Buonavoglia

'''Buonavoglia''' ([[Italian language|Italian]], "free will") was a term used for a free, paid rower in the European armadas from the [[Middle Ages]]. They were hired especially by the republics of [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] and [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]] to serve as oarsmen in their [[galley]] fleets, and their usage lasted to the end of rowing ships in the [[late modern period]].Frederic C. Lane, ''Storia di Venezia'', Torino, Einaudi, 1978.Frederic C. Lane, ''Le navi di Venezia'', Torino, Einaudi, 1983. ISBN 88-06-05666-2

'''Buonavoglia''' ([[Italian language|Italian]], "free will") was a term used for a free, paid rower in the European armadas from the [[Middle Ages]]. They were hired especially by the republics of [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] and [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]] to serve as oarsmen in their [[galley]] fleets, and their usage lasted to the end of rowing ships in the [[late modern period]].Frederic C. Lane, ''Storia di Venezia'', Torino, Einaudi, 1978.Frederic C. Lane, ''Le navi di Venezia'', Torino, Einaudi, 1983. ISBN 88-06-05666-2

==History==

==Characteristics==

''Buonavoglia'' rowed in exchange for a payment, in opposition to [[galley slave]]s, known instead as ''zontaroli''. Like [[galley slave]]s, they were usually chained to the oar, but during battles they were released so they could abandon ship and save their lives in case of sinking. It was also usual to allow them to wield weapons if it was necessary for them to join the battle. In outstanding performance, they would be awarded prizes.

''Buonavoglia'' rowed in exchange for a payment, in opposition to [[galley slave]]s, known instead as ''zontaroli''. Like [[galley slave]]s, they were usually chained to the oar, but during battles they were released so they could abandon ship and save their lives in case of sinking. It was also usual to allow them to wield weapons if it was necessary for them to join the battle. In outstanding performance, they would be awarded prizes.

==History==

For most of its history, Genoa employed solely freed rowers. Only by the end of the Chioggia War in 1381 that they started using slave rowers to reduce expenses.Ossian De Negri, Teofilo, ''Storia di Genova: Mediterraneo, Europa, Atlantico'', Giunti Editore, (2003), ISBN 978-88-09-02932-3. However, ''buonavoglia'' continued being a fixture of Genoese fleets, with showings like the 1519 [[Battle of Pianosa]], where [[Andrea Doria]]'s flotilla was crewed by free rowers due to a lack of slaves.[[Alberto Guglielmotti|Guglielmotti, Alberto]], ''Storia della marina Pontificia dal secolo ottavo al decimonono, Volume 3''. 1876, Tipografia Tiberina. Similarly, Venice fielded only ''buonavoglia'' recruited from [[Dalmatia]] and [[Greece]], by either levy or payment. Only in March 1545, after Cristoforo Canal had insisted to use enslaved rowers to reduce costs after the defeat of [[Battle of Preveza|Preveza]] seven years earlier, the Venetian senate instated the custom.[[Emmanuele Antonio Cicogna]], ''Delle iscrizioni veneziane raccolte ed illustrate da Emmanuele Antonio Cicogna cittadino veneto''. Vol.II, Stampatore, 1827

Aside from hiring regular buonavoglia, [[Knights Hospitaller]] often signed contracts of [[indentured servitude]] where the signers would serve a measure of time as a rower in exchange for their debt to be cleared. As galley slaves in Hospitaller ships were often Muslim and Jewish prisoners of war, their free counterparts were expected to watch over possible rebellions aboard.{{cite journal |last1=Wettinger |first1=Godfrey |title=The Galley-Convicts and Buonavoglia in Malta during the rule of the Order |journal=Journal of the Faculty of Arts |date=1965 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=29–37 |url=https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/bitstream/123456789/39335/1/JFA%2c_3%281%29_-_A5.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241230015803/https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/bitstream/123456789/39335/1/JFA,_3(1)_-_A5.pdf |archive-date=30 December 2024}}

Aside from hiring regular buonavoglia, [[Knights Hospitaller]] often signed contracts of [[indentured servitude]] where the signers would serve a measure of time as a rower in exchange for their debt to be cleared. As galley slaves in Hospitaller ships were often Muslim and Jewish prisoners of war, their free counterparts were expected to watch over possible rebellions aboard.{{cite journal |last1=Wettinger |first1=Godfrey |title=The Galley-Convicts and Buonavoglia in Malta during the rule of the Order |journal=Journal of the Faculty of Arts |date=1965 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=29–37 |url=https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/bitstream/123456789/39335/1/JFA%2c_3%281%29_-_A5.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241230015803/https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/bitstream/123456789/39335/1/JFA,_3(1)_-_A5.pdf |archive-date=30 December 2024}}