Abstract

From 15th to 19th century a lot of different kinds of salts have been used, and the colored ones had a special importance to control the traffics and to fight smuggling. The western border at this time was characterized by the presence of a large number of territorial entities which formed a «mosaic» of particular jurisdictions, that escaped to any control of the centralized entities that surrounded them (Duchy of Savoy, State of Milan, Gonzaga dominions, Republic of Genoa). The salts trade in this period was extremely widespread and was the main source of income of these States. Legal and illegal salt trades, that defining contraband can be misleading, highlight some little-known aspects of the salt «material history» and make it possible to analyze how these traffics evolved.