310 edoardo demo
selling of silk goods in Milan, Genoa, Lyons, antwerp, Frankfurt, nurem-
berg, and Leipzig.
Other manufacturing Sectors
Between the 15th and 18th centuries, wool and silk production were not
the only types of manufacturing practiced in the Venetian terraferma.
Indeed, as has been recently underlined for the territory of Vicenza in
particular, “the coexistence of a variety of types of production and special-
izations which survived in the same territory and sometimes coexisted in
the same domestic unit was a peculiar feature of the foothill stretch, and
distinguished it from the plains where the entire population was devoted
to working the fields.”40 so it was that, as previously mentioned, other
manufacturing sectors experienced significant development in the period
under examination, distinguished by a significant investment of capital
and a production frequently geared for exportation. such was the case
for leatherwork, the mining industry, paper, wood and glass, the produc-
tion of salnitrate and materials for use in war, printing, ceramics, and the
working of straw hats. some of these, such as paper production, already
had a centuries-long tradition of some importance; others, like the min-
ing industry, experienced phases of intense activity in the early modern
period and were marked by the employment of significant capital; still
others, as in ceramic and straw-hat production, would take off only in
the late 17th century, playing a fundamental role in the overall domestic
income for a long time to come.41 Let us take a look at some of them.
already widespread in much of the Venetian terraferma by the later
Middle ages, the working of paper witnessed a period of strong growth
in the late 16th century and continued to increase through the 17th and
18th centuries. this was a sector which spread throughout the Veneto
(particularly around salò near Lake Garda, areas to the north of Vicenza
and treviso, but also around Verona and padua) without concentrating
itself in a particular zone, able to enjoy the investment capital of Venetian
patricians tempted by the potential profits of a product in great demand
internationally. the growth of the paper sector also led to undoubted ben-
efits for the recovery of another activity present in the terraferma from the
40 Vianello, Seta fine e panni grossi, p. 257.
41 see the bibliographic information in note 14.