venice’s maritime empire in the early modern period 235
business opportunities. French, English, Dutch, and Apulian vessels con-
ducted commercial activities on the coasts of Epirus and did not bother to
sail up to Venice to load goods that could be directly obtained for cheaper
prices from Ottoman territories.449 The establishment of the free ports of
Trieste (1719), Fiume (1723), and Ancona (1732) created new challenges
to Venice’s Adriatic commerce. But long before that, Venice found itself
unable to prevent ships of other nations from entering the Gulf in order
to anchor in ports which were not under the Republic’s control.
The Advantages of the Exploited
Central to this discussion are the ways in which a colonial empire
develops and exploits economic resources. In our post-colonial era it
has become nearly impossible to consider any colonial regime in terms
that are not pejorative. Consequently, the historiography of past colonial
empires tends to depict historical realities in black and white. Historians
have difficulty conceiving a colonial regime, which by its very nature is
exploitative, as also offering some advantages, not only for the dominating
power but also for the colonial subjects. Could exploitation, especially
by foreigners, exist alongside the well-being of the local subjects in the
very same territory? At first glance this seems an absurdity, but is it
really impossible? To note just one example: in 1648, Thomas Flangin,
a lawyer from Corfu, left his entire estate, amounting to 171,716 ducats,
to the Greek confraternity in Venice.450 How could a Corfiot lawyer
amass such a fortune? Was it an exceptional case, or did 17th-century
Corfu offer such opportunities to Venetian subjects on that island? The
economic history of the stato da mar may serve as a test case for further
studies around this question, which should be based on synchronic and
diachronic comparisons.
XI. ConclusionsThe Judicial Recipe for Longevity
The very fact that a relatively small state like Venice was somehow able to
endure continuous and recurrent attacks by a much bigger and stronger
power, which enjoyed huge resources of manpower and materials,
449 Bacchion, Il dominio veneto su Corfù, pp. 207–208.
450 Manoussacas, “The History of the Greek Confraternity,” p. 329.