O negócio atlântico : as redes comerciais portuenses e as novas geografias do trato internacional (séculos XVI-XVII)

This work introduces the part played by the Portuguese Northwest centres in the construction of the Atlantic system due to the international traffic developed from its ports. One discusses here traditional historiographical interpretations, namely in what concerns the amplitude of the trade developed in the beginning of the Early Modern Period by commercial agents who can be positioned outside the Iberian imperial schemes, and the centrality of the economic spaces in the same period

Nas origens de uma Respública marítima e mercantil : o acolhimento ao estrangeiro nos portos medievais e modernos

Na constituição das identidades marítimas o acolhimento ao estrangeiro nos portos medievais e modernos constituiu um elemento central; numa perspectiva comparada, este estudo procura mostrar a forma como os portos portugueses foram locais de experiências de contacto que enriqueceram os seus quotidianos e influenciaram comportamentos. Debatem-se questões de relacionamento entre o «Outro» e o «Eu»portuários e revêem-se conceitos muitas vezes utilizados de forma anacrónica, como o de «nação» ou «xenofobia».In the constitution of medieval and early modern maritime identities, welcoming the foreigner in ports was a key-element; in a comparative perspective, this study seeks to show how the Portuguese portsdeveloped experiences of contact that enriched and influenced their everyday behaviours.The paper suggests new interpretations of the relations between the «Self» and the «Other», and reviews concepts often misused such as the ones of «nation» or «xenophobia»

Merchants, ports and hinterlands : the building of sea-port structures in the Early Modern Porto

Emerging in the Middle Ages, Porto became one of the most important ports of the Iberian Peninsula. The city’s affirmation over the nearby territory was accompanied by the expansion of business towards the northern markets of Flanders, Brabant, Great Britain and northern France (Brittany and Normandy), stimulating the emergence of a merchant navy, and inspiring a set of engineering works meant to organize the harbour. With this paper, I’ll pay attention to the role performed by small ports and apparently modest business centres in the building and organization of the first global age. The history of such port like Porto will contribute to enlighten fields of interaction that existed between the port-cities and their umlands and hinterlands, which supported its economy,mould a significant part of its society, and influenced its cultural standards. In this study I’ll present the most important facts of the process of territorial domination, and the way things were conducted in order to get effective its mercantile economy. Charts will be presented and comment, once they are very informative to this evolution, and I’ll also emphasize the international context in which it occurred

Oligarquia política e elite económica no Porto dos séculos XV e XVI

This essay aims to point out the major differences and conflicts amongst mercantile elites in Porto during the transition from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period. The main focus falls on describing the economic dynamics as well as the political and social setting of the time, with special emphasis placed on the environment of hostility resulting from the arrival of new merchants in Porto. The supremacy of the traditional Porto bourgeoisie was then faced with a challenge, becoming decadent in terms of economic wealth, while still holding nevertheless municipal authority

O porto de Viana e a construção do Cais da Alfândega (1631-1633)

During the Early Modern Period the maritime traffic became a decisive factor for the prosperity of the societies. As noted by James D. Tracy in the introduction to an important book on the organisation of the world’s economy (The political economy of merchant empires), it was necessary to deal “with important changes in the growth and composition of the long distance commerce grosso modo between 1450 and 1750” which resulted in the primacy of Europe in the global trade. Researchers consider that this was due, essentially, to evolved organisational processes. While concerned about the protection of their navies and strategic routes, states, political powers and private entities began to give special attention to port logistics: the ports were modernised with quays, warehouses and service areas. In this article, I will address some aspects relating to the evolution of Viana do Castelo harbour in the first half of the 17th century. Constituted as one of the strategic ports of the Portuguese Atlantic trade, and open to international navigation, this anchoring-place was object of profound improvements which culminated in the construction of a quay: the “Custom House Quay”, a work whose technical steps we can follow thanks to a precious income and expense document concerning this undertaking, conserved in a particular archive

Saber fazer : a circulação de informação entre comunidades marítimas no início dos tempos modernos

In this essay I'll intend to analyse some aspects of the knowledge diffusion amid Portuguese and European maritime centres between late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times. The starting point will be the identification of maritime societies. Who are those members and how each one of them acted adding new outlooks in the subject? As we all recognize the 14th century has been a period of intense international bonds involving the major European costal zones: a period of development of enlarged maritime networks alongside with market enlargement and vital economic connections. Here we can find the origins of an enlarged maritime heritage which will be patent in times ahead, namely in the 16th century Europe. In that way, we must try to define "maritime cultures" and articulated economic centres: from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, merchants and sailors find out how people deal with common problems in different areas: how to build a ship set to sail in a particular surrounding; how the seaports were planned and arranged; the rules and ways of commerce; the mentalities that were displayed by the men who lived from what the Sea provided. These are some of the basics of interaction and maritime cultural diffusion in this extended area. The first part of the study, which is a foremost of a long term research project, will be dedicated to commercial techniques: how European merchants acquire privileged information about the ways of the trade. On the second part I'll look after shipyard procedure: how carpenters, caulkers, rope makers and other specialized workers developed solutions in order to build new and increasingly successful ships. Throughout this text the circulation of people all over European maritime centres observing, writing about ports, trades, and ships, and communicating what they saw to their fellowship will the emphasised. Circulation of people means information diffusion. These are the Modern Times at its best

Entre consumos suntuários e comuns: a posse de objetos exóticos entre alguns habitantes do Porto (séculos XVI – XVII)

O estudo da documentação referente aos doadores da Misericórdia do Porto entre os séculos XVI e XVII, através dos objetos exóticos patentes nos respectivos testamentos e inven- tários – estes últimos provenientes de uma área que se estende de Macau ao Brasil –, permite discernir uma panóplia de objetos que mudaram a cultura material dos portuenses em contato com os territórios da expansão portuguesa. Um levantamento sistemático permitiu já rastrear, até o ano de 1699, 257 doadores, dos quais se apresentarão aqui apenas alguns, referentes a benfeitores que, não obstante possuírem bens móveis nesse âmbito, não são dados como tendo estado nos territórios de expansão transoceânica. Argumentar-se-á que essa circulação de objetos não foi exclusiva das elites nobiliárquicas, nem dos grandes centros urbanos, pelo que a sua difusão atingiu maiores proporções do que aquelas que a historiografia tem admitido até agora. A cidade em observação neste estudo – o Porto dos séculos XVI e XVII – estava longe de ser das maiores da Europa nesse período, quer em dimensão territorial, quer em efetivos populacionais, embora se situasse numa região de demografia pujante, que canalizou os seus excedentes desde cedo para a emigração interna e externa – o Entre Douro e Minho. Como teremos ocasião de verificar, fidalgos e nobres possuíam bens exóticos, mas estes encontravam-se também entre mercadores e até artesãos mais desafogados. Por outro lado, nem todos os objetos provenientes dos espaços da expansão transoceânica devem ser conotados com bens de luxo.The study of the sources referring to the donors of the Misericórdia of the city of Porto during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries has revealed the presence of numerous exotic objects in their last wills and inventories. A survey has traced 257 donors until 1699, some of them having died in an area that extends from Macao to Brazil. Only a small number of cases shall be presented here, pertaining to benefactors who, in spite of owning objects of transoceanic origin, seem to have remained in mainland Portugal. It shall be argued that the circulation of objects has not been exclusive either to the elites of the nobility or to the large urban centres, their diffusion having been on a larger scale than what has been admitted until now. The city under scrutiny in this study – Porto during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries – was not one of the bigger cities in this period, either in what respects to size or population, although it was located in an area of flourishing demography, that channelled its surplus population early on to internal and external emigration. Fidalgos and noblemen owned exotic goods, but these were to be found among merchants and even well-to-do artisans. On the other hand, not all objects originating from the areas of transoceanic expansion should be considered as luxury goods.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

O grande comércio dos "pequenos actores". Portuenses e Bascos na construção do sistema atlántico

Examina las relaciones entre los puertos del noroeste portugués y los puertos de la costa cantábrica española en los siglos XV y XVI: un comercio marítimo que se inscribe en un espacio económico más integrado de lo que se supone, tanto dentro de la logística de los estados peninsulares como del sistema mundial moderno.Portugalgo ipar-mendebaldeko portuen eta Espainiako Kantauri kostaldeko portuen arteko harremanak aztertzen ditu, XV. eta XVI. mendeei dagokienez: itsas merkataritza hura ustez baino ekonomia esparru integratuagoan sarturik zegoen, hala penintsulako estatuen logistikaren barrenean nola munduko sistema modernoarenean.Examine les relations entre les ports du nord-ouest portugais et les ports de la côte cantabrique espagnole aux XVème et XVIème siècles: un commerce maritime qui s'inscrit dans un espace économique plus intégré que l'on peu le supposer, tant dans la logistique des états péninsulaires que dans le système mondial moderne.This article examines the relations between ports in the Portuguese north-east and the ports of the Spanish coast of the Bay of Biscay in the 15th and 16th centuries: this was a maritime commerce that was inscribed in an economic space that was more integrated than one would normally surmise, both within the logistics of the Peninsular states and in the modern world system