Merchant networks

This article provides an overview of Japan's involvement in acquiring forestry data in the Philippines and the demand for timber since the 1910s. It explores the inter-empire network between Japan, the US, Taiwan and the Philippines, with a focus on Taiwan's dispatch of individuals for forestry surveys. The article highlights the role of Taiwan and its impact on Japanese forestry information about the Philippines. It argues that while colony-oriented knowledge-making served government purposes, the central government in Tokyo maintained control over the colonial network, revealing the duality of actors involved in forestry information collection.

RESUMEN Recorrido genealógico de una familia originaria de Génova, los Sopranis, establecida en Andalucía y Canarias y de la que daremos cuenta de sus miembros entre los siglos XV al XVIII. Este linaje con base al comercio acumuló una inmensa riqueza, de la que partieron variados negocios y propiedades, conformando una red familiar y económica. Todo esto se configuró en un destacado prestigio social al que se añadieron ventajosas alianzas matrimoniales, multiplicando su patrimonio, y el acceso a codiciados cargos civiles y militares, además de títulos nobiliarios 1. ABSTRACT A genealogical account of the Sopranis, a family originally from Genoa, established in Andalusia and in the Canary Islands. We will describe its members between the 15th and 18th centuries. This lineage, based on commerce, accumulated immense wealth, wich let to various businesses and properties forming a family and economic network. All this resulted in a remarkable social prestige, to which were added advantageous marriage alliances, multiplying their assets, and access to coveted civil and military positions, as well as noble titles.

La historia de Toledo ha suscitado siempre un gran interés, especialmente cuando se refiere a los siglos medievales y modernos. Sin embargo, pocos son los estudios realizados desde una perspectiva económica sobre estos periodos, a pesar de la conocida relevancia de la ciudad y de sus mercaderes. Esta obra asume esta suerte de vacío y toma la ciudad de Toledo como referencia para desarrollar un análisis socioeconómico que ilustre la realidad castellana de entre finales del siglo XV e inicios del XVI.

Los contenidos se organizan en dos grandes bloques. El primero se centra en el análisis de los principales episodios de la vida económica toledana: el desembarco de la nueva manufactura sedera, la implantación del tribunal de la Inquisición, un proyecto de hegemonía financiera sobre el reino a través de la constitución de un gran banco y las oleadas de insolvencia y quiebras generadas por su posterior fracaso. El segundo bloque plantea un análisis espacial que comienza con la estructuración y ritmos del comercio local, continúa definiendo la región económica de la ciudad y sus dinámicas propias y, finalmente, se abre a las redes de comercio interior que articularon los mercaderes toledanos.

En conjunto, la obra responde a dos interrogantes válidos para la ciudad de Toledo como para la propia Castilla: ¿cuáles fueron los episodios que motivaron un cambio en la coyuntura económica de la ciudad y del reino? ¿cuáles eran los circuitos comerciales del interior de la península ibérica y qué papel desempeñaron en ellos los toledanos? Además, al ir ofreciendo respuesta a estos interrogantes surge una tercera línea en la que se evidencia la fuerte imbricación de la política y de la economía. Todo ello ofrece una mirada renovada sobre la economía y la sociedad castellana en un momento trascendental de grandes transformaciones.

This article analyzes the dispute over the rights of Coastal trade brokers (Yŏgaek Chuin) that occurred in the early 19th century in the Han river region, aiming to reveal how economic rights and judicial order functioned within the grassroots society at the time. To fully understand the rights of Coastal trade brokers in late Chosŏn, it is essential not to view it merely as an economic right. Instead, it must be considered that the exercise of these rights was based on trust and consensus with local residents, and that the operation required notarization and legal intervention by judicial authorities and local governance bodies.
The analysis focuses on a legal dispute case between a coastal trade broker, Kim Su-in, and the residents of the outer village (外契) in Dohwa-dong (桃花洞), Yongsan-bang (龍山坊), Hanseong-bu (漢城府). The outer village residents of Dohwa-dong argued that the rights of Coastal trade brokers applied only to the inner village (內契) and refused to recognize Kim Su-in's rights. This legal confrontation escalated into a fierce dispute over the authenticity of documents and the scope of rights. Despite certifications from judicial institutions like the Ministry of Punishments (Hyeongjo) and the City Office of Hanseong (Hanseongbu), challenges persisted, showing the limitations of legal recognition and the critical role of communal consensus in grassroots society.
Gye(契), the lowest administrative unit in the capital area, could be consolidated, modified, or abolished, according to governmental policies. It could generate the conflict over regional privileges such as the rights of Coastal trade brokers. Brokers often sought official certification from both local leaders and judicial bodies to secure their rights amid these changes. This article highlights the complex interplay of community structures, government policies, and legal documentation in shaping the rights of Coastal trade brokers in the early 19th century Chosŏn

In the sixth lunar month of 1370, Ming Taizu 太祖 (Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋) received General Li Wenzhong’s 李文忠 memorial which reported on the death of Toghon Temür, Great Khan of the Great Yuan, in the fourth month and the capture of the Great Khan’s grandson Maidaribala on the 16th day of the fifth month in Yingchang 應昌.
According to the Ming Veritable Records 明實錄, it was on the 20th day of the sixth month that Ming Taizu mentioned these significant events in his imperial proclamation 詔書 to officialize the ending of the Great Yuan. By comparing different versions of the proclamation included in historical sources, this paper shows that the texts in the Ming Veritable Records were doctored by the compilers. They pushed the date of the proclamation from the original 15th day to the 20th day of the same month. In addition, they edited the original contents to reflect the circumstances of the 20th day.
Following the proclamation in question, presumably on the 20th day, Ming Taizu issued another imperial proclamation bearing the same news. It was addressed to the people of the Great Yuan such as Mongol princes and nobles, and Jurchen chieftains who had not yet submitted to the Ming rule. In the received Ming Veritable Records, this proclamation was written in classical Chinese following the conventions of recording the Chinese imperial documents. This paper argues, however, that another significant problem of the Ming Veritable Records is hidden here: The compilers rewrote the proclamation to look like a usual Chinese imperial document. The original text of this proclamation was not written in classical Chinese, but in the colloquial language following the conventions of the Yuan imperial edicts which employed a unique style to translate word for word what the Mongolian Great Khans spoke. The colloquial style and words of the proclamation were a practical and effective method to persuade its audiences to submit to the new Ming ruler.

saggio che tratta dei servizi e metodi postali della Serenissima in uso a Castelfranco Veneto tra il XVI secolo e la caduta della repubblica. Nello sviluppare la trattazione ho ritenuto opportuno partire dalla situazione della posta in Europa, facendo poi riferimento all'organizzazione del servizio postale della Repubblica di Venezia, per finire poi con l'approfondimento specifico sull'ufficio postale di Castelfranco Veneto.

El crecimiento de la cultura, la evolución de las artes y en definitiva, el desarrollo y transformación de las sociedades no podría explicarse obviando los contactos, las relaciones entre ámbitos diferentes, en suma, sin la presencia de comunicaciones. La historia del hombre es historia de tránsitos, de emigraciones, invasiones, asentamientos en sociedades previas, pero también de viajeros y comerciantes que relatan, que describen otros mundos, lugares ignotos que fascinan por su diferencia y a los que deseamos llegar.
Atendiendo a estas cuestiones, el Instituto universitario de Historia Simancas ha comprometido la reflexión en este ámbito, entendiendo que aún permanecen ciertos prejuicios que perpetúan visiones que alteran la verdad de los tiempos pasados. Los cinco ensayos que recoge este libro iluminan cinco miradas que abarcan desde la alta Edad Media hasta el hoy más inmediato. En la primera de ellas, “Europa desde el reino de Asturias: entre los testimonios de la Historia y las reformulaciones de la memoria” Álvaro Solano Fernández-Sordo, desmonta la idea de aislamiento que aún sobrevuela el mundo medieval, y en especial la Alta Edad Media.
En el segundo ensayo, “La ruta del dinero, la inflación y sus problemas en el siglo de oro” Carlos Álvarez Nogal, pone en circulación el dinero de la monarquía, y los vaivenes que éste sufre ante condicionantes como la escasez de metales en que vive Europa a lo largo del siglo XV.
El siguiente ensayo, "El Galeón de Manila. Los primeros años" la profesora  Marta María Manchado López, nos sumerge en la épica aventura del Galeón de Manila. Un barco de alto bordo que dará nombre a la primera ruta comercial que globalizó el mundo, poniendo en contacto Occidente con extremo Oriente y haciendo posible la existencia de la ciudad más cosmopolita y singular de la época moderna: Manila.
Razón y praxis y belleza es sobre lo que con magistral destreza nos muestra el profesor Eugenio Baraja Rodríguez  en el capítulo titulado: “El Canal de Castilla: obra, paisaje y patrimonio”.  Por último, en  “La construcción de las comunidades europeas/Unión Europea en el siglo XX y XXI, sus encrucijadas y retos en el siglo XXI” el profesor Guillermo Pérez Sánchez perfila un viaje que transcurre por un sendero difuso y complejo, aquel que nace a partir de un sueño, tal vez de una ambición, la de conectar a los distintos países europeos.

In the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, fairs played a decisive role in trade and finance in pre-modern Europe. Many cities endeavoured to obtain a fair privilege and attract as many merchants as possible. Through the economic activities and infrastructures provided, a supra-regional spatial configuration gradually emerged, which was not only made up of places within a region, but across the whole of Europe and in some cases the wider world. The interconnectedness (and competition) of the fairs and markets, as well as their timing (often rhythmically coordinated), make these events an ideal subject for spatial and temporal analysis. We have carried out such an analysis as part of a larger project and we want to present the approach and methodology in the lecture and then discuss it with you. This includes a presentation of the project database, its functionalities, and opportunities to participate: https://fairs-in-history.huma-num.fr/

Questo mio breve saggio comincia con un'ammissione. Non ho mai fatto ricerche di prima mano negli archivi italiani o francesi alla ricerca di nuovi elementi che consentano di chiarire i dubbi ancora esistenti sul Giovanni da Verrazzano e la sua famiglia. Il mio interesse verso il grande navigatore è nato, in maniera occasionale, nel 1996. Mi trovavo allora presso la John Carter Brown Library della Brown University, a Providence, Rhode Island, negli Stati Uniti, dove si sarebbe tenuto un convegno della Hakluyt Society che celebrava i 150 anni dalla fondazione della biblioteca, il luogo più importante al mondo per la storia delle esplorazioni e delle scoperte. Poiché ero italiano e interessato a quei temi, gli organizzatori mi chiesero appunto una relazione sullo stato della storiografia su Verrazzano, cosa che feci e che pubblicai nel 1997, e nuovamente, in versione ampiamente rimaneggiata, nel 1999. Nel 2023, dunque un quarto di secolo dopo, quando di trattò di dedicare un articolo a Verrazzano per la prestigiosa collezione Oxford Bibliographies in Atlantic History, fu ancora a me che i curatori su rivolsero, un segno inequivocabile del fatto che la ricerca originale su Verrazzano continuava a procedere assai lentamente. Peraltro, io stesso mi ero tenuto al corrente della produzione storiografica su Verrazzano, ma non avevo effettuato nessuna ricerca originale sul navigatore. Sollecitato dallo studio del testo di Verrazzano, il suo famoso rapporto al re di Francia, avevo rivolto la mia attenzione ad altri racconti di viaggi famosi, quali il viaggio del navigatore francese Samuel de Champlain alle Indie Occidentali (1997) o il diario di bordo del primo viaggio di Cristoforo Colombo (2005), testi che avevano tutti in comune un fatto fondamentale: si trattava di documenti unici, relativi a personaggi famosi, che proprio per la loro unicità non consentivano una verifica fattuale su altre fonti.

"Tra memoria e mercatura: donne, affetti e affari dal carteggio di Margherita Bandini" 
Abstract:
Il carteggio di Margherita Bandini è parte del fondo Datini, che raccoglie oltre 150.000 documenti, una risorsa ancora poco esplorata – solo il 2,7% delle lettere totali è stato finora pubblicato. All’interno del carteggio di Margherita sono state selezionate 47 lettere, scritte o ricevute da donne, di cui una parte significativa inviata da membri femminili della sua cerchia familiare. L’intervento esaminerà tali lettere, fornendo un’analisi qualitativa e quantitativa dei dati, includendo informazioni su mittenti, destinatari, cronologia, geografia e tematiche trattate nelle epistole. Le lettere rivelano le dinamiche tra le famiglie Bandini e Gherardini, evidenziando strategie femminili di negoziazione, solidarietà e trasmissione di valori. La corrispondenza, redatta in un volgare vivace e diretto, restituisce un ritratto di Margherita come figura centrale nella coesione familiare e nella gestione del patrimonio relazionale della famiglia.

Our article explores the multifaceted cultural and artistic interactions that occurred in New Julfa since its foundation. Established during the Safavid period, New Julfa became a vibrant crossroads connecting various parts of the world, making such interactions inevitable. During this time, Safavid art absorbed European influences, embracing what was then novel and exciting. Regional dynamics and interests further shaped this cultural exchange. The process of interaction did not happen in a specific moment (we can’t say the exact day, time, or year); rather, it unfolded naturally over time, influencing New Julfa and its artists. Our aim is to present a comprehensive view of the environment in New Julfa, show- casing how European, Persian, and Armenian art seamlessly influenced one another. The echoes of these interactions are visible in Armenian churches, the luxurious mansions of the Khojas, and the richly illuminated manuscripts created in this vibrant community. That is why we choose a broad topic as the title of our article which would briefly summarize the material we have collected on this subject over the years.

Jean Chapelot, directeur de recherche au CNRS Archeologie medievale en Ile-de-France L’archeologie medievale est une discipline dont le developpement est le fait des trente dernieres annees. L’objectif de ce seminaire, cree en 2001-2002, a ete de faire en deux ans une part du bilan des recherches des quinze dernieres annees en l’Ile-de-France. Pour ce faire, la parole est donnee aux protagonistes de ces recherches, dans toute la diversite de leur statut. Il a ete fait appel cette annee a une ...

Le projet ECOMED (Économies méditerranéennes à la fin du Moyen Âge (1350-1500) : crise, reconstructions, restructurations) part du constat d'une divergence entre les historiographies abordant l'Europe du Nord et la Méditerranée, les premières s'appuyant sur un faisceau de recherches portant sur le climat, les incidences de la peste et la conjoncture économique qui n'ont pas été autant approfondies pour l'espace méditerranéen. Celui-ci est ici considéré comme un espace unique où les questions se posent de la même manière. L'hétérogénéité du régime documentaire des mondes byzantin, musulman et latin a donné naissance à des historiographies très différentes, bien que les problèmes rencontrés soient analogues : la présence et la récurrence de la peste, la multiplication des disettes et des famines dans un climat devenu instable et tendant à être plus humide et plus froid au début du « petit âge glaciaire », les bouleversements démographiques, les reconfigurations économiques, l'instabilité politique qui se manifeste par des guerres incessantes et dévastatrices et des recompositions étatiques constituent des données de fait communes à l'ensemble du bassin. Faisant suite au Workshop de lancement (Milan, juin 2024), ce second atelier de travail vise à faire le point sur le 1 er axe structurant d'ECOMED : défi environnemental et résilience sociale; catastrophes naturelles, démographies et paysages (Méditerranée, 1350-1500).

The staple right required merchants arriving from outside the town to offer their wares for sale there, giving the local merchants a head start in purchasing such goods over other merchants in the country. The first staple right for eastern routes appeared in the second half of the fourteenth century. Braşov gave a staple right in 1369 from Louis I-in respect of broadcloth. Sigismund extended the privilege in 1395: foreign merchants had to lay all kind of goods in Braşov and sell or exchange them. The kings never granted Sibiu a staple right in the classic sense, but the privileges (1378, 1384, 1413) they did grant could only be exercised if a staple right was set up and operated.

Pocas veces en la historiografía se configura un libro en el que, mediante la microhistoria, se analicen temas de importante calado como los conflictos competenciales en la Nueva España, el honor, el gobierno dual y el enfoque de género -en un contexto en el que historiográficamente ha sido invisibilizadomediante un suceso concreto que termina enfrentando a las principales autoridades religiosas y civiles del virreinato. La obra La triste historia de Ignacia Cruzat y Góngora. Género, honor y poder en el México virreinal, realizada por Alberto Baena Zapatero, profesor

A seguito dell'apertura dei commerci, e degli ingenti investimenti voluti da Caterina di Russia, numerose città portuali affacciate sulle coste settentrionale (Odessa) e occidentale (Galatz e Braila) del Mar Nero, e nel Mar d'Azov (Berdyansk, Mariupol, Taganrog), tra la fine del XVIII e per larga parte del XIX secolo conobbero uno sviluppo economico, demografico e commerciale di assoluto rilievo. L'esteso e fertile entroterra riforniva regolarmente questi porti di cereali che, da lì, venivano poi esportati verso i paesi del Mediterraneo occidentale e del Nord Europa. Nella gestione di uno dei flussi commerciali più rilevanti del XIX secolo, furono diversi i mercanti e navigatori di origine ligure che seppero inserirvisi. Come si vedrà, dopo i primi pionieri di fine Settecento, presenti sin dalla fondazione di alcuni di questi centri, la presenza commerciale ligure si consolidò a Odessa e nei porti dell'Azov a partire dagli anni Venti del secolo successivo. Beneficiando della rappresentanza consolare del Regno di Sardegna, nei cui ranghi era vantaggioso accedere, diversi liguri (ben distribuiti tra le due riviere) si dimostrarono particolarmente abili a penetrare nei porti dell'Azov, dove installarono case commerciali e seppero ritagliarsi un ruolo come vettori di trasporto, non solo per conto di corregionali, ma anche per commercianti stranieri, soprattutto greci, inglesi e francesi. In questo saggio, si traccerà una panoramica della presenza ligure nel Mar Nero in questa fase storica, tra fine Settecento e metà Ottocento, concentrandosi sulla sola presenza mercantile, nell'intenzione di analizzare la costituzione di network commerciali e le intersezioni tra commercio e rappresentanza istituzionale, lasciando invece a future ricerche lo studio della navigazione e l'analisi dei diversi modelli di relazione tra commercio e trasporto marittimo. C o pyrig ht © Viella N.B: C o pia a d uso p ersonale e istituzionale. È vietata la ripro d uzion e (totale o p arziale) d ell'o p era con q ualsiasi m ezzo effettuata e la sua m essa a disp osizion e di terzi, sia in forma gratuita sia a p a g am e nto.

Como su título indica, la primera parte de este libro se centra en torno de la geografía. Pero es una geografía muy sui generis, atenta especialmente a cuanto concierne a los factores humanos. Y no sólo eso: es también un intento de dar con una particular
especie de historia.
Aun en el caso de haber contado con datos más numerosos y perfectamente
fechados, no nos habríamos podido contentar con una investigación sobre la geografía humana, limitada estrictamente al periodo que va del año 1550 al año 1600, ni siquiera en el caso de haberla emprendido con la falaz intención de llegar a una explicación determinista. Y dado que ni mucho menos disponemos de testimonios completos, y que ni siquiera han sido recogidos sistemáticamente por los historiadores, no nos queda otra posibilidad, si queremos iluminar ese corto
instante de la vida mediterránea que va de 1550 a 1600, sino la de interpolar y analizar imágenes, paisajes y realidades de otras épocas, sean anteriores o posteriores; y algunas son tan posteriores, que las hemos sacado del tiempo que estamos viviendo. El resultado de esta acumulación será un marco en el que, a través del tiempo y del espacio, se desarrolla una historia a cámara lenta que permite descubrir rasgos permanentes. En semejante contexto la geografía deja de ser un fin en sí para convertirse en un medio; nos ayuda a recrear las más lentas de las realidades estructurales, a verlo todo en una perspectiva según el punto de fuga de la duración más larga. También la geografía puede, como la historia, dar respuesta a muchos interrogantes. Y en nuestro caso, nos ayuda a descubrir el movimiento casi imperceptible de la historia, a condición, naturalmente, de que estemos abiertos a sus lecciones y aceptemos sus divisiones y categorías.
El Mediterráneo presenta por lo menos dos rostros. Está compuesto, en primer lugar, de una serie de penínsulas compactas y montañosas, interrumpidas por llanuras esenciales: Italia, la península de los Balcanes, el Asia Menor, el África del Norte y la península ibérica. En segundo lugar, el mar insinúa, entre estos continentes en miniatura, sus vastos espacios, complicados y fragmentados, pues el Mediterráneo, más que una entidad singular, es un complejo de mares. Penínsulas y mares serán las dos especies de ambientes que consideraremos en primer lugar, para, gracias a ellos, establecer las condiciones generales de la vida de los hombres. Pero no bastará con ellos para llegar a saberlo todo.
Por su parte sur el Mediterráneo está muy poco separado del inmenso desierto que se extiende sin pausa del Sahara atlántico al desierto de Gobi, hasta las mismas puertas de Beijing. Del sur de Túnez al sur de Siria el desierto se asoma directamente al mar. Más que un vecino, es un huésped, molesto algunas veces y exigente siempre. El desierto es, pues, uno de los rostros que ofrece el Mediterráneo.
Por su parte norte el Mediterráneo se encuentra con Europa. Ésta recibe de él múltiples influencias y, recíprocamente, le afecta con otras igualmente numerosas y a veces decisivas. La Europa del Norte, ese mundo más allá de los olivares, es una
realidad con cuya presencia constante cuenta la historia del Mediterráneo. Y el auge de esa Europa, vinculada al Atlántico, será el elemento que decidirá el destino del mar interior en los años finales del siglo XVI.
Los capítulos I, II y III describen la diversidad del mar y trascienden espacialmente sus orillas materiales. ¿Se puede hablar, en estas condiciones, de una unidad física de este mar (capítulo IV, “La unidad física: el clima y la historia”) o de una unidad humana necesariamente histórica (capítulo V, “La unidad humana: rutas y ciudades, ciudades y rutas”)? Estas son las etapas que cubre la amplia sección introductoria, la cual se propone dibujar los diferentes rostros y el rostro del Mediterráneo, para así poder comprender mejor, dentro de los límites de lo posible, su destino multicolor.

Based on the content of nine notarial documents from the Archives of the Prefecture
of Lefkada we will try to reconstruct the activities of the merchant Christos
Tzangris. Even before the end of the last Venetian-Turkish war (1714-1718), Tzangris
was in Lefkada, where he practiced his commercial activities. Going to Venice
in wartime, in two consecutive trips (in 1717 and 1718), he managed to make quite
a few profits, as can be seen from his wills. The main feature of Tzangris’ wills is
the offer of liturgical objects or money to churches and monasteries, as well as the
bequeathing of sums of money to distressed people in Lefkada. In conclusion, we
can say that we are dealing with another example of a merchant-entrepreneur from
Epirus, who tried to find his fortune in the Venetian-occupied area, seeking a better
life for himself, but also helping others

La figura di Francesco di Marco Datini è nota nella storia economica medievale. Il profilo che qui viene proposto intende mostrare la rilevanza del momento medievale della storia dell'economia anche alla luce delle più recenti riflessioni sul tema dell'economia civile. Oltre a ripercorrere brevi note biografiche e documentarie, grazie all'eccezionale archivio conservato, sono evidenziati alcuni aspetti relativi alla dimensione sociale dell'impresa fino alla progettazione e realizzazione di una impresa pubblica della carità con la creazione del "Ceppo per i poveri di Cristo di Francesco di Marco Datini". The figure of Francesco di Marco Datini is well known in medieval economic history. The profile presented here aims to highlight the significance of the medieval period in economic history, also in light of recent reflections on the concept of civil economy. In addition to retracing brief biographical and documentary notes – thanks to the exceptional archive that has been preserved – this study emphasizes certain aspects of the social dimension of business, culminating in the design and establishment of a public charitable enterprise with the creation of the "Ceppo per i poveri di Cristo di Francesco di Marco Datini".

The first descriptive purpose of this article is to document changes in the industrial composition of Renaissance Florence through business censuses that we have extracted from household-wealth declarations in the 1427, 1433, and 1458 Florentine catasti (tax censuses). The finances of all Florentine businesses, both export oriented and domestically oriented, were comprehensively self-reported in these tax censuses-an innovative new element in the fiscal calculation of gross and taxable household wealth. These consecutive censuses reveal a decline in the number of businesses in many but not all of the industries in Florence over this thirty-year period. The second purpose of this article is to explain this economic decline. We find, through both quantitative and qualitative evidence, that the innovative tax catasti themselves were to blame: they all too effectively extracted enormous levels of taxes from the wealthy Florentine population in order to fund mercenary wars related to the emergence of Italian Renaissance regional or "territorial" states. The economic decline was due not only to the direct effect of heavy taxes but also to the indirect effect of default contagion among highly leveraged companies doing business with each other on credit. In a previous article in this journal, 1 John Padgett and Paul McLean demonstrated that high business leverage was rooted in the social embeddedness of Florentine businessmen in dense underlying social and political networks. Hence, "credit bubbles" occurred even in early-modern economies operating through personalistic social exchange. This case study contradicts the rosy portrait in the social science literature of a positive relationship between state formation and economic growth. We show * We are deeply grateful to Katalin Prajda and Claudia Tripodi, who were comembers of the archival research team out of which this project emerged. (See Scientia.global magazine, September 5, 2018, for an article about, and pictures of, the team.) We also appreciate the useful comments and suggestions of Bill Caferro, Richard Goldthwaite, and the anonymous JMH referees.

The first descriptive purpose of this article is to document changes in the industrial composition of Renaissance Florence through business censuses that we have extracted from household-wealth declarations in the 1427, 1433, and 1458 Florentine catasti (tax censuses). The finances of all Florentine businesses, both export oriented and domestically oriented, were comprehensively self-reported in these tax censuses-an innovative new element in the fiscal calculation of gross and taxable household wealth. These consecutive censuses reveal a decline in the number of businesses in many but not all of the industries in Florence over this thirty-year period. The second purpose of this article is to explain this economic decline. We find, through both quantitative and qualitative evidence, that the innovative tax catasti themselves were to blame: they all too effectively extracted enormous levels of taxes from the wealthy Florentine population in order to fund mercenary wars related to the emergence of Italian Renaissance regional or "territorial" states. The economic decline was due not only to the direct effect of heavy taxes but also to the indirect effect of default contagion among highly leveraged companies doing business with each other on credit. In a previous article in this journal, 1 John Padgett and Paul McLean demonstrated that high business leverage was rooted in the social embeddedness of Florentine businessmen in dense underlying social and political networks. Hence, "credit bubbles" occurred even in early-modern economies operating through personalistic social exchange. This case study contradicts the rosy portrait in the social science literature of a positive relationship between state formation and economic growth. We show * We are deeply grateful to Katalin Prajda and Claudia Tripodi, who were comembers of the archival research team out of which this project emerged. (See Scientia.global magazine, September 5, 2018, for an article about, and pictures of, the team.) We also appreciate the useful comments and suggestions of Bill Caferro, Richard Goldthwaite, and the anonymous JMH referees.

What kinds of global relations do medium and small-sized cities have? This article examines the global relations of cities in Nagasaki Prefecture. Nagasaki Prefecture is an excellent place to examine medium and small-sized city diplomacy because all of the cities within this prefecture have populations of approximately 400,000 people or less. This research involved surveys of 10 cities in Nagasaki Prefecture. These cities were chosen to maximize the variety of populations, historical and geographical situations, as well as global activity types. This research confirmed that medium-sized cities, generally speaking, have more professionalized departments and staff, as well as more numerous sister city relationships than small cities. Though small cities with populations under 100,000 tend to have very little official global activity, Hirado stands out as a city with significant global relations despite its small size. This suggests that cities with unique cultural and/or historical backgrounds can find ways to connect internationally even when they are limited by population size and budget. With these findings in mind, it may be possible for scholars and students to propose modest projects to small cities directly, such as joining a global city network, starting a sister city relationship, or hosting small international events for citizens.

Este trabajo recoge la mayor parte de los puertos atlánticos con los que traficó Bilbao, así como Portugalete, a finales de la Edad Media; principales puntos de salida y entrada de los flujos comerciales castellanos con el norte de Europa. También se incluyen casi todas las mercancías que transitaron en ambos sentidos. Datos que han sido plasmados en un par de decenas de mapas. Se ha podido reunir tal información gracias al manejo de nuevas fuentes documentales. Con él se abren nuevos campos de investigación sobre los tráficos comerciales operados entre regiones europeas especializadas en la salida de materias primas y en recepción de manufacturas, con los centros productores con los que traficaron.

Recent historiographical trends are opening new opportunities of research into the relationships and the construction of economic, political, and social spaces within the interactions between Spain, its colonies, and Europe during the 18th century. This period witnessed a redefinition of international political balances in the Atlantic world, involving not only Spain but also other major powers such as England, France, and the Netherlands.
5
Starting from the War of Spanish Succession, the dynastic change, and the Treaties of Utrecht in 1713, the 18th century saw a continuous reshaping of balance-of-power and colonial policies. On one hand, the Spanish Monarchy sought to maintain a monopolistic trade with the Indies; on the other, rival powers pursued territorial conquests—some temporary, others more lasting—within Iberian colonial spaces. This ever-changing geopolitical scenario influenced Spain’s strongly mercantilist policies, aimed at preventing the outflow of its precious metals to other European nations, which, conversely, sought to gain economic advantages over the Iberian Monarchy.
Throughout the century, mercantilist policies, which prioritized bullionism and budget surpluses, evolved alongside the policies enacted by the Crown. Thanks to the reflections of prominent intellectuals and politicians—such as Uztáriz, Ulloa, Campomanes, and Floridablanca in Spain, and Genovesi in the Kingdom of Naples—it became evident that the permanent state of war, which in past centuries had ensured Spain’s maritime dominance, was now harming Madrid. Instead, peace treaties and international alliances emerged as beneficial to trade. In response to this complex situation, mercantilist thinkers considered ways to reform the Crown’s finances and its Real Hacienda, aiming to expand colonial trade, prevent excessive monopolistic concentrations, and ensure stable commercial exchanges across the Atlantic. These efforts culminated in the Free Trade Treaty of October 12, 1778, signed by King Charles III of Bourbon.
This international workshop will focus on the following aspects:

1. The transformation of economic and political practices—particularly within the writings of mercantilist thinkers—that redefined power structures between Spain, Europe, and its colonies during the 18th century. Special attention will be given to New Spain and Peru.
2. The international circulation of mercantilist ideas and how their reception evolved in accordance with the policies implemented by the Spanish Monarchy during the 18th century.
3. The impact of monetary reforms within the Spanish Monarchy (e.g., plata nacional, plata provincial, reales de Patiño) on trade and international relations between the colonies, Spain, and Europe.
4. The repercussions of international conflicts during the 18th century on Spain’s fiscal, monetary, and financial reforms.
5. The development of trade between Spain, its colonies, and Europe, as well as its influence on manufacturing and early industrial economic structures in the 18th century. This includes the role played by key logistical and financial hubs that facilitated the entry of American goods into Europe during the period under consideration.

The workshop will adopt an economic, financial, and political approach, analyzing a wide range of sources. Starting from the writings of 18th-century mercantilists, it will examine financial, fiscal, and institutional documents that shed light on the dynamics influencing relations between Spain, its colonies, and Europe. The goal is also to identify possible historical and historiographical breaks, opening new avenues of research on the subject.

Submission Guidelines:

Abstracts for paper proposals (max. 2000 characters) should be sent to Dr. Fabrizio Filioli Uranio at fabriziofilioli@gmail.com by April 30, 2025. Notification of acceptance will be communicated by May 16, 2025. Contributions can be submitted in Italian, Spanish and English. The proceedings of the workshop will be published.

Organizers: Fabrizio Filioli Uranio; Aldo Montaudo; Roberto Rossi.

Resumen: El linaje de Lazarraga, originario de Oñate (Gipuzkoa), protagoniza una intensa actividad cronística entre 1520-1600. La narrativa es, sobre todo, genealógica, pero incluye un cuidadoso dispositivo heráldico. El objetivo es confortar la identidad del linaje y explicar su distinción social. Onomástica, jerarquía y emblemas operan coordinadamente en este empeño. El relato de los orígenes es mitológico, y sirve para crear unas armerías parlantes que no son de linaje, sino de bando. Varias familias las adoptarán a lo largo del siglo XVI y conservamos numerosos testimonios de ello. El personaje clave para materializar esta operación es Juan López de Lazarraga (m. 1518), secretario de los Reyes Católicas y de la reina Juana, quien funda con su mujer, doña Juana de Gamboa Irarrazabal, el primer Monasterio de la Santa Trinidad de Bidaurreta (Oñate), primer monasterio femenino de fundación privada de Gipuzkoa. Bidaurreta es un monumento heráldico sofisticado y novedoso. Palabras clave: Cronística familiar; heráldica; Lazarraga; Pais Vasco; onomástica; ancestralidad ENG Heraldic uses in Gipuzkoa in the 15th-16th centuries. The armorial bearings of the Garibay-Lazarraga lineage (1400-1600

The historical period between the 14th and 17th centuries is an important period of the European Renaissance that is dominated by the Medici family in Florance. The discovery of the New World along with the Renaissance and various Social Reform Movements are an important milestone in recorded human history. The Medici’s of Florence were not only prolific rulers, amongst their heirs were Europe’s first bankers and some of the most important figures in Renaissance Europe’s politics. The French queens Catherine de Medici & Marie de Medici, Pope Leo X, Pope Clement VII and Pope Leo XI are the most noted amongst the Medici heirs. The Medici family's three-hundred-year-old Florence based dominance ended in 1737 after the death of the last Grand Duke of Tuscany, Gian Gastone de Medici. However, the members of the Medici family are still relevant for their role in shaping the Sociopolitical and Socioeconomic thought of the Europe as know it today. The artists, scholars and scientists that the Medici’s protected and provided patronage to, are amongst the most towering figures of the Renaissance period. The main purpose of our paper is to highlight the financial, political and social impact of the Medici family not only in Europe but their overwhelming impact on the global trends. The Medici rule of Florence also highlights the fact that the Center of European Renaissance was Florence during their rule, and it was only after the death of Lorenzo De’ Medici that the center shifted to Rome. Florence was ruled for three centuries by the Medici dynasty followed by the governance system of the Westphalia, subsequently leading to the emergence of the Nation-State in 1648. The human history testifies the use of financial power as a powerful tool used by the by Monarchs and Governments as an agent-for-change. However, Cosimo de Medici's use of Political Power as a tool, subsiding the financial power created a new governance principle in the world’ political history. The Medici legend stays alive and pertinent through the magnificent art, literature and political thought that the Medici’s nurtured during their 300 years rule of Florence that set the pace for modern Europe.

The book on Burhanpur, authored by Suresh Mishra and Nand Kishore Dewda, with the support of the Navratri Vykhyanmala Samiti of Burhanpur and other artists and conservators, is encyclopedic in scope. It provides painstaking research, based on literary references, to ancient Burhanpur, archaeological finds including inscribed pottery before the Christian era, copper plate with Brahmi inscriptions, Shunga stone disks, Gupta Srivatsa seals, early medieval Ujjaini mark beads, medieval Kalachuri and Paramara sculptures, and monuments from Sultanate and Mughal days. It has drawn on vivid contemporary accounts of British, French, Dutch and Italian travelers to bring the wars, intrigues, romances and personal mannerisms of princes and potentates of Burhanpur to life. It is a valuable addition to local history as a mirror to national and global history. The sensitive quotations from inscriptions, poets and philosophers, and the paintings from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalya, Los Angeles, County Museum of Art, and the Royal Collection Trust bring the history to vibrant life. The book is sensibly completed with a chronology of important events, including visits of travelers, birth, death, marriages, a list of social and political workers of historical importance during the Freedom Movement, a map and list of places of interest, and, extensive references in Persian, English, Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu.

Il mito di Giuliano Fiorentino ha percorso tutto il Novecento affascinando i molti studiosi che tentarono di decifrare l\u2019enigma celato dietro al suo nome, legato all\u2019esecuzione tra il 1418 e il 1424 del maestoso trascoro in alabastro della Cattedrale di Valencia. Carl Justi fu il primo a notare nel 1899 certi \uabechi ghibertiani\ubb all\u2019interno dei dodici rilievi, raffiguranti Storie dell\u2019Antico e del Nuovo Testamento, nel suo saggio a introduzione di una delle celebri guide compilate da Karl Baedeker dedicata alla penisola iberica. L\u2019argomento non tard\uf2 a suscitare l\u2019interesse della comunit\ue0 scientifica, soprattutto in seguito alla scoperta di numerosi documenti dei Llibres de Obra della Cattedrale, pubblicati nel 1909 dal canonico Jos\ue9 Sanchis y Sivera, in cui emerse per la prima volta il nome di un generico \uabJuli\ue1 lo florent\ued\ubb che dal 1418 lavorava l\u2019alabastro in una bottega adiacente alla Seu e risultava riscuotere periodi...

Back cover: "This book is an ambitious and innovative work of transnational history. Its careful scholarship is enhanced by impressive documentation in both European and Islamic languages (Italian, French, Arabic and Turkish), full of kaleidoscopic and arresting detail. Time and again, the author demonstrates how the interface between Orient and Occident surprised, fascinated and enriched both cultures." Carole Hillenbrand, University of Edinburgh. "Italy and the Islamic World distils an expansive body of scholarship and research into an engaging and accessible narrative that illustrates the centrality and the enduring impact of Italy's long and fruitful relationship with the Islamic world from Imperial Rome to Fascist Italy and beyond." Eric Dursteler, Brigham Young University. Uncovers the Italian peninsula's legacy as a bridge between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. From ancient times to the 20th century, Italy has linked Europe to the marketplaces of the Middle East and North Africa. Beginning with the fall of Ancient Rome and the rise of the Papal State, travelling through the Renaissance and the rise of the Italian Republic, Ali Humayun Akhtar tells the stories of Pisan, Genoese, Venetian, Florentine and Livornese merchants and diplomats as they navigated cultural difference in pursuit of commerce and adventure. Painting a colourful picture of the connections between the Italian peninsula and the Islamic world, Akhtar brings two millennia of Italy's trading history to lifeand sheds light on Europe's current debates over trade, society and the links between West and East.

En décadas recientes la llamada World History o Global History pretende sintetizar el pasado de todas las sociedades en una única narrativa o estudiar un tema o período histórico desde una perspectiva mundial. En este contexto historiográfico, Mariano Bonialian hace notar la notable ausencia «de una agencia propia en Hispanoamérica que no es reconocida en la historia global», y para subsanarla propone en su libro una historia de la economía política americanas desde 1580 a 1840 (16). En los siglos estudiados por Bonialian, la globalización americana se dividió en dos fases oceánicas: primero, un «Atlántico pacificado» en el cual la economía del Pacífico tenía capacidad para actuar sobre el mundo atlántico, seguido por «la atlantización del Pacifico» cuando comerciantes del Atlántico norte «controlan los circuitos del Pacífico» (25). De estas dinámicas oceánicas, participan ejes geohistóricos supraregionales terrestres y marítimos, en torno a los cuales se organizaban los intercambios económicos y culturales. El monopolio imperial implicaba una oferta de mercancías inferior a la demanda de los virreinatos, lo que permitía a comerciantes peninsulares y americanos un alto nivel de precios y beneficios. En este régimen comercial, las flotas y el galeón de Manila se complementaban: las élites adquirían las ropas y tejidos europeos de calidad llegados a Veracruz, mientras que los sectores populares compraban los tejidos más baratos de los cargamentos llegados a Acapulco. Cronológicamente, los dos primeros ejes de la América hispana fueron el peruano y el novohispano. El eje peruano que se extendió desde la segunda mitad del siglo XVI hasta 1620, o posiblemente 1640, se centraba en Panamá, cuya ruta terrestre conectaba los galeones llegados de España con la Armada del Sur. Los comerciantes de Lima que controlaban este eje a menudo enviaban agentes a Espaňa-indicando

The phrase “Solo Madrid es corte” is not only the title of a treatise by Alonso
Núñez de Castro, but it has also become a phrase reminded in the collective memory,
despite the XIX century’s bourgeois blame of the concept, which embodied, in their
view, one of the symbols of the political and cultural oppression of the territories
subject to Spain. It was only in the latter part of the 20th century that there was a
resurgence of interest at the European level, with significant contributions that
were notable for their ability to present a multitude of perspectives, particularly
in terms of deepening the connection between cities and territories. This chronological
period has been the subject of important studies concerning the political
government of the monarchy and the inauguration of the valimiento as an unprecedented
delegation of royal power, which, however, is less investigated from the
point of view of the effects that this institutional change had on the aristocracy
of the territories of the Spanish monarchy in terms of mobility and material and
immaterial investments. These previous works represent the starting point for this
essay, which examines the contribution that a particular national component made
to the Spanish capital and evaluates the presence of natives of the Kingdom of Sicily
in Madrid at the beginning of the 17th century.

El propósito inicial de este libro es mostrar la trayectoria y el cursus honorum del hombre de negocios portugués y banquero más destacado de Felipe IV durante la década de 1640: Jorge de Paz Silveira (ca.1580-1647), barón desde 1645. La relevancia de su figura y familia, de origen judeoconverso, se acrecienta al investigar sobre Beatriz de Silveira, esposa de Jorge de Paz, debido a que fue ella quien continuó en último término las actividades financieras de su marido tras su muerte y culminó los planes de visibilidad de su casa.
Sin embargo, la prosperidad de los Silveira no habría sido posible sin una herramienta clave: su red relacional. Una red internacional y heterogénea, mayoritariamente compuesta por portugueses pero también por otros personajes de diferente origen territorial y religioso y en la que encontramos nobles, miembros de la administración y oligarcas urbanos. No obstante, entre todos ellos sobresalen dos hermanos lusos y judeoconversos: Alfonso y Gaspar Rodríguez Pasariño, fundadores de una de las compañías mercantiles más activas en el espacio atlántico durante la primera mitad del siglo XVII, con unos vínculos todavía más interesantes que los del propio Jorge de Paz.
Analizar a los Silveira y a los Pasariño en su contexto socioeconómico junto al resto de banqueros y mercaderes del momento, ha servido para extraer conclusiones acerca de las actividades y estrategias de los hombres de negocios lusos y judeoconversos desde comienzos del Seiscientos y de los mecanismos que articularon y rigieron el funcionamiento del crédito internacional de este periodo. Asimismo, su estudio nos ayuda a comprender mejor otras cuestiones como la génesis y las características de la nueva nobleza de corte financiero, las conexiones entre personajes de diferente perfil socio-profesional, el importante papel del comercio transcontinental, la significativa presencia de las mujeres en estos ámbitos profesionales o qué se puede entender como fracaso en la trayectoria de estos individuos.
A partir de la aportación de nuevos datos e hipótesis, se espera que este trabajo contribuya a las investigaciones sobre el espacio atlántico, las finanzas hispánicas y los actores económicos de la primera mitad del siglo XVII.

This paper uses network approaches to study early medieval North Sea trade and movement and test the validity of network methods to investigate the Viking Age trade. Networks are created from archaeological finds, historical records, and geographic and demographic constraints. The networks are analysed using various Network Analysis centrality, community and similarity measures, and gravity models. They are compared to each other to explore the importance of various Viking Age North Sea settlements and the routes by which movement occurred around the region, investigating whether they challenge or support current understandings. It was found that GIS information on archaeological sites coupled with radiocarbon proxy data and network shortest path calculations could produce a valid gravity model of Viking Age trade along the Western routes. "We should also recognise that our evidence is inadequate and that we can never hope to understand that activity or its causes fully. Recent studies, have however, cast new light on the eighth and ninth centuries and suggest that the reasons for Viking activity should not be sought only in Western Europe or Scandinavia, but in the links that joined these two areas long before the first Viking raid." (Sawyer, 1982).

According to the records in The Secret History of the Mongols (hearafterSHM), Bodončar is considered the founder of the Borǰigin clan. However, this study proposes the possibility that the true founder was not Bodončar, but actually Borǰigidai who appears in Section 3 of the SHM. In the genealogical sections of the SHM, clan titles consistently derive from their founders’ names, but there is no apparent connection between “Borǰigin” and “Bodončar”. By contrast, the name “Borǰigidai” directly means “a man from the Borǰigin clan.”
This paper hypothesizes that the author of the SHMdesignated Bodončar as the founder to resolve issues regarding his lineage. As a descendant of Chinggis Khan, Bodončar was alleged to be the illegitimate son of a Ma’alik Baya'ut man. Granting him the status of founder may have been an attempt to legitimize his lineage. Moreover, the narrative describing Borǰigidai’s marriage to a Mongolǰin Qo’a provides evidence supporting his role as the true founder; as it symbolically represents exogamy between the Borǰigin clan and the Mongol tribes.
In Section 3 and subsequent parts of the SHM, exogamy is accompanied by subtle indications of the emergence of a stratified society. Borǰigidai’s son, Torogolǰin, is described as having servants, Dayir and Boro, who are believed to represent nökörmetaphorically likened to geldings. This is connected to social stratification, as the terms for people and servants appear for the first time during Bodončar’s generation in the SHM. In other words, the progression of social stratification in Mongol society during this period is implicitly conveyed through figures such as Dayir and Boro.

Using a recently discovered private merchant archive (the Archivio Adami-Lami in Florence, Italy), this article reconstructs the Acre Consul Controversy, a diplomatic dispute over the appointment of a Tuscan merchant, Francesco Adami, as the first English vice-consul of the Ottoman port of Acre. Through a micro-spatial case study, documenting the emerging rivalry between European ‘nations’ and their consular representatives in an Ottoman port city, this article contributes to understanding the power of space in early modern Mediterranean politics. First, it analyzes the interplay between the more institutionalized and corporate political practices typical of early modern Europe (embodied in the office of the ‘national’ consulate) and the more informal and flexible political practices of the Ottoman empire. Second, it situates key elements of this diplomatic controversy within a particular, clearly delineated semi-public space: Acre's Khan al-Ifrānj, a residential warehouse exclusively used by European merchants.