THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FREE PORT OF MESSINA BETWEEN THE XVII AND XVIII CENTURIES. AN ONGOING RESEARCH AGENDA

The paper outlines an ongoing study on the free port of Messina, in the context of the historiographical reappraisal on the establishment of free ports in the Mediterranean in the Early Modern Age. Adopting a diachronic approach, it summarizes the purposes and issues that affected its outcomes, from 1695 throughout the entire 18th century: its rules and the institutional turning points, the economic debates, and some critical issues like the franchise area, the trade of local goods (wheat, silk, oil), smuggling, mercantile justice and safe-conduct.