Constanzo Miglio di Padeno | |
|---|---|
| Born | X-X 1362/1363 TT Corusa |
| Died | X-6 or X-7 1302 TT |
| Occupation(s) | Trader Banker |
| Years active | 1346 TT - 1302 TT (trading) |
| Known for | Spurring growth in the city of Padeno Founding the Miglio dynasty |
Constanzo Miglio di Padeno (1362/1363 TT - 1302 TT) was a Rossan tradesman and mariner, widely accredited for being the hand behind the power of the Miglio family. Amassing great wealth over his lifetime, his riches would drive the flourishing of the small coastal town of Padeno into becoming the largest city in the region, and eventually the entire island of La Rossa. Engaging in trade with cities across the entire coastline of the islands, he would continue commanding his fleet of trade ships aboard his vessels until his death in 1302 TT, when he would be lost at sea.
Early Life
Born in either the year 1362 or 1363 TT, Constanzo Miglio was born in the town of Corusa in the Montesuvian mountain range. Although the town's remains quite small today (with tourism surrounding Constanzo Miglio's being its biggest industry), owing to an aging population and a mostly traditional mountain lifestyle, at the time, it was one of the bigger towns in the region, allowing for Miglio's relatively fortunate upbringing, despite the tragedy that would strike in his life. The death of his father, a huntsman and fur trader, at the age of 15 would leave him the inheritor of a small amount of wealth, with which he would leave his mother (who died soon after) in search of fortune on the island's coast.
First Journeys
Traveling to the coastal city of Donua (today part of Padeno), Miglio would use his father's silver to acquire residence in the city. Spending his first month in companionship of drink and dice, upon realizing his shrinking wealth, he would soon begin to seek ways to expand it in order to extend his lifestyle. Based on advice from a friend in the city, he would invest significant coin into shipments of grain, in anticipation of a drastic price increase during the winter and fall (in expectation of a harsher than usual cold), a venture which would ultimately result in failure as it failed to materialize.
Shaken by the losses, but undeterred in his goal, he would sell the house he had recently bought to a local magnate, purchasing a small vessel with the money, and naming it Loretta. Hiring a crew, and a ship captain to lead it, and stocking the vessel with tradable goods, the ship would begin making journeys around the regional waters, sailing to the distance of Salino. Amidst lackluster business over two seasons, barely covering the costs of travel, a result of overwhelming, smothering competition, the captain would approach Miglio with the proposal to begin journeys to the other side of the island. A task difficult to accomplish, requiring a week's worth of journey in each direction while sustaining battering from the storm, trade between the furthest points on the islands occurred much more rarely than with those in the immediate vicinity, and often through middlemen.
Burned in the past by poor advice, yet willing to trust the captain's experience in handling the ship, Miglio would embark on the first such journey of his in 1344 TT, carrying a shipment of salt from Salino to Lorma. Offering decreased prices of shipment, Miglio would see payoff for his risk, and would soon come into ownership of a second and, eventually, third vessel.
Padeno
Confidence in the risky model Miglio had built began to rise, seen by the slow rise in traders willing to compete. The tariffs of the docks in Donua soon became a limiting factor on Miglio's wealth, cutting into the margins he would find necessary to continue operating. Taking a loan from the Giannone family in Salino, Miglio would invest the silver into the construction of new docks capable of holding his ships in the nearby town of Padeno. Turning it into his primary base of operations, the town would begin to attract a variety of businesses from the region, servicing the growing swathes of sailors in search of work.
The decades that followed saw the expansion of the town into a city-state, spearheaded by a growing fleet trading across the island. Bolstered by the inflow of wealth and goods, the city's economy grew exponentially, placing a centripetal influence that took hold over the region, with the surrounding towns' trade and manufacturing increasingly becoming in service of Padeno.
With the burgeoning private fortunes tied to his name, Constanzo Miglio di Padeno - now universally associated with the city he helped create - saw the end of his life, though still far in the distance, to nonetheless be approaching him. With no heir to leave his fortunes to, he would arrange a marriage with Lucia Giannone of the Salino family. Remaining mostly apathetic to his wife until the end of his life, with recovered pages from her personal journal (which she hid from him) referring to him as "uncaring and unfeeling", he would take a different stance towards his first (and only) son, grooming him from a young age as a successor to the fortunes of his ventures.
Death
Constanzo Miglio was lost at sea in the summer of 1302 TT, following along atop a trading vessel on a routine journey to Lorma. Joined by his son, a storm more vicious than expected led to the loss of control over the ship, with violent waves carrying it out of view for the fleet accompanying it. The ship returned to the coast days later, with most of the crew missing, Constanzo Miglio included. His surviving son, returning to Padeno, where he inherited his father's wealth, would claim until the end of his life that tragic misfortune led to the death of his father, writing it down into historical record. Subsequent historians would claim discovery of the increasingly strained relationship the father and son shared in their final months, as the latter, as ambitious as his father, would go on to seek greater control over the family's enterprises.