Tra paura e ospitalità: il controllo dei forestieri a Brescia alla fine del XVIII secolo

Throughout the modern era, the Venetian Republic was a cosmopolitan and welcoming land. Many foreigners arrived from all over the continent, either to engage in political-economic exchanges or to start a new life in the territory of the Serenissima. Faced with this massive and constant migration, the Venetian authorities, for centuries, applied a mild control over foreigners. This trend was abruptly interrupted with the outbreak of the French Revolution, which had the effect of completely and incisively changing the way borders and the individuals who crossed them were controlled. There was a veritable frenetic race to register, without distinction of class or wealth, all those who came to the Venetian Republic. In all the cities of the Terraferma, weekly and daily lists were drawn up to be sent to the state inquisitors. It was in a climate of political uncertainty, upheaval and fear that the foreigner would be the bearer of novel and revolutionary instances that the Venetian government changed its centuries-old policy of controlling people. The essay aims to show how the foreigner was identified. Moreover, thanks to the copious existing documentation, it will reflect on the case of Brescia - a city of passage -, reconstructing the profiles and itineraries of those who passed through it. Finally, the legislation after the rupture caused by the French invasion of 1796 will be investigated, highlighting the persistence of discontinuity.