EMBARGO: THE ORIGINS OF AN IDEA AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF A POLICY IN EUROPE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN, ca. 1100 – ca. 1500 by Stefan K. Stantchev A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) in The University of Michigan 2009 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Diane Owen Hughes, Chair Professor Rudi P. Lindner Associate Professor Gottfried J. Hagen Associate Professor Paolo Squatriti © Stefan K. Stantchev 2009 To my family ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Three years of work on this dissertation, on top of some previous work that made it possible, have made me incur substantial intellectual debt. This intellectual debt is large, but not heavy; its acknowledgment is an extraordinary pleasure to me. My first and foremost thanks go to my advisor, dissertation chair, and mentor, Diane Owen Hughes. To avoid a long list of supporting evidence in this part of my work, I will limit myself to saying that I could not have wished for a better advisor and there is nothing that I think Diane could have done better in order to further my development as a professional historian. It is not conceivable that I will be ever able to repay this immense intangible debt to its actual ‘lender,’ but I shall hope to do so by working with my own students in the way in which Diane worked with me from my first semester at Michigan, to the last, six years later. I am also deeply indebted to my other dissertation committee members: Rudi Paul Lindner, Paolo Squatriti, and Gottfried J. Hagen, as well as to John V. A. Fine. Rudi Lindner and Paolo Squatriti have supported my work since my first semester at Michigan and have provided me with precious advice on a variety of levels, as well as all kinds of support throughout my graduate studies. Working with them for years has been a great pleasure. The same is true of John Fine, whose attention to detail, willingness to read, comment upon, and discuss anything from seminar papers to dissertation chapters both facilitated and made even more pleasant my graduate work at Michigan. While I have iii worked less intensively with Gottfried Hagen, I am very thankful to him for his patience and thoughtful comments, as well as for the fruitful discussions over my dissertation. In addition, I believe that I owe much of any ability I have to talk to a broader spectrum of scholars to Diane’s constant encouragement to consider how my work fits within a broader framework and to the intellectual atmosphere created by the Institute for the Humanities; for the latter much of the merit obviously goes to its director, Daniel Herwitz. The structure of the Institute’s seminars and Danny’s example in leading discussions and commenting upon a great variety of scholarly work reshaped my perception of interdisciplinary interaction. I am also obliged to my research assistant at the Institute, Linda Lee who helped me gather material for Chapter 1 and to all the fellows of the 2007-2008 cohort who read and commented upon the initial drafts of two of my chapters. In addition, I have greatly benefitted from the comments of Thomas Green on what became Chapter 3. Last, but far from least, I am indebted to my friend and colleague Alexander Angelov for all the discussions we have had on certain aspects of my work and for the uncountable occasions on which I have asked for and received last moment comments as well as proof-readings. Given that my dissertation rests in part on my previous work and preparation, I shall also thank here my first advisor, Vassil Gjuzelev, for introducing me to material from the archives of Venice and Genoa and to the immense literature on Mediterranean trade and Alexander Nikolov for all his support on a variety of levels. I would also like to thank the Central European University, the faculty of its Medieval Studies department, and my advisor there, Gerhard Jaritz, for supporting me in building upon such interests. iv All this intellectual support would not have brought this dissertation very far if it were not for the generous financial support of The University of Michigan, and more specifically, of Rackham Graduate School, the History department, the Institute for the Humanities, and the Medieval and Early Modern Studies Program. It was primarily Rackham funding that allowed me to carry archival research in the Vatican, Venice, and, briefly, in Genoa. The Institute for the Humanities and the Department of History provided me with two years in which to make sense of the material collected through Rackham and MEMS funding. I am deeply indebted to both and I am especially touched by what the Institute did above and beyond its call of duty to provide me with the best of working conditions. The Institute for the Humanities, the Medieval Academy of America, and the American Historical Association provided me with grants that allowed me to complete my research. I would like to express my gratitude to the staff at the Hatcher Graduate Library at The University of Michigan, which have also been indispensible in making this work possible. I sincerely thank the administrations of the Archivio Segreto Vaticano, the Vatican Library, Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Archivio di Stato di Genova, and the Libraries of the University of California-Berkeley for allowing me access to their collections and for courteously handling all of my, sometimes frantic, requests. I was especially impressed by the friendliness and the efficiency of the staff of Archivio di Stato di Genova. Individual people have also supported me in my research, both intellectually and logistically. These, of course, include my parents Anna Vlaevska and Krassimir Stantchev in Rome, as well as Prof. Alexander Naumow, Dr. Marcella Ferraccioli and v Prof. Gianfranco Giraudo in Venice; Prof. Enrico Basso and Prof. Laura Salmon in Genoa. Last, yet in a way first of all, I can never thank enough my wife Stefka for all the patience displayed in the uncountable occasions over the last few years when I was home only physically, and for those in which I was not home at all. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF APPENDICES ..................................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Economic Sanctions in Modern Discourse ............................................................. 2 1.2. Approach and Outline of This Work ..................................................................... 13 PART I ‘SPIRITUAL RATIONALITY:’ PAPAL EMBARGO AS CULTURAL PRACTICE ... 25 CHAPTER 2 IN BETWEEN THE “COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION” AND THE GREGORIAN REFORM: THE ‘PRE-HISTORY’ OF PAPAL EMBARGO .......................................... 25 2.1. By Way of Introduction: The Third Lateran Council, Marin Sanudo, and the Functional Reading of Papal Restrictions of Trade ...................................................... 26 2.2. The Papal Embargoes between Trade, Crusade, and the Gregorian Reform ........ 45 CHAPTER 3 FORGING AN EMBARGO: THE PAPAL SANCTIONS AGAINST ALL MUSLIMS AS A LEGAL PRINCIPLE AND A POLICY INSTRUMENT (1179 - ca. 1250) .......... 72 3.1. The Embargo Takes Shape .................................................................................... 72 3.2. The Fluid ‘Identity’ of the Embargo ..................................................................... 89 3.3. The Codification of the Papal Embargo against Muslims .................................. 101 3.4. The Practice of the Codified Embargo ................................................................ 113 CHAPTER 4 UNDERSTANDING THE PAPAL SANCTIONS: EMBARGOES AND THE POLITICS OF GREGORIAN PRINCIPLES (1179 - ca. 1250) ....................................................... 129 4.1. The Papal Embargoes and the Boundaries of Latin Christendom ...................... 129 4.2. The Papal Embargoes and the Boundaries of Roman Christianity ..................... 136 4.3. Embargoes, Crusades, and Ecclesiastical Attitudes toward Economic Activity. 145 4.4. The Hidden Layers of the Papal Embargo .......................................................... 156 vii CHAPTER 5 THE PAPAL EMPLOYMENT OF EMBARGO IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY BETWEEN THE CONTINGENCIES OF IMPLEMENTATION AND THE PERMANENCE OF PRINCIPLES ................................................................................ 175 5.1. Scope and Targets of Papal Embargoes between ca. 1270 and ca. 1380 ............ 175 5.2. John XXII, His Legates, and the Venetian “Strict Embargo” of 1323-1344 ...... 207 5.3. In between Papal Coffers and Heaven: Trade Licenses and Absolutions for Illicit Trade............................................................................................................................ 236 CHAPTER 6 THE HIDDEN LAYERS OF PAPAL EMBARGOES: A RESTATEMENT (THE PAPACY AND THE EMBARGO IN RENAISSANCE EUROPE) .............................. 264 6.1. An Outline of an Active Policy: The Papal Embargo ca. 1390 - ca. 1520 .......... 264 6.2. By Way of Conclusion: The Intangible Target, Object, and Effects of Papal Embargoes ................................................................................................................... 290 PART II DEVEDO : THE VENETIAN RESPONSE TO