Postal Revolution

Juraj Kittler, Ph.D. (2009), teaches communication studies and journalism at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY, USA. The focus of his research is on the emergence of early modern information networks in the circles of late medieval Italian merchants and Renaissance diplomats.

• AcknowledgementsList of IllustrationsArchival Sources and their AbbreviationsA Note on Time and MoneyIntroduction: Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks1 Long-Distance Communications and Late Medieval Trade2 A Blind Spot of Economic History3 The Medium is the Message4 Mounted Cavallari and the Expanding Regional States in Italy5 New Approaches to Study of Renaissance Diplomacy6 Early Modern Diplomacy and the Postal Service7 The Perspective of Communications History7.1 The Debate about Postal Primacy7.2 The Emergence of Common Carriers8 Postal Developments and Primary Sources9 A Note on the TerminologyPart 1: The Pedestrian Merchant Scarsella1 Champagne Fairs and the Earliest Documented Commercial Couriers1 Wool Trade as the Catalyst of Banking and Courier Operations2 A Predictable Pattern of the Fairs3 The Cyclical Movement of Couriers4 The Earliest Known Postal Regulation5 From Letters of Exchange to the Exchange of Letters6 Paper as a Material Precondition of Commercial Revolution7 The Value of Commercial Information8 The Papal Court as a Natural Postal Hub9 The Medieval Usance and Postal Operations10 Champagne as a Postal and Banking Clearinghouse11 The Decline of Champagne and the Ascension of Bruges2 The Golden Age of the Scarsella1 The Charter of the Scarsella Florence-Avignon (1357)2 Pivotal Role of the Datini Archives in Prato3 The Postal System of the Late Middle Ages4 Regularity of the Service5 Innkeepers as the Earliest Postal Entrepreneurs6 Providing Courier Services for the Papal Court7 The Charter of Scarsella Barcelona-Pisa (1395)8 The Advices of Shipment9 A Medieval Address and Local Mail Distribution10 Strategies to Expedite the Delivery11 The Diminishing Cost of Commercial Mail12 The Rise of Independent Procacci3 The Medieval State and Its Surveillance Mechanism – the Office of the Bollette1 Surveilling Complex State Territory2 Monitoring the Movement of Couriers in Bologna3 Censoring Newsletters and Satirical Pamphlets4 The Earliest Notions of Postal Privacy5 Managing Their Own Troupes of CouriersPart 2: The Introduction of Horses into Postal Operations4 The Visconti and Sforza Regimes in Milan and the Age of the Postal Horse1 The Earliest Documented Cavallari2 Introduction of Mounted Postal Relays by the Visconti3 The Benchmarks of Early Postal Efficiency4 Evolving Postal Jargon and Pictograms5 Postal Stations and Their Geostrategic Value6 The Princely Postal System under the Sforza7 Social Status of the Milanese Cavallari8 A Struggle to Secure the Funding9 Building Postal Infrastructure10 Communications and Timekeeping11 River Crossings and Fluvial Travel12 Expanding the Network beyond State Boundaries13 The Postal Connection with Medici Florence5 Expanding the Interstate Mounted Postal Network1 The Overall Cost of the Sforza System2 Naval Bridge between Naples and Gaeta3 Ducal Inspector Reports on the State of the Network4 The Growing Pains Endure5 Only for the Privileged Few6 Other Italian and European States Establish Their Own Mounted Posts1 The Military Roots of the Term ‘Post’2 The First Mounted Lines beyond the Boundaries of Italy3 The Difference between Cavalcata and Staffetta4 The Mounted Courier’s AttirePart 3: The Postal Era Reaches Its Full Maturity7 The Company of Venetian Couriers1 The Genesis of Venetian Courier Network2 The Most Lucrative Postal Route of Renaissance Europe3 The Relationship between the Guild and Its Maestro in Venice4 The Guild’s Headquarters in the Rialto5 Postal Infrastructure along via Flaminia6 State Subsidies and the Cost of a Single Journey7 The Postmasters of the Venetian Guild in Rome8 The Landmark Postal Legislation of 15419 Affinity between Banking and Postal Operations10 Our Exquisite House in Rome11 The Earning Power of a Venetian Courier12 Synergy with the Post of Constantinople13 Other Regional and Interstate Postal Lines8 Postal Wars and the Rise of State Postal Monopolies1 A Deeply Rooted Mutual Distrust2 Testing the Enemy’s Resolve: Battles over Postal Lines with Bologna and Ancona3 The Insistence on Postal Reciprocity by Pius V (1566–1572)4 A Series of Senseless Retaliations5 Arguments for the Right to Postal Privacy6 Lucrative Postal Monopolies7 Postal Wars Continue Under Gregory XIII (1572–1585)8 Consolidating the State Monopoly9 Travel by the Posts, Postal Guides, and Transport of Packages1 The Proliferation of Postal Guides2 Traveling by the Posts for Leisure3 Transport of Packages by the Early Postal Carriers4 Catering to the Rich: from Human Cargo to Luxuries5 A Two-Tier Postal Network6 Resisting Change: the Introduction of Postal VehiclesEpilogueAppendixGlossary of Postal TermsBibliographyIndex