venice and its minorities 451
had not engaged in any “mechanical trade.” the cittadini had no politi-
cal power, but many were employed in the upper echelons of the “civil
service” of Venice, providing the government with stability in the face of
the frequent rotation of the nobles in the various councils, courts, and
magistracies of the republic. other cittadini earned their living engaging
in urban professions such as law and medicine, and serving as notaries
and scribes. Like the nobles, they could engage freely in trade in the city
as well as with the Levant, and many were large-scale merchants and trad-
ers. eventually, the ranks of the cittadini were closed, as had been that of
the nobles, and their families were registered in the Libro d’argento (silver
Book), parallel to the Libro d’oro of the nobles. However, Venetians who
met the requisite qualifications could still request to be admitted to cit-
tadini status. the remaining approximately 90 per cent of the population
of the city, the popolo minuto, had no political or economic rights and
served as the large working force needed to keep the city functioning.
their numbers included many unemployed, sick, and indigent individu-
als, although they had no monopoly on poverty, for nobles and cittadini
could also be poor.
it was possible for individual immigrants who desired to do so to give
up all links and associations with their places of origin, to assimilate, and
to be absorbed into the mainsteam of the populo minuto. their integra-
tion could be socially facilitated by marrying a spouse who was a native
or at least a long-time resident of Venice. additionally, most significantly,
foreigners could request to be admitted to one of two types of citizen-
ship. the first, known as cittadinanza de intus (internal citizenship), above
all enabled its holder to engage in trade within Venice and to acquire
real estate. Legislation of 1305 fixed the requisite requirement as continu-
ous residence in Venice and payment of taxes for 15 years, subsequently
shortened as needed to attract immigrants during the course of the 14th
century. non-Venetians who desired to acquire the zealously guarded
privilege of engaging in international maritime trade with the Levant and
paying the same lower customs rate as the Venetian nobles and cittadini
originarii had to acquire a second kind of citizenship, known as cittadi-
nanza de intus et de extra (internal and external citizenship) that required
25 prior years of residence as taxpayers in the city and then had to be
renewed every five years.4 Legislation of 1407 provided that by marrying
4 For a recent discussion of the changing requirements for citizenship in Venice, see
anna Bellavitis, Identité, mariage, mobilité, mobilité sociale: citoyennes et citoyens à Venise