Sea-based city-states on the Italian peninsula and Dalmatia during the Middle Ages
The Italian Navy's coat of arms (left) features the coats of arms of the best known maritime republics (from top left and clockwise): Venice, Genoa, Pisa, and Amalfi. On the right is a map with the locations and coats of arms of the maritime republics of medieval Italy: Venice, Genoa, Amalfi, Pisa, Noli, Ancona, Ragusa, Gaeta.
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The maritime republics (Italian: repubbliche marinare), also called merchant republics (Italian: repubbliche mercantili), were Italian thalassocratic port cities which, starting from the Middle Ages, enjoyed political autonomy and economic prosperity brought about by their maritime activities. The term, coined during the 19th century, generally refers to four Italian cities, whose coats of arms have been shown since 1947 on the flags of the Italian Navy and the Italian Merchant Navy:[1] Amalfi, Genoa, Pisa, and Venice. In addition to the four best known cities, Ancona,[2][3] Gaeta,[4] Noli,[5][6][7] and, in Dalmatia, Ragusa, are also considered maritime republics; in certain historical periods, they had no secondary importance compared to some of the better known cities.
Uniformly scattered across the Italian peninsula, the maritime republics were important not only for the history of navigation and commerce: in addition to precious goods otherwise unobtainable in Europe, new artistic ideas and news concerning distant countries also spread. From the 10th century, they built fleets of ships both for their own protection and to support extensive trade networks across the Mediterranean, giving them an essential role in reestablishing contacts between Europe, Asia, and Africa, which had been interrupted during the early Middle Ages. They also had an essential role in the Crusades and produced renowned explorers and navigators such as Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus.[8]
Over the centuries, the maritime republics — both the best known and the lesser known but not always less important — experienced fluctuating fortunes. In the 9th and 10th centuries, this phenomenon began with Amalfi and Gaeta, which soon reached their heyday. Meanwhile, Venice began its gradual ascent, while the other cities were still experiencing the long gestation that would lead them to their autonomy and to follow up on their seafaring vocation. After the 11th century, Amalfi and Gaeta declined rapidly, while Genoa and Venice became the most powerful republics. Pisa followed and experienced its most flourishing period in the 13th century, and Ancona and Ragusa allied to resist Venetian power. Following the 14th century, while Pisa declined to the point of losing its autonomy, Venice and Genoa continued to dominate navigation, followed by Ragusa and Ancona, which experienced their golden age in the 15th century. In the 16th century, with Ancona's loss of autonomy, only the republics of Venice, Genoa, and Ragusa remained, which still experienced great moments of splendor until the mid-17th century, followed by over a century of slow decline that ended with the Napoleonic invasion.
^"La Bandiera della Marina Militare". Marina Militare (in Italian). Ministero della Difesa. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
^The International Geographic Encyclopedia and Atlas, Ancona (p. 27), Springer, 1979. ISBN 9781349050024.
^Peris Persi, in Conoscere l'Italia, vol. Marche, Istituto Geografico De Agostini, Novara 1982 (p. 74); AA.VV. Meravigliosa Italia, Enciclopedia delle regioni, edited by Valerio Lugoni, Aristea, Milano; Guido Piovene, in Tuttitalia, Casa Editrice Sansoni, Firenze & Istituto Geografico De Agostini, Novara (p. 31); Pietro Zampetti, in Itinerari dell'Espresso, vol. Marche, edited by Neri Pozza, Editrice L'Espresso, Rome, 1980
^Touring Club Italiano, Lazio Touring Editore, 1981 (p. 743); Giovanna Bergamaschi, Arte in Italia: guida ai luoghi ed alle opere dell'Italia artistica, Electa, 1983 (p. 243); Salvatore Aurigemma, Angelo de Santis, Gaeta, Formia, Minturno.
^Giovanni Murialdo, Dinamiche territoriali e commerciali nella Noli signorile e comunale..., in: Mauro Darchi, Francesca Bandini, La repubblica di Noli e l'importanza dei porti minori del Mediterraneo nel Medioevo, Firenze, All'Insegna del Giglio, 2004 (p. 9)
^Bohun Lynch, The Italian Riviera: Its Scenery, Customs, and Food, with Notes Upon the Maritime Alps, Doubleday, Doran, 1927 (p. 159).
^AA. VV., Medioevo latino, bollettino bibliografico della cultura europea da Boezio a Erasmo (secoli VI – XV), volume 28, Sismel Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2007, (p. 1338); Giuseppe Gallo, La Repubblica di Genova tra nobili e popolari (1257–1528), edizioni De Ferrari, 1997, p. 44
^"Trade in Medieval Europe". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
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