Recensione a "Interessi e Regole", English Historical Review, 2017

English Historical Review © Oxford University Press 2017. All rights reserved. BOOK REVIEW Interessi e regole: Operatori e istituzioni nel commercio transalpino in età moderna (secoli XVI–XIX), ed. Andrea Bonoldi, Andrea Leonardi and Katia Occhi (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2012; pp. 334. €25). The collected volume under review, edited by Andrea Bonoldi, Andrea Leonardi and Katia Occhi, is geographically centred on the Central and Eastern Alps, that is, an area dominated by the Republic of Venice and by the Habsburg Empire, but where counties, bishoprics and dukedoms played a relevant role. In other words, there was a multi-layered political power structure where central interests and state legislation clashed with, or at least had to confront, local ones. Within this framework, the interplay between formal and informal institutions has been studied by the authors of the ten essays contained in the volume in order to assess their influence on the economic dynamics of the early modern period. This work is the final result of an interdisciplinary project linking the Department of Economics of the University of Trent and the ‘Istituto storico italo-germanico’, part of the Bruno Kessler Foundation, in the same city. Bolzano and its celebrated commercial fairs lie at the heart of the volume because they are approached (from different perspectives) in half of the essays. In particular, the archive of the Magistrato mercantile (the mercantile court), officially founded in 1635, offers the opportunity to evaluate the efficiency of the system through the analysis of a large number of judicial cases. The mercantile court was created by the state in order to meet the needs of merchants (mainly foreigners) who frequented the fairs; but its functioning was delegated to the merchants themselves, who, in turn, benefited from the capability of the former to impose sanctions. An analysis of almost 800 trials for two sample periods (1633–8 and 1697–1701) allows Andrea Bonoldi to confirm the efficiency of this system, which is also examined by the essay of Luciano Andreozzi, Marco Faillo and Edoardo Gaffeo—who, in turn, use for their study econometric instruments such as the prisoner’s dilemma. Stefano Barbacetto, on the other hand, presents a case of perceived injustice, where the debate deviates from the juridical to the moral ground. In addition to merchants, other players were important at these fairs: the members of the mercantile court obviously had a decisive role in the pursuit of justice, and Katia Occhi describes the multifaceted career of one of them, who also had much wider interests, including his own commercial activities and loans to the dukes. Another actor was the broker (sensale). Merchants at the fairs were not compelled to use his services in their commercial transactions, but the post was nonetheless sought after, particularly by merchants from Rovereto (Markus Denzel). If a system that works efficiently (because laws were made and enforced) certainly favours the smooth functioning of trade, other less tangible elements also constitute a pillar of commercial relations, i.e. trust and reputation, which Cinzia Lorandini analyses with particular reference to the silk sector. Typically, these elements are stronger when there is a familial kinship, as Francisco EHR Page 2 of 2 BOOK REVIEW Vianello shows through the analysis of a particular case-study, and need to be reinforced and widened by the establishment of strategic marriage alliances (Claudio Lorenzini) The multilayered relations between ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ institutions obviously led to moments of conflict and agreement. Sometimes the conflict was ‘vertical’, between central and local government, at other times it was ‘horizontal’—for example, between the more traditional land-owning élite and the more dynamic mercantile class (Aleksander Panjek). Some of the essays analyse the evolution of certain regions at specific key moments: Werner Drobesch, for example, focuses on the ‘enlightened absolutism’ of the Habsburg state in the period 1740–90 and the way its political attitudes towards customs duties favoured the development of new routes. Other contributions offer case-studies chosen either for their representativeness or for their exceptionality; in both cases, however, they pave the way for further study. One of the common threads that link the essays together, in addition to the interaction between institutions (formal and informal), is the type of sources used. If the majority (five) largely rely on the records of the Bolzano Magistrates’ Court, others (three) use notarial archives. What is regrettable (but which is certainly not the editors’ or the authors’ fault) is the absence of private documentation, which would certainly have enriched this volume. In conclusion, though geographically limited, the scope of this work can be inserted in a broader context, and is an interesting addition to the long-standing debate about the role of formal and informal institutions (and the interaction between them at various levels) in shaping the economic development of early modern Europe. FRANCESCO GUIDI-BRUSCOLI University of Florence doi:10.1093/ehr/cex109 EHR