One of the most interesting and intense instances of competition for Jewish merchants took place in the sixteenth century, between various jurisdictions on the Italian peninsula. Ultimately, significant Jewish mercantile settlements emerged only in three ports: Venice, Ancona, and Livorno. The course of events in Venice and Livorno no doubt induced the popes to maintain and even extend their conciliatory policy towards Jews in Ancona. The Jewish merchants residing in Venice well realized their importance to the city. Many also included a calculated attempt to divert trade away from Ancona, and then later Livorno as well, after its port began to function. Certainly, this was true of Rodriga's two major interrelated projects first proposed in late 1576 or early 1577 but ultimately implemented only after 1589 the establishment of a free-transit scala at Spalato, a Venetian possession on the north-eastern Dalmatian Adriatic coast, and the granting of privileges to Jewish merchants.