Un mestiere dove non c'è nulla da imparare? I merciai veneziani e l'apprendistato in età moderna

Alongside its role of commercial hinge between East and West, from the fifteenth century on Venice was famous also for its shops, and for the richest of them that paved the street linking the trading heart of the city (the Rialto) to its political brain (San Marco and the Doges' Palace). The Mercerie, whose name derived from merce or merchandise, were especially the reign of mercers' and drapers' shops: they sold several kinds of goods and textiles both produced inside the city (with its increasing manufacture power and with the increasing provision of raw and semifinished materials from the mainland) and imported through the networks of international trade. Combining different trades, as it was often the norm, the mercers' guild was one of the most plentiful and flexible in early modern Venice; although it counted many poor street-sellers among its members, good luck and initiative often enabled someone to become rich. The profession of mercers and haberdashers was mainly devoted to sell goods, with marginal exception in manufactures, such as in the case of hatters. Hence, mercers did not rely on special skills to be tested to become a master, nor on laws regulating apprenticeship, although journeymen and apprentices were widely employed in mercers' shops. Making use of two membership lists issued in late 17th century, describing every affiliate with his or her role and age, this essay tries to shed light on the activity of these lower grade workers which indeed often contributed significantly to the life on the shop's floor.