History of Rijeka - The Origins of The Emporium

The Origins of The Emporium

The origins of the emporium are to be located in the late 17th century when a mercantilist program starts to find its way into the Habsburg lands. Already in year 1666, under Emperor Leopold I, in Vienna a Commerzcollegium was founded, an office with the main function of initiating some economic reforms and the control of their execution. Based upon mercantilistic principles, a homogeneous “Littoral district” was to be created along the Adriatic coast.

Besides the local and, up to that time, unimportant ports of Trieste and Fiume, the plan also encompassed the integration of Croatian territories, which had been seized from the Ottoman Empire during the second half of the 17th century: the Gulf of Bakar, Senj and Karlobag where the Habsburgs met the competition of the local powerful landlords who started to develop as ports some of the coastal towns they owned. The Zrinski (Zriny) were the most powerful landowners in Croatia and most of the land that surrounded Fiume (as well as the city of Bakar (Buccari) was in their hands. They developed the port of Buccari, the best natural harbour in the area, comparatively well connected with the hinterland. Alliance with Venice and much lower taxes explain the success of Buccari, where soon the rise in traffic vastly outnumbered that of the Habsburg port of Fiume. Buccari had a lazaretto, founded by a Venetian company. The other family were the Frankopan (Frangipane) who owned and developed the port of Kraljevica (Portorè). These developments came to an abrupt end with the Zrinski-Frankopan conspiracy. After the end of the rebellion in 1673, that resulted in their defeat all these possessions were confiscated and put under the control of the Hungarian Aulic Chamber, soon transferred to the Imperial Chamber of Inner Austria. The destruction of the most powerful feudal families and their economic might ensured that no similar event would take place during the feudal era. Between Vienna and the Adriatic ports there were no feudal lords capable of competing or disturbing the plans of economic development. One of the big obstacles for the implementation of these policies was the Venetian monopoly on the Adriatic which effectively prevented ships form other countries to fare freely on this closed sea at the time known also as the “Gulf of Venice”. Success was achieved under Charles VI. In 1717 after another victorious campaign against the Ottomans (but this time with Venice as its ally) the Adriatic see was promptly declared free for trade, with Venice no longer opposing it; in 1718 peace was concluded with the Ottoman Empire and a commercial treaty brought important commercial liberties to the Ottoman and Habsburg subjects; in 1719 Trieste and Fiume were declared Free Ports of the Empire of the Habsburgs.

In 1723 the “Gran Consiglio” of the Fiuman commune was put under the Circle of Inner Austria with the seat in Graz. The Captain as a representative of the Emperor still holds the executive power for the governmental economic policy. Progressively, Fiume will be included in broader institutional frameworks, aimed at economic development of the whole empire, but growingly of its Hungarian part. That Hungarian influence was on the rise is reflected also in fact that Fiume, as a Free City, accepted the Pragmatic Sanction, in 1723 - the same year as the Hungarian Diet, while the “sister city” of Trieste did it ten year earlier in 1713 - as the other Habsburg lands. Trieste was intended in Charles VI plans to link Austrian lands with his remaining Spanish possessions - Naples. Fiume had to provide a link with Hungary and the Banat of Temesvar where the colony of Spanish exiles of Nova Barcelona was to be founded. The operation was entrusted to Ramon de Vilana Perlas Marques de Rialp (1663-1741), Spanish Sec. of State to Emperor Charles VI, who until his resignation in 1737 was secretario de estado y de despacho - the executive of the Spanish and Belgian councils and coordinated diplomatic relations involving the Emperor's Italian and Belgian outposts. The project failed, but links of Fiume with the Banat of Temesvar remained strong. Under the reign of Maria Theresa (1740–1780), in 1741 in Vienna is formed the Comercien Ober Directorium upon which all the commercial affairs of the empire is centred. In 1745 she united the administrations of all the ports within an Oberste Commerz-Intendenza (High Commercial Intendancy), which was originally established by her father in 1731.

Fiume, instead of a Kreisamt, subordinated to the Gubernium, has a Direzione Superiore Commerciale (Kommerzassesorium) subordinated to the Cesarea Regia Intendenza Commerciale per il Litorale, seated in Trieste. The Intendenza was the first provincial imperial institution that ruled the City from 1748 until 1776. In 1749 Maria Theresa issued the Haupt Resolution by which the civil and military Capitan of Trieste is put under the control of the Comercien Ober Directorium seated in Vienna. All the region of the Littoral in fact becomes a territorial dependency of this new institution, specifically oriented to the development of commerce and thus very different from the other (still feudal) provinces. From 1753 the Intendenza Capitanale di Fiume Tersatto e Buccari, executes the orders from the head office in Trieste. The Fiuman “Luogotenente” of the Cesarea Regia Luogotenenza Governale del Capitanato di Fiume, Tersatto e Buccari, had also the role of the previous captain, and his jurisdiction is extended and goes form Moschienizze to Carlopago. The Intendenza transmits the orders to the Justice Rectors in Fiume. Thereby the autonomy of the local institutions (the Justice Rectors previously were at the top of the communal administration) was gradually reduced.

Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor also founded a “privileged company” in Fiume. The purpose of these measures was to attract foreign investments, but the first companies were controlled from the chamber in Vienna and went bankrupt. The turn came in 1750, with the foundation of the Urban Arnold & comp. company, with the seat in Antwerp. Initially it dealt with the refinement of sugar, and the production of potash and tallow candles. It also possessed its own port basin and the number of its sugar refining plants grew from one to five. Soon, already in 1754, the Company supplies the while monarchy with sugar that becomes its main traded article. The company was bigger that anything Fiume had previously seen. It employed more than 1000 workers and employees in a time when the city had little more than 5000 inhabitants. Apart from sugar the company produced salted meat. The company bring new life to Fiuman economy and started many spin-offs (candle and rope factories, etc.). Industrial production in the city rose rapidly: in 1771 it was valued at 802,582 guldens, in 1780 2,278,000. the value of imports in 1771 was 1,187,000 guldens, in 1780 2,781,000 guldens. Exports value in 1771 was 496,000 guldens, in 1780 1,340,000 guldens, but probably they were even higher: according to the Ragusan diplomat Luka Sorkočević who in 1782 stayed in Fiume in his private diary estimated the added value of the fiuman economy (based on the value of its exported goods) at 2,5 million guldens.