Venetian salt production, salt commerce and merchant group in the 8th-10th centuries

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Salt is one of the most important marchandises of inter-regional commerce, even in the Medieval society of Western Europe.On the sea salt of Western Europe, in the Middle Ages, Venetian has been regarded as the most vital place for the sea salt production in the North Italy. But because of the instability of the sea salt productive system on the lagoon of Venezia, it was very difficult for Venezia to keep the primacy of the salt production. From the end of the 9th c. to the former half of the 10th c., Comacchio, located at the delta of the Po River, was the rival of Venezia. And after final attack by Venezia at 932, Comacchio had lost its position in the sea salt productive center. After a collapse of Comacchio, Cervia has begun to dominate sea salt production in this area under the patronage of Archbishop of Ravenna. Salt commerce in this area, imposed datium by Archbishop of Ravenna, has become a good source of income for an authority. In the early Medieval Italy on the contrary, sea salt commerce was free of any kind of tax imposition. For big monasteries, it was important to gain the circulation of salt depended on the activity of merchants from Comacchio and Venezia, which we can look for notions in the polyptychs of monasteries.During the 13th c., Venezia has been in conflict with Archbishop of Ravenna to monopolize, not the salt production but the salt commerce in the area, especially, Padana region (region of the Po River). Finally, Venezia could dominate salt commerce in the Panda region, keeping also a dalmatian sea salt commerce under control.