Cosmopolitan Networks in Commerce and Society 1660–1914

DANIEL JÜTTE
Naturally, we should not overlook that after 1589 Rodriga, too,
had considerable obstacles to surmount. The consulate understood
politically required advocacy, for the mercantile community was
highly individualistic. It is significant that Saruq, in his role as agent
and de facto consul for the Levantini, took the wise precaution of having
his duties confirmed on oath by the Sephardic merchants who
approached him. 84 Yet Saruq was in principle willing to tolerate this
form of what Cooperman calls ‘contractual politics’. He was satisfied
if his power ‘derived from a specific contractual agreement drawn up
among individuals for mutual profit’ and his missions were ‘limited
to the specific and immediate goal’. 85
The claims of Rodriga and his Tuscan colleague, Maggino di
Gabrielli, on the consular office went far beyond this. Rodriga, for ex -
ample, procured important positions for members of his family in the
network he created through his consulship. Maggino anchored the
her it ability of the office in his family. It is no wonder that both
Maggino and Rodriga repeatedly encountered mistrust and resistance
from the Jewish side. In the case of Maggino, this led to an open
revolt by the Jews of Pisa and Livorno in 1593, and the abolition of
the office of consul in these Tuscan cities. And round the turn of the
century, during negotiations for the extension of the charter pertaining
to Levantine and Ponentine Jews, Rodriga also had to accept a
clause which specified that the consul was authorized ‘to have
recourse to the government to secure the payment of the communal
taxes’ only jointly with other, not specifically named, representatives
of the Jewish merchants. 86
These examples reveal the field of tension within which any representative
of Sephardic interests had to operate at the political level.
Although the memory of events in Ancona was still alive and served
as a reminder of the need for coordinated representation, the Jewish
merchants eyed any restriction of individual mercantile freedom
with suspicion, and especially the concentration of authority in the
hands of a single, high-ranking, political representative.
It is indisputable that Rodriga was an important organizer of economic–political
projects that were recognized not only by Christians
84 Cooperman, ‘Trade and Settlement’, 78.
85 Ibid. 79.
86 Ravid, ‘An Introduction to the Charters’, 212.
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