Nobility and economy in 19th century Northern Italy

The contribution aims to open a new debate stating the hypothesis that the upper nobility, holders of large capital and real estates, remained a relevant factor in the Northern Italy economy all along the 19th century. Some traditional assumptions should probably be redefined or re-dimensioned and we should probably soften the claims that the nobility’s economic role was irreversibly declining and its general political and social conservative positions were strictly tied to its conservative economic attitudes. In the nineteenth century the nobility still owned capital and knowledge far superior to those of the new rising middle class and had to deal from a longest period with the conservation and the increase of their assets. The middle classes still looked at the nobility as a social model and, according to a traditional behaviour, marriages of sons and daughters with noble heirs were strongly pursued as a way to climb social positions. After all, besides the nobility of feudal origin, a large part of the Italian noblemen had bourgeois roots, as they obtained a title and entered the élite only after enriching themselves thanks to businesses, trade and finance. The presentation tries to enlighten two local contexts in particular: Lombardy and the Genoa area, two of the economic poles of Italy development in the late nineteenth century.