Venetian Sources on Balkan Jewish Trade

FAIN: FT-14105-78

Zdenko Zlatar
Unaffiliated independent scholar

To research the subject of Jewish merchants' trade through the Port of Split in Venetian Dalmatia between 1592-1645. Balkan Jewish merchants played a crucial role as middlemen between the East and the West. The Port of Split (Spalato) was opened to Balkan trade by Venetian authorities in 1592 and until the start of the Candian War in 1645, when Jewish merchants were forbidden by the Turks to use it, Split competed successfully with Dubrovnik. This project will study, among other aspects of this subject, the contribution of Balkan Jewish merchants to the early form of commercial capitalism.