ROLI NDËRMJETËSUES I TREGTARËVE NGA SHQIPËRIA E JUGUT SI FAKTORI RËNDËSISHËM PËR TREGTINË VENECIANE
THE BROKERING ROLE OF THE MERCHANTS FROM THE SOUTHERN AND LOWER ALBANIA AS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR FOR THE VENETIAN TRADE

Summary/Abstract: The positive impact of trade was reflected in the economic development, demographics and urbanization of the Albanian towns. Brokering was of particular importance for the Venetian trade. A primary role for its expansion was played by the merchants of Orthodox faith from Janina, Arta, Pogoni, Voskopoja, etc, who settled in Venice at the Greek fraternity “Scuola dei Greci” by the end of the XV century and the middle of the XVI century. At the same period, they set up various settlements in Bulgaria including Arvanitochori of Tamovo and Arbanasi of Razgrad, from where they emigrated to the Romanian Principalities and some of them such as Vasil Lup and Stefan Koçi, Gjergj and Gregor 1 Gjika, Dora d’Istria’s forefathers, Gjergj and Konstantin Duka etc reached the highest positions and had trade relations with Venice by means of their brokers. Even the Albanian dragomans Bartolomeo Bruti and his nephews who belonged to the Boriçi (Borisi) family, had a great weight in the relations of Venice with Istanbul and the Romanian Principalities. After the opening of the Venetian consulate and other foreign consulates in Durrës in the first quarter of the XVII century, where converged inter-Balkan trade, it became a crossroads of merchants and wares. Some of them were employed in the consulates and then moved to Venice and traded as farwarders.

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