The golden age of Amalfi (839-1135)

As a Maritime Republic Amalfi was known in the Mediterranean area and as far as India. Its galleys and galleons had free entrance to the major ports: warehouses and quarters were present in the main cities, like Constantinople, Cairo, Jerusalem and Antioch.

A whole area belonged to Amalfi people with streets, squares, houses and churches. In Constantinople the Church “Santa Maria Amalphitanorum” was dedicated to St.Andrew; in Jerusalem before building the Church S.Maria Latina the powerful family Mauro, in 1040, had built a hospital with 2000 beds,where the monks of S.John assisted pilgrims and the wounded, during the First Crusade.

Fra Gerardo Sasso, at the beginning of the XII century organised an Order of Knights, which continued to assist the sick and the Pilgrims, but later on the Knights fought for the Holy Sepulchre. The descendants of this Order are now the Knights of the Order of Malta.

The Amalfians were not only good merchants, they were clever politicians and kept friendly relations with all the peoples of the countries they had contacts with.

From the Arabs they learned how to produce paper.

The tradition of paper making in Amalfi has therefore a long and glorious history. In the most obscure and unsettled period of the Middle Ages Amalfi had an extensive and florid commerce, Paper making was linked in its origin to this commercial activity. The Arabs had learnt paper-making from the Chinese and diffused its use and production in Western Europe.

The Amalfians were the first Europeans to come into contact with paper in its original place of production They soon established their own paper production, which became a real source of income, even after the decline of the maritime republic. In the XVIII century there were about 16 paper mills in the area. Paper was a necessity for every day life and it could be easily produced. In time the use of paper became very common and the clerks of the curia began to use paper instead of parchment. The paper produced in Amalfi was of fine quality and was very much in demand .

From the Arab, Amalfians also learned how to grow lemons, which in the Amalfi mild climate found an ideal habitat and their cultivation transformed the landscape, because some kind of terraces had to be built on the steep slopes. Arab architecture was also reflected in the town style. . Many areas in Amalfi were built in a clear Arab style, specially in the quarter “Arsina”

Amalfians achieved more influence and importance with the “Tabula Amalphitana” which is a Maritime Code regulating the sea traffic: the first 21 chapters were written in Latin and date back to the XI century. The “societates maris” (sea societies) were formed by the owners of the ships, the merchants, the sailors, who had a share in the income.

Amalfians’ importance was so great that they even minted their own golden and silver coin the “Tari”, which is the Arab for “freshly minted” and it was legal tender until the XIII century: Emperor Frederic II ordered the abolition.

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