Are there some books about competition between Italian city-states?

by Ezekiel0505

Hello! Is there any books or researches about competition for economy domination between Italian city-states? Well-known that Venice and Genua were two developed merchant republics, wich had a contest for influence in the mediterranean sea. I'd like to know about it more, in details. Рreferably including other states like Piza, Milano etc.

AlviseFalier

Just in case my suggestions below are altogether too esoteric, most of what you're interested in might be covered in Italy in the Age of the Renaissance by John M. Najemy

The thing is, it's difficult to find something that is simultaneously broad and detailed: The more you include (e.g., many Italian states) the less details are necessarily going to be included (same goes for individual themes: The more economic activities you include in a given study, the less detail you will find). But as long as we're exclusively talking about book recommendations for Italian economic history, you can consider the titles in the following list (all are originally written in English, which is itself a bit of a limiting factor as it means I've excluded Gino Luzzato's universal Storia Economica dell'Italia Medioevale, but in any case it should do. The titles are listed from most general to most esoteric based on my own recollection):

  • Harry A. Miskimin, The Economy of Early Renaissance Europe, 1300-1460 (Cambridge, 1975)
  • Eliyahu Ashtor, Levant Trade in the Later Middle Ages, (Princeton, 1983)
  • van der Wee (ed.), The Rise and Decline of Urban Industries in Italy and in the Low Countries (Late Middle Ages-Early Modern Times), (Leuven, 1988)
  • Richard Mackenney, Tradesmen and Traders. The World of the Guilds in Venice and Europe, c. 1250-c. 1650, (London & Sidney, 1987)
  • Gene A. Brucker, Florentine Politics and Society, 1343-1378 (Princeton, 1963) - As an aside, this is more of an "Compensatory Florentine inclusion" as a lot of Economic History works focus on Venice, Italy's most prosperous economic center in the Renaissance.
  • Maureen Fennell, Mazzaoui, The Italian Cotton Industry in the Later Middle Ages, 1100-1600 (Cambridge, 1981)
  • R.C. Davis, The Shipbuilders of the Venetian Arsenal (Baltimore, 1991)
  • Alwyn A. Ruddock, Italian Merchants and Shipping in Southampton, 1270-1600 (Southampton 1951)
  • Edmund Fryde, The English Cloth Industry and the Trade with the Mediterranean, c. 1370-c. 1480 (Florence, 1976)