The Republic of Ancona was a medieval commune and maritime republic notable for its economic development and maritime trade, particularly with the Byzantine Empire and Eastern Mediterranean, although somewhat confined by Venetian supremacy on the sea. It enjoyed excellent relations with the Kingdom of Hungary, was an ally of the Republic of Ragusa, and maintained good relations with the Turks. All these relationships enabled it to serve as central Italy's gateway to the Orient.
Included in the Papal States since 774, Ancona came under the influence of the Holy Roman Empire around 1000, but gradually gained independence to become fully independent with the coming of the communes in the 11th century, under the high jurisdiction of the papal state. Its motto was ('Dorian Ancona, city of faith'), referencing the Greek foundation of the city.
Ancona was an oligarchic republic ruled by six Elders, elected by the three terzieri into which the city was divided: S. Pietro, Porto and Capodimonte. It had a series of maritime laws known as ('Statutes of the sea and of the arsenal') and ('Statutes of the Customs').
Maritime relations and warehouses
The (colonies with warehouses and accommodation buildings) of the Republic of Ancona] were continuously active in Constantinople, Alexandria and other Eastern Mediterranean ports, while the sorting of goods imported by land (especially textiles and spices) fell to the merchants of Lucca and Florence.
In Constantinople there was perhaps the most important , where the Anconitans had their own church, Saint Stephen; in 1261 they were granted the privilege of having a chapel in the St. Sophia. Other Ancona were in Syria (in Laiazzo and Laodicea), in Romania (in Constanţa), in Egypt (in Alexandria), in Cyprus (in Famagusta), in Palestine (in San Giovanni d'Acri), in Greece (in Chios), in Asia Minor (in Trebizond). Moving to the west, Ancona warehouses were present in the Adriatic in Ragusa and Segna, in Sicily in Syracuse and Messina, in Spain in Barcelona and Valencia, and in Africa in Tripoli.
Coins
The first reports of Ancona's medieval coinage begin in the 12th century when the independence of the city grew and it began to mint coinage without Imperial or papal oversight. The agontano was the currency used by Republic of Ancona during its golden age. It was a large silver coin of 18–22 mm in diameter and a weight of 2.04–2.42 grams.
Later and less famously Ancona began minting a gold Agnoto coin, also known as the Ancona Ducat. Specimens of this coin have survived from the 15th and 16th centuries, until the cities loss of independence in 1532.
Art
The artistic history of the republic of Ancona has always been influenced by maritime relations with Dalmatia and the Levant.
Its major medieval monuments show a union between Romanesque and Byzantine art. Among the most notable are the Duomo, with a Greek cross and Byzantine sculptures, and the church of Santa Maria di Portonovo.
In the 14th century, Ancona was one of the centers of the so-called Adriatic Renaissance, a movement spread between Dalmatia, Venice and the Marches, characterized by a rediscovery of classical art and a certain continuity with Gothic art. The greatest architect and sculptor of this artistic current was Giorgio da Sebenico; the greatest painter was Carlo Crivelli.
Navigators
The navigator and archaeologist Cyriacus of Ancona, was a restlessly itinerant Italian navigator and humanist who came from a prominent family of merchants. He has been called the Father of Archaeology: "Cyriac of Ancona was the most enterprising and prolific recorder of Greek and Roman antiquities, particularly inscriptions, in the fifteenth century, and the general accuracy of his records entitles him to be called the founding father of modern classical archeology." He was named by his fellow humanists "father of the antiquities", who made his contemporaries aware of the existence of the Parthenon, Delphi, the Pyramids, the Sphinx and other famous ancient monuments believed destroyed.
The navigator Grazioso Benincasa was born in Ancona; he was the best known Italian maritime cartographer of the fifteenth century and the author of several portolan charts of the Mediterranean.
History
After 1000, Ancona became increasingly independent, eventually turning into an important maritime republic, often clashing against the nearby power of Venice. Ancona always had to guard against the designs of both the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy. It never attacked other maritime cities, but was always forced to defend itself. Despite a series of expeditions, trade wars and naval blockades, Venice never succeeded in subduing Ancona.