Immigrants and formalisation of social ties in Early Modern Italy: Ivrea in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

The article analyzes how immigrants in Ivrea during the Early Modern period made use of strategies of formalization of social ties to integrate into the host community. The article shows that immigrants behaved very differently according to their place of origin, both by analyzing aggregate data and by reconstructing individual paths of networking. While those coming from the countryside surrounding the city tried to integrate in the general social network of the host community as best as they could, immigrants coming from farther places tended to establish specific micro-communities within Ivrea, with important social and economic consequences. The case of immigrant merchants is analyzed with particular attention. The selection strategies of marriage partners, marriage witnesses and godparents are reconstructed and compared.