Dubrovnik Annals 2 (1998) 109

Reviews inquiry. A petty reader is likely to observe that his references and bibliography do not Benjamin Arbel, Trading Nations: Jews include works in some European languages, and Venetians in the Early Modern Eastern German for example. However, one must not Mediterranean. Leiden - New York - KOln, fail to discern a number of references in Eng­ 1995 lish, French, Italian as well as those of medi­ eval origin. His sources deserve even greater In the history of the Mediterranean, the credit. Arbel emerges here as a scholar wor­ year 1571 witnessed several most tragic thy of every praise, and an experienced ar­ events. On 5 August, Famagusta, the so­ chival researcher who has discovered a vereign city of Cyprus, was besieged by the number of valuable documents (see below) forces of the Ottoman Turks led by Sultan for which he should be given the most credit. Selim II, and on 7 October, the allied Chri­ A brief look at the structure of the study stian fleet under the command of Don Juan unfolds another of this author's qualities: he of Austria defeated the Turks in the naval takes great concern in human destinies. Arbel battle of Lepanto. While the great armies centers upon man, the individual, his mental clashed and the winds of war prevailed pattern and looks, and his environment. This throughout the European continent, an event aspect of his work is evident in the earlier of different nature took place in the Venetian studies,2 but also in his latest book, in which Republic: on 18 December it was decreed he inclines toward the medievalistics of the that all the Jews residing within the Repub­ day. Let us now consider the contents of the lic's borders were to leave the country, their book. property being confiscated. What preceded this event, and what were the relations be­ Up to the sixteenth century, for numer­ tween Jews and Venetians, the two "trading ous reasons, the role of Jews as a "trading nations", really like? These problems and nation" in the Mediterranean basin was not related ones are examined by Benjamin prominent. On the contrary, it was quite in­ Arbel, professor of history at Tel Aviv Uni­ significant. According to the author, it was versity, in his book Trading Nations. in the sixteenth century, between the years 1530 and 1580 in particular, that the Jews Scholarly circles have been familiar with managed to incorporate themselves into the the name of Benjamin Arbel since the late Venetian society. The building of the "Old 1970s. Regular readers of the Mediterranean Ghetto" (1541), and the issuing of the so- Historical Review know him as the editor of called First Charter of Benefit to the Jews this extensive periodical publication.1 In this (1589) were important steps along the road. well-documented survey, B. Arbel analyzes The author brings to the fore the period 1560- a number of events dealing with a common 1570, in an approach which can be described problem. as a set of concentric circles. The subject matter "Jews and Italian (pri­ The first chapter, "Venice and the Jew­ marily Venetian) society" has frequently ish Merchants of Istanbul in the Sixteenth been explored in recent literature, and any Century", is somewhat different from the oth­ historian who decides to indulge into it must ers. The author provides a general survey of be well-acquainted with the problem. Arbel the subject, in which the prosperity of the has made very thorough preparations for this Jewish merchants in the Ottoman Empire is 110 Dubrovnik Annals 2 (1998) investigated, as well as the reasons under­ tests. How was Venice, a town traditionally lying it. Toward the close of the chapter, permeated by a strong spirit of pragmatism, Arbel reveals that the Jews on the Balkan to resist this widespread persecution? Here, Peninsula assumed the leading role in the Arbel introduces two phenomena, that of the wool and cloth trade, having dealings with "complex myth" that was woven about the Ottoman high officials. An interesting piece Jews, and that of the "typical Jew", a phe­ of evidence should be noted: when in 1563 nomenon manufactured in the minds of their the Venetians confiscated some Jewish mer­ non-Jewish neighbors. The latter implied a chandise, its owner later proved to be the great many characteristics, such as treach­ grand vizier, Mehmed Pasha Sokollu (p. 20). ery, deceitfulness, an incomprehensible lan­ The author states that conclusive evi­ guage suspected to be the doing of witch­ dence regarding the trading methods craft, etc. practiced by the Jews in Istanbul cannot al­ Arbel points to the social and psycho­ ways be obtained, but his general assertion logical environment the Jews lived in, and is fairly convincing: from the beginning of in his attempt to find the causes that trig­ 1540 until 1625, Jewish merchants occupied gered the events in Venice in 1571, his views dominant or even hegemonic positions in the differ from those of his predecessors B. Venetian trade business with the Empire (p. Ravid and B. Pullan. These two specialists 28). interpreted those events as a step taken in order to persecute the usurer Ashkenazi. In the second chapter, entitled "Abraham Benjamin Arbel,.however, sees the events Castro Multiplied: Venetian Traders and Jew­ as the result of intolerance, and a general ish Customs Farmers in the Levant, c. 1530- hostile attitude towards the Jews (pp. 74-75). c. 1540", Arbel changes the style of his in­ In my opinion, the latter interpretation seems quiry. He embarks on an analysis of the ac­ more convincing. tivities of a businessman, manager of a mint and customs office, and head of the Jewish In the fourth chapter, "Medicine, Diplo­ community in Egypt. The study is well-docu­ macy and Trade: Solomon Ashkenazi and mented, as the subject has been amply re­ Venetian-Ottoman Relations, c. 1564-1573" ferred to (on six occasions in the last ten another Jewish name arises, which is also years), so Arbel had no difficulty in present­ the subject of the subsequent chapter, "The ing a detailed historical survey, supplemented Eastern Trade, Solomon Ashkenazi and the by a commentary on the testimonies from Readmission of the Jews in Venice in 1573". the "Diaries" of Marino Sanudo. The docu­ The person in question is Solomon ments might seem rather obscure, as he limns Ashkenazi, physician, court official, and dip­ a puzzling portrait of two men bearing the lomat. Both chapters devoted to Ashkenazi's same name - Abraham Castro - one from business affairs are in fact a contribution to Alexandria, and the other from Syria. the study of history of the Cyprus campaign and its aftermath. In the third chapter, "The Jews in Venice and the Ottoman Menace, 1566-1573", the Although brief, this review reveals author produces the answer to an important Arbel's vast interest for the Jews, this sub­ question. It is common knowledge that in the ject being the hallmark of his entire research years prior to the Cyprus War 1570-1573, work. He brings to the fore three facets of Italy witnessed growing anti-Jewish pro­ the problem of the individual: the structural Dubrovnik Annals 2 (1998) I'll analysis of the individual, the role of the in­ the modus operandi of the rising Jewish dividual in conflicting situations, and finally, merchants in the early modern period. F. I. the individual as a touchstone of all events, Ashkenazi's involvement in the Ottoman pragmatic history. The latter is best illustrated relations with Venice represents not only the in the occurrences related to the name of important role of Jewish physician in the Hayyim Saruq (in the sixth chapter, "The Ottoman court and its politics, but also the Pandora's Box of Hayyim Saruq's Bank­ way that it was used to further the private ruptcy"). and public interests of Jewish enterpreneurs Two chapters have been, devoted to the in the eastern Mediterranean (pp. 185-186). history of Hayyim's bankruptcy (112,000 The authorities on the West-European ducats), which the author based on the volu­ Jewry.(J. Israel in particular) infer that around minous source materials of the Venice State the year 1570 they experienced significant Archives (Archivio di Stato di Venezia - changes due to new economic opportunities. ASV). These two chapters represent the cen­ Arbel's research indicates that similar proc­ tral part of the book (70 pages), and should esses also took place even earlier in the Ot­ be dealt with separately in the future. toman Empire, especially in the Mediterra­ The seventh chapter, "Trade, Espionage nean. The problem deepens with the fact that and Inquisition: Hayyim Saruq's Resur­ the developing process did not take consid­ gence", is quite peculiar. The author studies erable time. In the seventeenth century, and the documents found in the AS V, spurred by with the dawn of the eighteenth century, a short note published in the most recent Western and Armenian merchants began to work of P. Preto, / servizi segreti di Venezia dominate in the business, while Jews were (1994). This nineteen-page monograph con­ left with less attractive posts as intermediar­ tains the codes Hayyim Saruq was to em­ ies, customs collectors, or interpreters. To ploy as the Republic's secret agent. The dis­ my knowledge of the sources, I can agree covery of this document enabled him to in­ with this interpretation. clude in his work some research which has And lastly, something should be said been done on the highly developed Venetian intelligence service in the Balkans. about the author's central concern in the book. Arbel's study most convincingly re­ The eighth chapter gives a concise his­ jects the argument put forward by some his­ tory of the Jewish shipowners. Enclosed here torians (U Tucci, for example) that "in the is an appendix in which Arbel submits six commercial milieu of sixteenth-century Ven­ archival documents from the ASV (Saruq's ice only the Jews remained excluded from code book inclusive). the great consortium of merchants from The reader of Arbel's analysis is to draw every nation and that the Jews were not al­ several conclusions. First, in Arbel's opin­ lowed to trade with the Levant, but had to ion, an exhaustive insight on the biography make use of the Venetian intermediary"(p. of each Jew investigated in the book is in­ 188). In fact, Jews were never "fully" ac­ dispensable. Apart from playing an impor­ cepted into Venetian society. Nevertheless, tant part in Jewish history, the lives of Castro Arbel considers Tucci's statement that the and Solomon Ashkenazi, joined by Hayyim Jews and Venetians were "two worlds which Saruq, are illustrative of a "broader area". could never meet" to be far from the truth According to Arbel, they also shed light on (pp. 189-190). 112 Dubrovnik Annals 2 (1998)

There is another feature of Arbel's book tions had to be acquainted with. I feel an urge to comment on. His account of After all, the author is free to act upon the people and the course of events fails to his will. He could always find excuse in his include those individuals who represented lack of familiarity with the Slavic languages. the Republic of Dubrovnik over the centu­ Regretfully, though, he failed to consult pub­ ries. In addition, when he speaks of vessels, lications in European languages, particularly using the word "argosy" in the epigraph at the works of Jorjo Tadić and Bariša Krekić.4 the beginning of chapter eight, Arbel is not Arbel's study could have been enriched by in the least aware of the etymology of this Tadić's references on Venetian Jewry. English word (Ragusa). It was in Dubrovnik that the first standard model of the interna­ Thus, the first chapter of Arbel's book tionally classified sailing boat was built. One contains evidence related to the income of cannot but consider the above rather odd, for Venetian Customs collected on the importa­ minimum three substantial reasons were to tion and exportation of European goods in spur Arbel to advert to the role of Dubrovnik 1584, which then amounted to 18,000 and and its Jews in the described events. I em­ 24,000 ducats respectively (p. 25). Is that phasize that he was expected at least to men­ much or little? In Tadić's survey on com­ tion them, and that they were certainly wor­ merce in Dalmatia, Le commerce en Dalmatie thy of elaboration. et a Raguse et la decadence economique de Venise au XVIIe siecle, there is evidence First of all, the rivalries between the two in support of the fact that the total income republics was a fact which could not have of Ragusan customs amounted to an annual been overlooked in terms of economic cir­ average of 18,000 to 26,000 ducats, while cumstances in the area. If one state was to during the Cyprus War it increased to 106,000 benefit, the other experienced losses. The ducats, and in 1571 it rose to 140,000 duc­ intent of Daniel Rodriga to establish a mo­ ats.5 nopoly of the Split mart, for example, was immediately interpreted as a hostile gesture With the "Dubrovnik theme" I recapitu­ against Dubrovnik. late my essay. I gather that Arbel's avoid­ ance of this mentioned is the result of his Furthermore, Ragusan trade and its Jew­ reserved attitude which is commendable. ish merchants dominated for centuries in the Leafing through the book of Benjamin Arbel, Balkan hinterland, and viewed rypologically, the reader is most surely to pose a number it is difficult to distinguish between Jewish 3 of additional questions, only to prove how inland and maritime trade patterns. It is no significant, complex and weighty this study wonder the segment pertaining to Balkan is. trade is rather scant in Arbel's book, the like­ lihood being to suit his purpose. If so, there Maren Frejdenberg is every room for criticism. In conclusion, the relationship masterly epitomized by Benjamin Arbel in the con­ NOTES tradiction between "the Republic and its 1 The author of these lines has become Jews", "was in effect" in Dubrovnik, too (al­ familiar with the contents of the publication though to a lesser extent, of course). This for the period 1986-1991 while preparing a was a fact that the author of Trading Na­ review for Russian readers. See M. M. Dubrovnik Annals 2 (1998) 113

Freidenberg, »Sredizemnomorskoe istoričes- Maren M, Frejdenberg, The Jews in the koe obozrenje.« Voprosi istorii 6 (1993): pp. Balkans. Moskva-Jeruzalem: Textbooks of 184-187. the Jewish University, 1996(5756) 2 See, for example, his articles on the affairs of Solomon Ashkenazi or Nur Bahu. Much has been written about the peo­ 3 M. M. Freidenberg, Dubrovnik i Os- ple whose history was dictated by a rhythm manskaja imperija, 2nd revised and enlarged of constant threats of exodus, the nightmares ed. Moskva: Nauka, 1989; Jorjo Tadić, ofpogroms and plunder, from the first years Jevreji u Dubrovniku do polovine XVII sto­ of exile following the destruction of the Tem­ ljeća. Sarajevo: Benevolentia, 1937. ple in 70 A.D. to the traumatic experience of the Holocaust in World War II. An ample 4 J.Tadić, »Le commerce en Dalmatie literature recounts the segregation of Jews et a Raguse et la decadence economique de (which originated in Western Christendom Venise au XVIIe siecle.«, in: Aspetti e cause and spread along with Christianity through della decadenza economica veneziana nel European and Mediterranean cultures), "holy secoloXVII. Venezia- Roma, 1960: pp. 235- wars" against pagans, forcible conversion, 274; B.Krekić, »The role of the Jews in papal bulls, etc. In the general survey of the Dubrovnik (13th-16th Centuries).«, in: Vi­ Jewish history, however the Balkan region ator, Medieval and Ronaissance studies, 4 has remained rather neglected. Mention of (1973): pp. 257-271. the Jews in the Balkans can be traced only 5 J. Tadić, »Le commerce«: p 248 et seq. fragmentarily as more systematic studies These figures are used by all those who write most frequently deal with the Jewish com­ on Ragusan commerce. munities of Ragusa and Thessaloniki. The diversity of geographical, historical, and cultural features of the Balkan Penin­ sula is most remarkable. The character of each Jewish community there was shaped in ac­ cordance with the region in which they lived. In the westernmost parts of the peninsula, the duchies of Slovenia, the Jews began to settle by the end of the 13th century, but remained there for not more than two hun­ dred years, since around 1500 they were ex­ pelled from there. However, those two cen­ turies proved sufficient enough for them to develop lucrative trade relations. In particu­ lar, their banking activities reached a state rarely to be found among their neighbors. The Jews settled along the Adriatic coast in groups or individually, and resided there for centuries, until the arrival of Napoleon's army. The Jews who populated the inland parts of the peninsula, Serbian and Bosnian