Emergenza e (dis)continuità: Venezia, 1630-1631

Between 1627 and 1631 Venice and its mainland state were visited by the passage of the three horsemen of the Apocalypse, as Carlo M. Cipolla called war, plague, and famine in their raids across the Italian territory. A tragic human and economic outcome followed. And yet this discontinuity is blurred and less clear-cut than expected. The Venetian government heavily intervened to contrast the shocks, and, among its several actions, it assisted the public bank in charge of managing the floating debt (the Banco del Giro). This study considers the relative discontinuity the Banco experienced during these difficult years.