298 edoardo demo
another factor of no little importance in explaining the success obtained
by urban wool producers in the early modern period was that the organi-
zational solutions they adopted were anything but monolithic and were
indeed far more complex and multi-faceted than previously thought,
characterized by considerable flexibility and a capacity to adapt to vary-
ing market and conjunctural demands. thus, it was not only a question of
the classic organization of production particular to de-centralized manu-
facturing (the “putting-out” system or Verlagssystem). rather, the latter
co-existed not only with tiny, family-based, autonomous enterprises—
thus theoretically more in line with domestic industry (Kaufsystem) rather
than a single operation carried out in the domicile—that executed the
various phases of wool-working up to and including the weaving, and then
left to the purchaser the task of finishing and dying the cloth, but also
with enterprises enjoying a much greater availability of capital which, in
order to optimize costs, brought together different phases of production.
through their possession of looms and workshops for dying, they ended
up directly managing these phases as well, without having to entrust them
to outside atéliers. thus we can explain the existence of veritable “proto-
factories” such as that of antonio pelo, a wool producer from Vicenza who
in 1564 declared that he possessed a building that housed “113 of his work-
ers who work wool and make cloth.”16
the accurate selection of raw materials, particularly those obtained
locally, and an elevated flexibility in the organization of production thus
favored the development of high-quality urban wool production destined
prevalently for export. during the 15th century, this production witnessed
a continuous product innovation made necessary by the demands of the
market and generally tending toward the production of heavier, larger
pieces of textiles; it was this capacity to adapt to the market which deter-
mined its undoubted success at an international level.17 Beyond Venice’s
great commercial marketplace (undoubtedly one of the privileged desti-
nations for wool manufactures of the terraferma cities), fabrics from the
Veneto in the 15th century found ample markets in central and south-
ern Italy (in rome and naples but also in romagna, Marche, abruzzo,
calabria, puglia, and sicily), the German lands, the Balkan peninsula, and
16 panciera, L’arte matrice, pp. 37–38; edoardo demo, “L’impresa nel Veneto,” pp. 257–
58; Vianello, Seta fine e panni grossi, pp. 242–45; demo, “Wool and silk,” pp. 224–26.
17 silvana collodo, “La produzione tessile nel Veneto medioevale,” in Giuliana eri-
cani and paola Frattaroli, eds., tessuti nel Veneto. Venezia e la terraferma (Verona, 1993),
pp. 88–92; demo, “L’industria tessile nel Veneto tra XV e XVI secolo,” pp. 332–34.