Activities - Conferences

Salt and Cheese. The Morlachs and the local markets of Dalmatia during the Fifteenth century

The goal of the paper was to discuss the Morlachs as merchants of sheep breading products. During its first century of direct administration in Dalmatia, Venice had to take into consideration the permanence of the Morlachs in the region and their specific semi-nomadic life-style. Therefore, analyzing  the sources regarding the local markets regulations one can find various situations in which the Morlachs appeared selling ”caseus vlachescus”, ”caxei murlachi” or ”formazo murlacho” and buying salt. Tolerating and regulating the Morlach trade with sheep  products, the Venetian regional administration gained two main advantages. On one side, the damages created by the Morlachs with their herds in the crops of the locals begun to be controlled, and secondly, Venice reached access to the commercial routes existing beyond the eastern border. The arrival of the Morlachs in the Dalmatian cities as cheese merchants and salt buyers appears in sources as elements  definind one of the most common features of the Morlach social portray.

USER COMMENTS

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *