Constructing Pluralism in Seventeenth Century Livorno: Managing Religious Minorities in a Mediterranean Free Port (1537--1737)

Catholic regimes in post-Tridentine Italy were expected to enforce religious orthodoxy domestically while supporting ideological and military Crusade abroad. However, the demands of spiritual stewardship often conflicted with the mercantilist interests of the state. Combining methodologies from social, cultural and urban history, this dissertation explores the strategies employed by the Medici Duchy of Tuscany to accommodate Jews, Protestants and Muslims within the Italian port of Livorno. In a desperate attempt to attract Levantine trade to the insalubrious Tuscan coast, in 1591 Grand Duke Ferdinando I issued a decree that offered economic, social and religious protections to immigrants from, "any nation, Eastern Levantines and Westerners, Spanish, Portuguese, Greeks, Germans, Italians, Jews, Turks, and Moors, Armenians, Persians, and others." Thus, while regimes throughout Europe expelled religious minorities and enclosed Jews into ghettos, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany transformed Livorno into a haven for religious toleration.;As a city built and populated nearly ex novo, Livorno became a laboratory for architects, engineers and administrative officials to experiment with the recruitment and management of a religiously and ethnically diverse populace. From the lavish synagogue south of the main Cathedral to the humble mosques tucked into the galley slave quarters, the Medici regime's protections influenced but did not nullify the defensive strategies employed by Livorno's minority groups. Although the Livornine privileges ameliorated many barriers to cross-cultural trade, the city housed a microcosm in which international, religious and political tensions were rehearsed daily. While the social lives of Livorno's mercantile elite were largely unregulated, their religious activities were heavily restricted, particularly for Protestants forced to stage religious ceremonies on boats and bury their dead in unsanctified private land. An even greater amount of compromise was necessary to manage the Muslim galley slaves crowded into Livorno's prison. Ultimately, the Medici's experiment in Livorno epitomized the potential benefits and risks of pursuing policies of enlightened self-interest. By the late seventeenth century, the port's political neutrality and pragmatic liberality became a reference point for discussions of religious toleration throughout Europe.