Back to Results
Cover image of Genoa and the Sea
Cover image of Genoa and the Sea
Share this Title:

Genoa and the Sea

Policy and Power in an Early Modern Maritime Republic, 1559–1684

Thomas Allison Kirk

Publication Date
Binding Type

Genoa enjoyed an important and ever-changing role in the early modern Mediterranean world. In medieval times, the city transformed itself from a tumultuous maritime republic into a stable and prosperous one, making it one of the most important financial centers in Europe. When Spanish influence in the Mediterranean world began to decline, Genoa, its prosperity closely linked with Spain's, again had to reinvent itself and its economic stature.

In Genoa and the Sea, historian Thomas Allison Kirk reconstructs the early modern Mediterranean world and closely studies Genoa's attempt to evolve in...

Genoa enjoyed an important and ever-changing role in the early modern Mediterranean world. In medieval times, the city transformed itself from a tumultuous maritime republic into a stable and prosperous one, making it one of the most important financial centers in Europe. When Spanish influence in the Mediterranean world began to decline, Genoa, its prosperity closely linked with Spain's, again had to reinvent itself and its economic stature.

In Genoa and the Sea, historian Thomas Allison Kirk reconstructs the early modern Mediterranean world and closely studies Genoa's attempt to evolve in the ever-changing political and economic landscape. He focuses on efforts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to revive shipbuilding and maritime commerce as a counterbalance to the city's volatile financial sector. A key component to the plan was a free port policy that attracted merchants and stimulated trade.

Through extensive research and close reading of primary documents, Kirk discusses the underpinnings of this complex early modern republic. Genoa's transformations offer insight into the significant and sweeping changes that were taking place all over Europe.

Reviews

Reviews

Highly recommended.

An excellent appetizer on the subject of early modern Genoese naval power.

This book treats a neglected subject—the maritime policy of an early modern Mediterranean state—with a new and refreshing approach.

This is an interesting and important book, not least because it rescues from near oblivion (for the English-language reader) an important Italian and Mediterranean state whose experience in the early modern era merits greater attention than it has so far received.

A valuable addition to the literature on the economic history of the Mediterranean.

See All Reviews
About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
296
ISBN
9781421409665
Illustration Description
11 halftones, 3 line drawings
Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. The Republic Genoa in the Early Modern World
2. The Genoese and the Republic of Genoa
3. Public Galleys and Private Interests, 1559–1607
4

List of Illustrations and Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. The Republic Genoa in the Early Modern World
2. The Genoese and the Republic of Genoa
3. Public Galleys and Private Interests, 1559–1607
4. Diplomacy and the Rearmament Debate: The Weight of the Spanish Alliance, 1607–1640
5. The Lure of the World's Seas, 1640–1680
6. Galleons, Galleys, and the Free Port: Ships and Power in a Little Country
7. Conclusion: A Century of Ships and Paper
Appendix A: Operating Costs of "Free Galleys," 1646
Appendix B: Breakdown of Annual Operating
Expenses of a Mixed-Crew Galley, 1652
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Author Bio