Il contrabbando tra stato di Milano e stato veneto nel Settecento

Smuggling between the State of Milan and the Republic of Venice in 18th century. The aim of this research is to combine the rich tradition of studies in the history of crime and police forces with the one, certainly less rich, concerning the history of illicit business and traffic. The first part of this work looks at the relationships between the phenomenon of smuggling and the areas in which it used to take place, which were usually borderlands (before and after the signature of border treaties in mid-18th century) with often questionable jurisdictions. Questions about rivers used as frontier lines, mainland boundaries, and feudal jurisdictions are discussed separately, with a specific focus on the territories controlled by the cities of Cremona, Brescia, and Bergamo. On the other hand, the second half of the work investigates the movement of specific goods, such as grain, salt, tobacco and olive oil. In this section illegal traffics are discussed together with not only economic elements, such as the provision of goods, the change in prices, and the costs of transportation, but also administrative and political elements, such as the possibility for the states of the Ancient Regime, to thoroughly dominate their borderlands. Although the importance of environmental, fiscal, and economic factors is clear, this research points out the fundamental role played by institutions.