“Non così strani, né così duri”. La dogana di Barletta nel 1483-84 e gli spazi economici di una città nel regno di Napoli

Abstract

This article deals with the economic role of towns in the late-medieval kingdom of Naples, considering the case of Barletta. The focus is on a custom register from Barletta for 1483-84, which allows to examine the economic flows that crossed the city and the identity of the involved players. This source also shows the complex nature of fiscal barriers, which were not just obstacles on the road to economic integration. Instead, they constituted a fundamental ingredient in the segmented forms of integration that characterised late medieval economic spaces. On the basis of this approach, an interpretation is outlined regarding the role of Barletta and the people of Barletta within the Kingdom's, Adriatic and Mediterranean spaces. Its aim is to mediate between readings that are too rigidly neo-institutionalist or, vice versa, too pessimistic in proposing a centre-periphery interpretation of the relations between central-northern and southern Italy.

Keywords

• late middle ages
• kingdom of naples
• barletta
• taxation
• economy