Finanza pubblica e fiscalità a Genova in età moderna (1528-1797)

This essay analyzes the fiscal and financial structures of the Republic of Genoa between 1528 and 1797, emphasizing the persistence of medieval legacies and the limited impact of early modern reforms. Genoese public finance rested on the predominance of indirect taxation and on the pivotal role of the Casa di San Giorgio, which managed most public debt and tax revenues. The state apparatus was highly fragmented, marked by overlapping jurisdictions and the absence of unified budgeting—features that mirrored the oligarchic nature of Genoese politics. The essay examines tax assessment procedures, the socio-political weight of fiscal exemptions, and the difficulties of equitable distribution. In the late eighteenth century, embryonic notions of progressive taxation began to emerge. The fall of the Republic and its incorporation into the French Empire brought a rupture: the repudiation of Genoese debt and the dismantling of its financial institutions, developments that contributed to Liguria’s prolonged economic stagnation in the early nineteenth century.