The Hospitaller Commandery of San Giovanni di Pre` in Genoa : aspects of its historical development in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

Abstract

The present study, divided into eight chapters, spans the history of the Hospitaller commandery of San Giovanni di Pre in Genoa, from the Middle Ages up to the end of the eighteenth century. As indicated by the title, the focus is on the commandery's history during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The first two chapters have been dedicated to the medieval genesis and subsequent development of the settlement stemming from the early contacts between Genoa and the Hospitallers. This was an imperative overture for a better understanding of the dominant themes discussed in the subsequent chapters. Particular attention has been focused on the commandery's financial development, perhaps the most dynamic aspect of the benefice. This has been substantiated with studies on isolated attempts by certain commanders to break the commandery' s close ties with the land it possessed. The study is concluded by a step-by-step account of the events which led to the confiscation of San Giovanni di Pre.