Page 106 - Lanzarotto Malocello from Italy to the Canary Islands

106 from Italy to the Canary Islands

As often is the case in history, fateful events such as war can give rise
to a booming economy; the enervating war against the emperor helped to
secure Genoa a state of relative economic wellbeing. This economically
favourable period would be followed by another which would bring diffi-
culties for some professions, especially those in the wool business. It was
precisely the wool makers who suffered during this new phase of peace;
kept safe during the war thanks to protectionist measures, they were then
to experience a crisis due to the reopening to competition across the bor-
ders, especially from Lombardy.
Even the case of the crusade ordered by King Louis IX of France
brought with it a sublime paradox. Genoa, which had to prepare the fleet
for the King, used a lot of men for this work, and this meant important job
orders for the city and a period of social peace.
We were speaking of the wool makers’ guild. The Guilds had not yet
been properly established, but they would become so when a part of the ar-
istocracy – the “Mascherati”, i.e. the Ghibellines, who were to come onto
the scene again – supported the demands of the craftsmen.
A riot which broke out following the fleeing of the Podestà Filippo
della Torre in 1256, guilty of ill actions towards merchants from Piacenza,
sparked the creation of the first form of “people’s government” in Genoa.
Donaver wrote: “In 1257 the Milanese po-
destà Filippo Della Torre retired from of-
fice; he had proved in his government
to be a corrupt and defective man,
the people therefore wanted
him to be put on trial
and pleaded that he
be punished.

Caravel equipped with
square sails.
Late fifteenth century.