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Patterns in Medieval Trade: The Commerce of Amalfi Before the Crusades

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2011

Armand O. Citarella
Armand O. Citarella
Affiliation:
St. Michael's College, Vermont
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Extract

The long and glorious commercial history of Amalfi, which began some time about the middle of the eighth century, came to an abrupt end on November 24, 1343. On that day a raging storm accompanied by a tidal wave destroyed the lower town and swallowed all the harbor installations, including the famed sea fortifications. From that blow Amalfi never recovered. The present lovely resort appears as a most unlikely setting for a republic which was once a great maritime town in the western Mediterranean.

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Articles
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The Journal of Economic History , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , December 1968 , pp. 531 - 555
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Copyright © The Economic History Association 1968

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References

1 For the bibliographical notes on this episode, see , Citarella, “Relations, ” p. 299, n. 3Google Scholar.

2 Ibid., p. 311, n. 85.

3 The often unreliable Cronica Amalfitana mentions a settlement in Antioch in the tenth century. Such an early date must be doubted. A Ruga Amalfitanorum is found there, however, at the time of the Crusaders’ capture of the town. This and other similar establishments of Amalfitan merchants in all the main ports of Syria and Palestine are attested by Tyre, William of, Historiae Return in Partibus Transmarinis Gestarum, in R.H.C. Occ. (Paris, 1844), Vol. I, Part I, Book I, ch. x, and Part II, Book XVIII, ch. ivGoogle Scholar.

4 Camera, M., Memorie storico-diplomatiche di Amalfi, 2 vols. (Salerno, 1876)Google Scholar;Heyd, W., Histoire du commerce du Levant, 2 vols. (1885, reprinted, Amsterdam; A. M. Hakkert, 1959) 1, 98–108Google Scholar; Schaube, A., Storia del Commercio dei popoli latini fino alle Crociate (Ital. Transl., Turin: Unione Tipografica, 1915) pp. 41 ffGoogle Scholar. More recent accounts are by Monti, G., “II commercio marittdmo di Amalfi fuori d'ltalia nell'altomedioevo, ” Rivista Storica del Diritto di Navigazione,” VI (1940), 389–401Google Scholar and idem., L'espansione mediterranea del mezzogiorno d'ltalia e delta Sicilia (Bologna: N. Zanichelli, 1942); Coniglio, G., “Amalfi e il suo commercio nel medioevo, ” Nuova Rivista Storica, XVIII-XIX (1944-1945), 100–114Google Scholar. The works of Berza, M., “Amalfi Preducale, ” Ephemeris Dacoromana, VIII (Rome: Libreria di scienze e lettere, 1938), 349–444Google Scholar and Galasso, G., “Le cittá campane nell'alto medioevo, ” in Archivio Storico Napoletano, XXXVIII (n.s. 1959), 11–42Google Scholar, XXXIX (n.s. 1960), 11-57 stand apart. It is in fact with Berza that the early history of Amalfi has received for the first time the scholarly treatment that it deserves. The more recent works by Galasso have cast new light particularly on the social and economic aspects of the history of the towns of Campania in the High Middle Ages. Neither Berza, however, nor Galasso was aiming at a systematic study of the commerce of Amalfi, particularly in the period preceding the Crusades. Thus while some of their observations on the subject show fresh insights, their main point of view remains in line with the traditional account. “L'occidente e l'Islam nell'alto medioevo, ” in Settimana di Spoleto, XII (1965) contains articles by Rizzitano, U., Cahen, C., and Lopez, R. S.Google Scholar which have contributed to the point of view expressed in this study.

5 A distinction must be made on this point. Beginning with the Fatimid conquest, Amalfitan merchants began to frequent in increasing numbers the markets in Egypt. This shift of operations to Egypt increased, no doubt, during the eleventh century mainly as the result of two causes: (1) the liberal policy toward foreign merchants practiced by the new rulers of Egypt and (2) the end of the prosperity of Tunisia caused by the disastrous invasion of the Hilal and Sulaym tribesmen in the middle of the eleventh century.

6 The diplomas of Amalfi are full of transactions for the purchase of land and real estate, sometimes for very considerable amounts. The following is a sampling of the more relevant deeds. In 860 a vineyard is sold for “… auri tremissi viginti quinque monete domini Arigis Benebenti principis” (Filangieri, R., Codice Diplomatico Amalfitano [Naples: Stab. Tipografico S. Morano, 1917], II, 292 [DLXXXIV].Google Scholar) In 977 a group of people from Atrani buys a very large bloc of lands for the impressive amount of 1010 pounds of silver, and, sometime later, another bloc of lands for 1050 pounds of silver (Codex Diplomaticus Cavensis, II, 106 [CCXCVI] and III [CCXCIX].) In 1018 there is a purchase of lands for 97 gold tari, in 1060 another for 120 gold tari, and in 1062 some chestnut groves for 185 gold tari. In 1098 a whole estate is sold for 1000 tari, “… unde accepimus a vos … sanationem idest auri solidos ducentos quinquaginta de tari boni ana tari quattuor per solidum” (Filangieri, I, 49 [XXXIV], 105 [LXVII], 101 [LXIX]; II, 302 [DXCIV].) As for real estate, in the city of Amalfi in 970 a house “sita in piano, ” i.e., near the harbor, with two shops is sold for the very considerable sum of 70 mancusi, “… auri solidos mansi [sic] septuaginta ana tari quattuor per mancosum” (ibid., I, 13 (VIII).)

7 , Citarella, “Relations, ” pp. 303–12Google Scholar.

8 References to these documents appear in Goitein, S. D., A Mediterranean Society: I Economic Foundations (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967)Google Scholar. I owe to Professor Goitein a great debt of gratitude for allowing me access to and permission to use the material in this article, as well as for advice on a number of problems relating to the Geniza papers.

9 , Citarella, “Relations, ” pp. 303–12Google Scholar.

10 Any attempt to give here even an abbreviated bibliography of the vast material available would be clearly outside the limits imposed by this article. Two of the better general bibliographies are in The Cambridge Economic History, II, 537-43, 555-56, and in Lopez, R. S. and Raymond, I. W., Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World (New York: Columbia University Press, 1955), pp. 427–45Google Scholar.

11 The persecution of non-Muslims by the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hākim (c. 1012) was brief and quite extraordinary.

12 , Goitein, Mediterranean Society, I, 61, 66Google Scholar.

13 , Citarella, “Relations, ” p. 300, n. 5Google Scholar.

14 “Pactum Sicardi, ” in Padelletti, G., Fontes iuris Italici medii aevi (Turin, 1877), pp. 308–24Google Scholar.

15 The verb peragere is used with the word negotium in another part of the document (ch. v). The obvious meaning of this title is therefore: In what manner should the Amalfitans carry out their trade.

16 See , Schaube, Storia, pp. 41 ffGoogle Scholar.

17 , Galasso, “Le cittá campane, ” XXXIX, 25–26Google Scholar.

18 Whereas the policy of Amalfi with the Arabs remains linear, Naples, at times, departed from it. Two episodes at least attest to this. In 915 Naples took part in the operations to dislodge the Arabs entrenched at the mouth of the Garigliano River. The Arab attacks against her in 928 indicate a state of open hostility. In both of these episodes Amalfi was on good terms with the Arabs and remained unmolested (, Citarella, “Relations, ” pp. 309–10)Google Scholar.

19 Solmi, A., “Honorantie Civitatis Papie, ” in L'Amministrazione finanziaria del regno italico nell'alto medioevo (Pavia: Tipografia Cooperativa, 1942), pp. 107–8Google Scholar. There is also a very interesting example of a contract “a colonna” for a trading voyage from Amalfi to Ravenna, via Sicily (Cod. Dipl. Amalf., II, 304 (DXCVI).

20 , Citarella, “Relations, ” pp. 309–10Google Scholar.

21 Here we must also add that Norman Conquest marks really the beginning of the end of the “gran commercio” of Amalfi. To , Coniglio (“Amalfi, ” pp. 104–7)Google Scholar it appeared to be still flourishing throughout the thirteenth century. As a matter of fact, its importance was only relative to the enormous progress made by western trade in the Mediterranean after the Crusades. The conquest, in truth, precipitated that steady decline, in relation to the great maritime states of Italy, which reduced Amalfi to a role of decisive dependence in the overall expansion of western trade, as already justly noted by , Galasso (“Le cittá campane, ” p. 46)Google Scholar. On this point see also Luzzatto, G., Storia Economica d'ltalia: II Medioevo (Florence: Sansoni Ed., 1963), p. 100Google Scholar.

22 , Heyd, Histoire, I, 113Google Scholar; also , Luzzatto, Storia Economica, p. 80Google Scholar.

23 The industrial value of the forests of southern Italy was very low due, no doubt, to their abundance and to the difficulties of transportation. For these reasons, lumbering concessions were granted at very low prices. There are two interesting documents in the Codex Cavensis, II, 315 (CDXXXVII); IV, 80 (DLXXXVII). In the first one (May 991) “… Disiio et Lando germani filii Inghelgardi presbiteri” grant to “Petri magistri da Cilianu, qui facit materie de barche ipsa montania nostra cum silva et quertietum que habemus in loco falezzu et cetara et carvonara et ferolitu, et licet eum inde lignamen abscindere et faciendum indi materie de barcha amodo et unum annum completum unde modo debit nobis inde quinque auri tari.” In the second document (1006) the same grantors give similar concession to Petrie de Amalfi f. Ursi for a “censum duo auri tari”.

24 The Byzantines strongly disapproved of all traders that carried war materials to their enemies. The embattled Macedonian emperors were particularly strict. In 971 John Tzimisces threatened immediate destruction by fire to all ships caught in this trade. The Venetian doge immediately forbade the sale of these forbidden materials to the Saracens on pain of a very heavy fine and even death. See , Heyd, Histoire, I, 113Google Scholar. There is no mention that the authorities of Amalfi ever took a similar step.

25 Charlemagne in 785 chided Pope Hadrian I saying that he permitted the sale of slaves. The Pope excused himself saying that the sale of slaves was practiced by the Lombards and the Greeks of Campania (Codex Carolinus, ed. Gretser, , epist. 75)Google Scholar. See also Liber Pontificate, Vita Zachariae Papae, ed. Vignoli, II, 79; and , Cenni, Monumenta dominationis pontificiae, I, 369 ffGoogle Scholar. The most important document, of course, is the “Pactum Sicardi” which states unequivocally the existence of this slave trade along the borders of the principality of Benevento and puts as condition of peace that the Neapolitans and their allies, including the Amalfitans, will not sell Lombard subjects overseas. See , Padelletti, Fontes, pp. 318–24Google Scholar.

26 Nef, J. U., “Mining and Metallurgy in Medieval Civilization, ” in Cambridge Economic History, I, 434Google Scholar.

27 In spite of the great encouragement given to mining and metallurgy by Swabian and Angevin kings, pig iron was still imported by the Angevin kings (Yver, G., Le commerce et les merchands dans l'ltalie meridionale au XIIIe et XIVe siècle [Paris: A. Fontemoing, 1903], p. 82)Google Scholar.

28 , Cenni, Monumenta, II, 60 ff., 72 ffGoogle Scholar.

29 The most terrible and prolonged famine period in North Africa was recorded from 1004 to 1022, as reported by Amari, M., Storia dei Musulmani di Sicilia (Florence, 1854), II, 358–59Google Scholar. Other periods of famine occurred in 1033-1034 and 1040-1042. See Idris, H. R., La Berbérie Orientate sous tes Zirides, Xe-XIIe Siècles (Paris: Librairie d'Amerique et d'Orient, Adrian Maisonneuve, 1962), II, 658Google Scholar.

30 This important letter published by Goitein, S. D. in Tarbiz, XXXVI (Sept. 1966), 67, 72Google Scholar, was brought to my attention by the publisher, who very kindly translated it for me from the original Hebrew.

31 On this point see Anon. Salern., Chronicon, in Muratori, R.I.S., II, 2. In 947, Crinite, the Byzantine commander in Calabria, bought large quantities of wheat in order to resell them in Sicily at a much higher price (, Amari, Storia, II, 203)Google Scholar.

32 Historia Sabae Malaspinea, V. ch. i, in , Muratori, R.I.S., VIII, 859Google Scholar.

33 Huillard-Brèholles, J. L. A., Historia Diplomatica Frederici Secundi (Paris, 1852) II, 277Google Scholar.

34 , Villani, Chronica, VII, 38Google Scholar.

35 All large purchases of wheat, since the Norman period, had to be made through the royal fisc, which in this way controlled exports from the kingdom. The Angevin kings found ways of effecting sales abroad through their own agents (, Yver, Le Commerce, pp. 28-29, 104 ff.)Google Scholar.

36 Ibid.

37 Anon. , Salern., Chronicon, II, 2Google Scholar.

38 , Liutprand, Legat. Constan. (MGH.SS), III (1839), p. 359Google Scholar.

39 , Huillard-Brèholles, Historia, III, 300Google Scholar.

40 Loffredo, S., Storia di Barletta (Trani, 1893), I, 179Google Scholar.

41 See “Pactum Sicardi, ” in Padelletti, Fontes. As late as 1120 the great opulence of the Amalfitan colony of Benevento was a source of wonder to the visiting Pope Callixtus II (, Camera, Memorie, I, 208)Google Scholar.

42 Gattula, E., Historia Cassinensis (Venice, 1732), II, 749Google Scholar.

43 Rinaldi, O., Memorie di Capua (Naples, 1756), II, 168Google Scholar.

44 , Camera, Memorie, II, 351Google Scholar.

45 Ibid., 351-52.

46 Carabellese, F., Saggio di storia del commercio della Puglia (Bari, 1897), p. 117Google Scholar.

47 , Mabillon, Annales ordinis S. Benedicti, IV, 421Google Scholar. The act of donation, which shows that all signatories are from Ravello, was published in , Camera, Memorie, I, 207Google Scholar.

48 The patents granted by Swabian and Angevin kings to these Amalfitan establishments are always in the form of confirmation of privileges and rights which had pertained to them for a very long time, longer, in fact, than anyone could assess. See , Loffredo, Storia I, 179Google Scholar, and , Yver, Le Commerce, p. 187Google Scholar, nn. 2, 3, 4, 5.

49 Documentary evidence of the commerce of Amalfi in Sicily is of the twelfth century, when we find streets and quarters named after them in most of the main towns. When we consider, however, the close relations with the Arabs since the latter's conquest of the island, it appears logical that these establishments go back to the Arab period. , Luzzato (Storia Economica, p. 99)Google Scholar is of this opinion. On this point, see also among many others: , Yver, Le Commerce, p. 184Google Scholar; , SchaubeStoria, p. 45Google Scholar.

50 The loss of political autonomy after the Norman Conquest led to an exodus of merchants and entrepreneurs. From Amalfi they went to strengthen their commercial colonies of southern Italy (, Camera, Memorie, I, 533)Google Scholar, and the Middle East (, Coniglio, “Amalfi, ” p. 104)Google Scholar. As the fortunes of the little republic declined, the role of these Amalfitan merchants in southern Italy became a subordinate one. They were no longer the principals in the “gran commercio” but only the agents of the great northern merchants from Genoa and later on from Florence. In 1336 the Bardi bought corn at Manfredonia from “diversis personis, ” one of whom at least was from Ravello (Lopez, R. S., “Trade of Medieval Europe: The South, ” in Cambridge Economic History, II, 262)Google Scholar. Genoese firms imported large quantities of agricultural products from southern Italy, especially salt pork, through Amalfitan merchants who bought them all over the south of the peninsula (, Camera, Memorie, II, 42–43)Google Scholar.

51 , Boccaccio, Decameron, II, 4Google Scholar.

52 , Yver, Le Commerce, p. 29, n. 2Google Scholar. It is doubtful that these storage facilities were built during the Angevin period, since ports better favored by nature and more accessible from the hinterland than Amalfi were available to the Angevin kings.

53 A considerable number of diplomas from Amalfi, dating as early as 907, contain numerous transactions for the sale or lease of milling time for considerable amounts. Cod. Dipl. Amalf., I, 1 (I), 2 (II), 15 (IX), 71 (XLVI), 119 (LXXIV); II, 295 (DLXXXVI).

54 , Luzzatto, Storia Economica, p. 99Google Scholar.

55 Retaliatory measures were not long in coming. Following the conquest of Amalfi by his enemies, the Normans, the Byzantine emperor Alexis Comnenus forced all Amalfitan owners of shops in Constantinople and the empire to pay a yearly contribution of 3 hyperpers to the church of St. Mark in Venice (, Heyd, Histoire, I, 108)Google Scholar.

56 On this point see especially Pontieri, E., “La crisi di Amalfi Medievale, ” in Archivio Storico Napoletano, XX (NS), 37Google Scholar. My own conclusions, however, are different. In another study in this series I hope to bring more light on this very important point.

57 On this point contemporary sources are particularly plentiful. For the bibliography, see , Heyd, Histoire, I, 385–88Google Scholar; Lopez, R. S., “Silk Industry in the Byzantine Empire, ” Speculum, XX (1945), 38–39Google Scholar; , Citarella, “Relations, ” p. 305, n. 44Google Scholar.

58 Lopez, “Silk, ” ibid.

59 , Goitein, Mediterranean Society, I, 46Google Scholar.

60 Actually there are two consecutive acts that mention this voyage, CCC and CCCI of the Codex Diplomaticus Cavensis, I, 114-15.

61 Cahen, C., “Un texte peu connu relatif au commerce oriental d'Amalfi au Xe siècle, ” Archivio Storico Napoletano, XXXIV (N.S.), 61–67Google Scholar.

62 See n. 8.

63 , Goitein, Mediterranean Society, I, 46, 402, n. 33Google Scholar.

64 Ibid., pp. 325, 484, n. 80.

65 Ibid., pp. 329, 484, n. 14.

66 Stern, S. M., “An Original Document from the Fatimid Chancery concerning Italian Merchants, ” Studi orientalistici in onore di Giorgio Levi della Vida (Rome: Istituto per l'Oriente, 1956), II, 529–38Google Scholar.

67 Ibid., p. 533.

68 , Citarella, “Relations, ” p. 311, n. 85Google Scholar.

69 Gibb, A. R., “The Caliphate and the Arab States, ” Setton, K. (ed.), in A History of the Crusades (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1958), I, 96Google Scholar.

70 , Heyd, Histoire, I, 385Google Scholar.

71 A letter from the Geniza of August 28, 1140, mentions the arrival at Alexandria of one in a convoy of twelve Genoese ships ( , Goitein, Mediterranean Society, I, 317)Google Scholar. Moreover, the notarial acts of Giovanni Scriba show that during a ten-year period (1154-1164) Alexandria was the destination of no less than sixty-six commercial contracts ( Chiaudano, M. and Moresco, M., II Cartolario di Giovanni Scriba [Rome: R. istituto storico italiano per il medio evo, 1935]Google Scholar). Heyd, W, Histoire, I, 388Google Scholar.

73 , Camera, Memorie, I, 435Google Scholar.

74 On the importance of this industry see, Schipa, M., “II ducato di Napoli, ” in Archivio Storico Napoletano, XVIII (1893), 262Google Scholar.

75 , Amari, Storia, II, 178, n. 8Google Scholar.

76 , Amari, Biblioteca Arabo-Sicula, I, 24–25Google Scholar.

77 , Al-Edrisi, L'ltalia descritta nel “Libro di re Ruggiero, ” p. 95Google Scholar.

78 See the relative table in Lizier, A., L'economia rurale nelVetd prenormanna nell'Italia tneridionale: Studii su documenti editi dei secoli IX-XI (Palermo: A. Reber, 1907), p. 125, n. 1Google Scholar.

79 , Amari, Storia, II, 445Google Scholar.

80 Koran, V, 92–93Google Scholar.

81 , Amari, Storia, II, 445, n. 6Google Scholar; idem., Cuerra del Vespro Siciliarto (Florence, 1851), p. 209.

82 , Heyd, Histoire, I, 96, 97, n. 1Google Scholar;Schipa, M., “Storia del principato di Salerno, ” in Archivio Storica Napoletano, VII (1882), 227Google Scholar;Pegolotti, F., La pratica della mercatura, Evans, A. (ed.) (Cambridge, Mass.: The Medieval Academy of America, 1936) pp. 72-73, 134, 176 ff., 185 ffGoogle Scholar.

83 See , Lazier, L'economia rurale, pp. 122–23Google Scholar.

84 , Heyd, Histoire, I, 98–108Google Scholar;, Schaube, Storia, p. 47Google Scholar;, Monti, Il Commercio, pp. 389–401Google Scholar;, Coniglio, “Amalfi, ” p. 104Google Scholar.

85 Cod. Dipl. Anudf., I, 33 (SSI), 64 (XLII), 69 (XLV), 74 (XLVIII), 77 (L), 97 (LXI), 108 (LXVIII), 110 (LXIX), 119 (LXXIV).

86 See n. 46.

87 , Luzzatto, Storia Economica, p. 102Google Scholar;Lombard, M., “Les bases mone'taires d'une suprématie économique. L'or musulman du Vile au Xle siècles, ” in Annales, Economie, Sociétés, Civilisations, II (1947), 154Google Scholar.

88 An interesting episode shows how relatively easy it was even for an innocent pilgrim to travel in safety through Arab lands. During the Arab domination of Bari, the monk Bernard took himself to said town. There he proceeded to buy a safe-conduct for Alexandria and the Holy Land ( Musca, G., L'emirato di Bari, 847-71 (Bari: Dedalo Litostampa, 1964), p. 70, n. 15Google Scholar).

89 See n. 31.

90 , Galasso, “II commercio amalfitano, ” I, 99Google Scholar.

91 See n. 50.

92 See nn. 46, 47, 81, 82.

93 See n. 60.

94 , Goitein, Mediterranean Society, I, 102, 222-24Google Scholar.

95 Ibid., p. 125.

96 Arnari, M., I diplomi arabi del Regio archivio fiorentino (Florence, 1863), Introduction, passimGoogle Scholar.

97 , Citarella, “Relations, ” pp. 302–9 and passimGoogle Scholar.

98 , Amari, “Nuovi ricordi arabi sulla storia di Genova, ” in Atti Societd ligure di Storia Patria (1867), pp. 633 ff.Google Scholar;, Heyd, Histoire, I, 124–25Google Scholar.

99 At the time when the decree of John Tzimisces was made known in Venice (971), there were in the port three ships ready to sail. Two were bound for Mehdia and the other for Tripoli (Africa). The doge immediately issued an order to prevent their departure (Heyd, Histoire, I, 113).

100 , Amari, Storia, III, 169–70Google Scholar.

101 Lombard, “Les bases mon6taires.”

102 Himly, M. F., “Y-a-t-il emprise Masulmane sur l'économie des états européens du VHIe au Xe siècle?,” Revue Suisse d'Histoire, V (1955), 31–81Google Scholar.

103 See p. 109 of Monnaret de Villard's article cited in fn. 107.

104 Grierson, P., “Carolingian Europe and the Arabs: The Myth of the Mancus,” in Revue Beige de philologie et d'histoire, XXXII, no. 4 (1954), 1059–1074CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

105 Ibid., p. 1071.

106 Ehrenkreutz, A. S., “The Standard of Fineness of Western and Eastern Dinars before the Crusades,” Journal of Economic and Social History of the Orient, VI (1963), Part iii, p. 254, Table II; 257, Table IV; and 260, Table VIGoogle Scholar.

107 Besides the articles by Lombard and Himly, the following works are most relevant to this problem: Villard, U. Monnaret de, “La monetazione nell'eta barbarica. I. Le monete dellTtalia langobarda sino alia fine dell'impero carolingico,” in Rivista Italiana di Numismatica, XXXII (1919), 22–38Google Scholar and “II. II soldo mancuso e la circolazione dell'oro arabo e bizantino nell'Europa barbarica, ” Ibid., 73-112; Bloch, M., “Le probléme de Tor au moyen age,” in Annales d'histoire économique et sociale, V (1933), 1–34Google Scholar;Duplessis, J., “La circulation des monnaies arabes en Europe Occidentale du VIHe au XHIe siècle,” Revue Numismatique, XVIII (1956), 101 ff.Google Scholar: Lopez, R. S., “Les influences orientales et l'eveil économique de l'Occident,” in Atti del X Congresso Internazionale di Scienze Storiche (Florence: 1955), III, 1–209Google Scholar;Cipolla, C. M., Moneta e civiltd mediterranea (Venice: N. Pozza, 1957), chs. i-iiGoogle Scholar; C. Cahen, “L'évolution sociale du monde musulman jusqu'au Xlle siecle face à celle du monde chrétien,” in Cahiers de civilisation midiévale. Published by the Centre d'Études Supérieures de Civilisation Médiévale de l'Université de Poitiers, I (1958), 451 ffGoogle Scholar.

108 See Monnaret de Villard, pp. 77-78 and, besides the works mentioned in the preceding note, consult the excellent study by Watson, A. M., “Back to Gold—and Silver,” Economic History Review, 2d ser. Vol. XX (04 1967), pp. 1–34Google Scholar.

109 In a review of R. S. Lopez, Settecento anni fa: il ritorno dell'oro nell'occidente duecentesco. (Quademi della Rivista Storica Italiana, Nr. 4, Naples, 1955), Economic History Review, IX (07 1956), 372Google Scholar.

110 Cod. Dipl. Amalf. I, 1 (I), 2 (II), 10 (VI), 11 (VII), 15 (IX)Google Scholar. Early diplomas speak of “mancosi” but beginning in 939 the formula “… ana tari quattuor per mancosum” appears. (Ibid., II, 295 [DLXXXVI].)

111 Ibid., II, 293 (DLXXXIV).

112 , Amari, Storia, II, 458–59Google Scholar; Monnaret de Villard, pp. 84, 88-92. An Amalfitan diploma of Nov. 1060 records a large transaction of “auri tarenos de presenti moneta centum viginti.” ( Cod. Dipl. Amalf., I, 107 (LVII)Google Scholar.) A diploma from Naples of 1063 reads: “… Ego vobis dare debeam per omnem annum ipsos solidos de Amalfi et si ipsa moneta de Amalfi per istam civitatem non andaverit …” (Monnaret, p. 91, n. 4). In 1088 a document from Cava mentions the tari of Amalfi “cum capite et cruce” (Monnaret, p. 91).

113 Sicily imported oil from North Africa from the ninth through the twelfth centuries (Amari, Storia, I, 206, 415; II, 445). The introduction of the culture of olive trees in southern Italy before the eleventh century lags very much behind that of the vine, less than 1/7. Only after the eleventh century there is an increase. (Lizier, L'economia rurale, p. 122.)

114 See Gattula, E., Hist. Abb. Cassinensis, LXXXIX (1019)Google Scholar;, Yver, Le Commerce, pp. 137–139Google Scholar;, Galasso, “Le cittá campane,” p. 42Google Scholar.

115 The Book of Routes and Kingdoms, by Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn Hawqal, trans, in English from the Italian version of Amari, M.Lopez, R. S. and Raymond, I., Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World (New York: Columbia University Press, 1955), p. 54Google Scholar.

116 For the disparity in the gold-silver ratio between the West and the Arab coun-tries and Byzantium see Watson, “Back to Gold,” p. 5. This circumstance must have been of great importance to Amalfitan traders for two reasons: It increased sensibly a margin of profit already high and it provided, moreover, a profitable sideline in the straight exchange of western silver for eastern gold, or vice versa, for the judicious and well-informed merchant.

117 , Heyd, Histoire, I, 94Google Scholar.

118 Montecassino, Amato di, L'Ystorie de li Nomumt, Bartholomaeis, Vincenzo (ed.), Fonti per la Storia d'ltalia dell'Istituto Storico ltaliano per il Medio Evo (Rome: Tipografia del Senato, 1935), p. 175Google Scholar.

119 Heyd, , Histoire, I, 100–103Google Scholar;Bertaux, E., L'art dans l'ltalie mdridionale (Paris: A. Fontemoing, 1904), I, 404 ffGoogle Scholar. The most recent and comprehensive treatment of this topic will be found in A. Hofmeister, ” Der Ubersetzer Johannes und das Geschlecht Comitis Mauronis in Amalfii: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der byzantinisch-abendlandischen Beziehungen besonders in il. Jahrhundert, ” in Historische Vierteljahrschrift, XXVII (07 1932), 225–84Google Scholar, and idem, “Maurus von Amalfi und die elfenbeinkassette von Farfa, ” in Quellen und Forschungen aus italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken, XXIV (Aug. 1933), 278-83.