_full_alt_author_running_head (neem stramien B2 voor dit chapter en dubbelklik nul hierna en zet 2 auteursnamen neer op die plek met and): 0 _full_articletitle_deel (kopregel rechts, vul hierna in): Rome, a Patria Comune? _full_article_language: en indien anders: engelse articletitle: 0

Rome, a Patria Comune? 13

CHAPTER 1 Rome, a Patria Comune?

1 Rules and Procedures: Defining the Foreigner

By the end of the sixteenth century Rome’s population numbered around 100,000 and would remain more or less stable into the following century. This was true even after the plague of 1656-1657 which had instead devastated the cities of Genoa and Naples.1 During the early modern period, the city was the seat of a universal and cosmopolitan court, with a diverse urban demography, comprised of a cluster of nationes that lived simultaneously together yet apart.2 It was a mixed society unified, from the fifteenth century, by the steady pres- ence of the pope, court and curia, and by its political, bureaucratic and artistic developments. One can speak of the Eternal City as a heterogeneous unit that recognized different groups, loyalties and identities. But in the first centuries of the modern age the meaning of these concepts would change, as would the demography of the foreign communities that made up this multiform urban society. Like other European and Italian centers, Rome faced issues arising from the presence of foreigners within her walls. The city would be character- ized by her unique monarchy headed by a sovereign exerting both spiritual and temporal power. And, following the break of Christian unity in Europe, even the foreigners’ souls would be taken into account. Origin, language, and religious affiliation would become determining factors in establishing a cate- gory that was virtually always all encompassing, yet also fluid and generic.

1 On the topic, see Popolazione e società a roma dal Medioevo all’età contemporanea, ed. Eugenio Sonnino (Rome: Il Calamo, 1998); Eugenio Sonnino, “Cronache della peste a Roma. Notizie dal ghetto e lettere di Girolamo Gastaldi (1656-1657),” in “La Peste a Roma (1656-1657),” ed. Irene Fosi in Roma moderna e contemporanea, 14 no.1/3 (2006): 35-74 2 “Rome was an international city but hardly a melting pot. Even the Italian speaking Florentines were regarded as foreigners and founded their own church. Members of the German com- munity shared a linguistic heritage which distinguished them from the Romans. Many of them knew Latin and I suspect that most of them spoke a crude Italian, but all of them spoke German. They clearly regarded this as their most important trait.” Clifford W. Maas, The German Community in Renaissance Rome 1378-1523 (Rome-Freiburg-Wien: Herder, 1981), 175. As is well known, no direct sources on the population existed until the first decade of the sixteenth century, Anna Esposito, “La città e i suoi abitanti” in Roma nel Rinascimento. Storia dell’antichità a oggi, ed. Antonio Pinelli (Rome-Bari: Laterza, 2001), 3-7. See the chapters dedi- cated to specific topics in The Companion book of Rome, ed. Pamela Jones, Barbara Wish, Simon Ditchfield (Boston-Leiden: Brill, 2019).

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004422667_003 14 Chapter 1

But who were these foreigners and how was their condition shaped by the extant regulations? As has been observed, “the statutes and their amendments, though quite frequent […] are naturally the primary sources to consult in out- lining the regulations that foreigners were required to obey in our cities.”3 Like other city laws of the late medieval and early modern Italy, the Roman statutes of 1580 “negatively” regarded the foreigner vis-à-vis the civis and, in this par- ticular case, the civis romanus. These statutes would remain in force until the eighteenth century. Those who study this topic have found the legal definition of the foreigner to be lacking and often contradictory. It has become clear that, in the case of the Middle Ages, the juridical status of the forenses is based on citizenship, or on activity. The same holds true for the early modern period. In urban contexts, the foreigner’s station is conditioned by a “national” or profes- sional category (e.g. mercatores), which consequently determines the foreign- ers’ legal status.4 An analysis of the statutes of Italian cities, from the late Middle Ages on, reveals a dual and contradictory definition of foreigners in comparison to members of the host society. On the one hand, the factors that excluded them on the basis of juridical incapacity become ratified and, on the other, regulations are established which become applicable to all resi- dents. This legislation would favor the assimilation, monitoring and disciplin- ing of those coming from outside, while attempting to oversee and control their ­relationships and behavior.5 But within the varied urban contexts, work, sociability, solidarity and conflicts, though governed by codified rules, could be managed differently, were difficult to sanction, and subject to change based on external factors. The historiography on the presence of foreigners in Italian cities has long been more focused on the late Middle Ages and emphasized the economic and cultural consequences it had upon the different local contexts. Only recently study has been broadened to consider the wider spectrum of factors related to – and it does not seem hasty to reveal – issues arising from contemporaneous concerns. But let us return to the past and to the early modern age. The “nega- tive” classification of foreigners has inspired research and reflection on the topic of citizenship, the philosophical and political definition of civitas, and the privileges and obligations associated with the civis status. Yet, with respect

3 Mario Ascheri, “Lo straniero nella legislazione statuaria e nella letteratura giuridica del Tre- Quattrocento: un primo approccio,” in Forestieri e stranieri nelle città basso-medievali (Florence: Salimbeni, 1988), 8. 4 Ibidem, 12. 5 Simona Feci, “Cambiare città, cambiare norme, cambiare le norme. Circolazione di uomini e donne e trasformazione delle regole in antico regime” in L’Italia delle migrazioni interne, ed. Angiolina Arru, Franco Ramella (Rome: Donzelli, 2003), 3-31.