industry and production in the venetian terraferma 299
the near east. Indeed, according to eliyahu ashtor, wool fabrics from Bres-
cia, Bergamo, Vicenza, Verona, and padua were among the most-requested
products in several near-eastern markets, particularly in egypt and syria.
a direct and important confirmation of ashtor’s claim comes from the
tariffa de’ pexi e mesure composed by Bartolomeo de paxi in the second
half of the 15th century and published in Venice in 1503.18 according to
this treatise, terraferma fabrics were known to be exported and widely
sold in aleppo, alexandria, arta, Bursa in anatolia, Beirut, cyprus, corfù,
Istanbul, damascus, Lepanto, negroponte, nicosia, ragusa (dubrovnik),
salonika, scutari in albania, split, tripoli in syria, and Valona. the sales of
textiles from cities in the Venetian terraferma in various locations in the
Balkans and near east is further and abundantly confirmed by data avail-
able from Venetian notarial and judicial sources and in various account-
ing registers of operators active in the Levant. constantinople, corfù,
ragusa (dubrovnik), cattaro, Beirut, la tana, trebizond, acre, amman,
damascus, aleppo, tripoli in syria, alexandria, Modone, and corone are
the localities that appear most often in the documentation consulted. this
indicates a truly impressive reach, allowing one to argue that a good part
of urban wool production in the Venetian state was actually fueled by the
considerable demand from Levantine markets. Moreover, this interest for
the woolen products of the terraferma is also demonstrated by another
important fact: the presence of ragusan, Greek, and armenian merchants
who came to the cities of the Veneto in order to purchase these fabrics
directly from local producers. documents bearing witness to their pres-
ence are particularly numerous for Verona. In the period between June
1475 and July 1477, for example, merchants from ragusa purchased at least
2180 pieces of cloth on the banks of the adige; while between January 1503
and september 1505 there were at least 2182 pieces acquired, once more in
Verona, by 39 different operators from corfù, cyprus, and crete.19
18 Bartolomeo de paxi, tariffa de pexi e mesure con gratia et privilegio (Venice, 1503).
19 eliyahu ashtor, “L’exportation de textiles occidentaux dans le proche orient
musulman au bas Moyen age (1370–1517),” in Studi in memoria di federigo melis, 7 vols
(naples, 1978), 2:321–24; hidetoshi hoshino L’arte della lana in firenze nel basso medio-
evo. Il commercio della lana e il mercato dei panni fiorentini nei secoli XIII–XV (Florence,
1980), pp. 296–98; paola Lanaro, “I rapporti commerciali tra Verona e la Marca anconetana
tra basso medioevo ed età moderna,” Studi Storici Luigi Simeoni 45 (1995), 9–25; demo,
L’“anima della città,” pp. 267–85 and 294–96; Benjamin arbel, “the Last decades of Veni-
ce’s trade with the Mamluks: Importations into egypt and syria,” mamlûk Studies review
8.2 (2004), 37–86; edoardo demo, “ ‘da Bressa se traze panni fini e altre sorte de panni de
manco precio.’ L’esportazione dei prodotti tessili bresciani nel ’400,” annali Queriniani 6
(2005), 105–18; demo, Wool and silk, pp. 226–29.