a very closed system. For example, you might be excluded if one of your great-grandparents were born out of wedlock!

A hungry merchant or craftsman could have gone out on his own and worked out of the Venetian or Dalmatian coasts, or in one of the outposts in Greece. They could have partaken in adventures like Marco Polo did. Although Venetian territory wasn't very large, they wielded tremendous power and more-or-less controlled the eastern trade routes for centuries.