Lecavella, Mabilia (fl. 1206)
Lecavella, Mabilia (fl. 1206)
German merchant. Flourished in 1206 in Genoa.
Mabilia Lecavella worked in the business of long-distance trade from her native town of Genoa. Her name is preserved in a contract dated 1206 which she signed with a male trader, Rubaldus Galetta of Genoa. The contract stipulated a partnership between the business owners, in which Mabilia was to import fine linen and canvas from Swabia (southern Germany) and other regions, and arrange for its transport to Genoa. Then Rubaldus would arrange for its shipment to Sicily, where he must have had connections, and see to its sale there for a quarter of her total profits. Such complex business arrangements were not unusual for successful women like Lecavella, who operated their own companies and often traded internationally.
sources:
Anderson, Bonnie S., and Judith P. Zinsser. A History of Their Own. Vol. I. NY: Harper & Row, 1988.
Uitz, Erika. The Legend of Good Women: The Liberation of Women in Medieval Cities. Wakefield, RI: Moyer Bell, 1988.
Laura York , Riverside, California