![Giustiniani marchese](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Giustiniani_marchese.jpg)
A maona ( ar, معونة ''ma‘ūnah''; ; ar, معاونة ''mu‘āwanah''; ) also as mahona (pl. mahone) or societas comperarum was a medieval
Italian association of
investors formed to manage the purchased
shares
In financial markets, a share is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation, and can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Share capital refers to all of the shares of an ...
(''loca'' or ''partes'') of the revenue due to the relevant city-state through
tax farming
Farming or tax-farming is a technique of financial management in which the management of a variable revenue stream is assigned by legal contract to a third party and the holder of the revenue stream receives fixed periodic rents from the contract ...
. The shares were individually sold to wealthy merchants who would band together to make collection easier.
Characteristics
These organizations were usually temporary, and could sometimes be extremely aggressive in extracting the monies due them, engaging in activities up to and including outright conquest. The origins of the concept can be traced back to
trade financing
Trade finance is a phrase used to describe different strategies that are employed to make international trade easier. It signifies financing for trade, and it concerns both domestic and international trade transactions. A trade transaction require ...
in
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
. The linguistic roots of the Arabic word ''maona'' (معونة) can be best translated as 'help' or 'helping each other'. The maonas were the first examples of
shareholding
A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal owner ...
companies in the Western world and were used by the Genoese to enlarge their dominions in the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...
in the 14th century.
Maona were especially common in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
and the territories of the
Republic of Genoa
The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...
.
Maona of Chios and Phocaea
The most notable maona was the one administering the island of
Chios
Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...
in the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...
and the nearby port of
Phocaea, formed in 1346. It was sold to the
Giustiniani family of settlers on Chios, who then ruled the island until the
Ottoman conquest in 1566.
The model proved successful, and in 1373 the Genoese also founded the Maona Vecchia di Cipro in
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
.
References
{{Reflist
External links
"Origins of the Joint-Stock Company""Genoeses - Maona"
Financial services organizations
Medieval organizations
Medieval Italy
Medieval economics
History of the Republic of Genoa