A Nation upon the Ocean Sea: Portugal's Atlantic Diaspora and the Crisis of the Spanish Empire, 1492-1640

253 Pages·2007·1.297 MB·English

by  Daviken Studnicki-Gizbert

A Nation Upon
the Ocean Sea
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A Nation Upon
the Ocean Sea
Portugal’s Atlantic Diaspora
and the Crisis of
1492 1640
the Spanish Empire, –
daviken studnicki-gizbert
1
2007
1
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Studnicki-Gizbert,Daviken.
Anationupontheoceansea : Portugal’sAtlanticdiaspora
andthecrisisoftheSpanishEmpire,1492–1640/
DavikenStudnicki-Gizbert.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13978-0-19-517570-7;978-0-19-517569-1(pbk.)
ISBN0-19-517570-0;0-19-517569-7(pbk.)
1. Portuguese—AtlanticOceanRegion—History. 2. Merchants—AtlanticOcean
Region—History. 3. AtlanticOceanRegion—Commerce—Spain—History.
4. Spain—Commerce—AtlanticOceanRegion—History. I. Title.
DP534.5.S782006
382.09469—dc22 2006043759
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
onacid-freepaper
ForK.W.,myfirstteacherofhistory
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Acknowledgments
Thisisabookaboutanerrantcommunityandresearchingithas,unsurprisingly,
alsobeenanexerciseinanitinerancyofamoreacademicsort:throughdifferent
institutions,differentarchives,differentcountries.Likeitssubjects,whosetcol-
lectivetiesagainstdispersion,thisprojectwouldhavefracturedandpeteredout
longagowithoutthehelpandfriendshipofothers.Thankstothis,theresearch
wasnurturedandsustained,andthescatteredstoriesoftheoverseasPortuguese
finallyfoundtheir wayintothis book.
The seeds for this book were planted at the University of Minnesota, Twin
Cities,whereIfirstmetStuartB.Schwartz,CarlaPhillips,andNathanWachtel.
Eversinceourmeeting,Stuarthasbeenawarmfriendandaninspiringscholar.
Asan advisor hewas an unfailing sourceofsupport,encouragingtheproject—
even when it threatened to become overwhelming—and helping it along with
soundadviceandgeneroushelpingsofthefruitsofhisownresearch.Dr.Phillips
introduced me to the economic history of early modern Spain and, in a more
fundamental way, to the high standards required of historical research. I can
onlyhopetohavemetthosestandardshere!NathanWachtelwasadistinguished
visitortotheUniversityofMinnesotawhileInavigatedthroughmyfirstyearof
graduate school, but, true to his gracious self, M. Wachtel provided the first
concrete beginnings of this project by sharing with me his thoughts on the
Portuguese marranos and indicating where I could find their commercial cor-
respondence in the archives of Mexico City and Lima.
viii Acknowledgments
Researching and writing my dissertation, and subsequently this book, then
tookme, hopscotch,downthroughtheAmericasand acrosstoEurope.Atevery
stepofthewayIhavehadthegreatfortuneofmeetingmanywonderfulscholars,
eachofwhomcameforwardtoofferhelp:providingadvice,guidingmethrough
thearchives,andreviewingthevariousincarnationsofthistext.Thefollowinglistis
poor thanks for their warmth and generosity: Rolena Adorno, Ray Craib, John
Demos,GilJoseph,andKarenSpalding(NewHaven);MargaritaSua´rezandPedro
Guibovich Pe´rez (Lima); Roberto Berista´in and Juan Carlos Ruiz Guadalajara
(MexicoCity);SergioRodriguez,DelphineTempere,GenaroRodrı´quezMorel,and
Enriqueta Vila Vilar (Seville); Carlos A`lvarez-Nogal, James Amelang, Bernardo
Lo´pezBellinchon,andJuanCarlosSola(Madrid);andDiogoRamadaCurtoand
FrancescaTrivellato(Florence).Iwouldalsoliketothankthefollowingpeoplefor
theirinsightandjudgmentontheproject,whetherinconversationorthroughtheir
written comments: Bernard Bailyn, Laren Benton, Pierre Boulle, Peter Coclanis,
KateDesbarats,JohnElliott,AlejandrodelaFuente,JonathanIsrael,RichardKa-
gan,WimKlooster,GuyLazure,PhilMorgan,MarcyNorton,MarcusRediker,and
JonathanSchorsch.And,notleast,manythankstothetwoanonymousreadersfor
theirdetailedcommentsandhelpfulsuggestionsonthefirstdraftofthisbook.
Here, too, of course, I would like to acknowledge the remarkable support
theprojecthasreceivedeversinceitlandedonthedeskofSusanFerberatOxford
UniversityPress.Threeyearsandnumerousrevisionshavecycledthroughsince
then. Throughout, she has been a model of patience, amazing speed, under-
standing, and, when it came to excess verbiage, ruthlessness. In Montre´al I was
luckytohavethesteadyandcapablehelpofmyfriendJessicaJulius,whohelped
me track down various bibliographical and archival leads and wrestled my fig-
ures and tables into order.
All this time I have been blessed with family and friends who kept me
groundedhereinMontre´al.Mydebtstothemnaturallyextendmuchfurtherpast
the specific project of this book, but they have enriched it in countless ways:
Mom’s irrepressible creativity and questions; Dad’s passion for clarity and his
yeoman’s labor on my drafts; Emanuelle Simony and Vincent Dumez, who al-
lowedthisproject(computer,files,books)toinvadetheirhouseforthebetterpart
offouryearsandyetcontinuedtoaskthequestionsthatkeptitgoingafterward;
IanStobertforamathematician’sclaritycheerfullydelivered;AdrienDesautelsfor
theprimeroncommercialaccounting;DavidMasse´-Milot,whohelpedmefind
thecenterofthestory;andMasarahVanEyck,poetandhistorian,whofirsttold
methat‘‘Godwasinthedetails’’andthenshowedmehowthiswasthecase.
The progress of this book has also marked a first cycle of my life with
Myle`ne and our two children, E´mile and Marike. Together, and each in their
manner,theyhavehelpedinallthoseindirectwaysthatareultimatelythemost
important—byenrichinglifewiththeirlaughter,warmth,andlove.Ican’tthank
them enough for that.
Contents
Introduction: Ocean, Empire, Nation 3
Chapter One: Portuguese Nation and Spanish Empire in
the Sixteenth Century 17
ChapterTwo:SettlingUpontheSeas:AMaritimeCommunity
in Movement and Formation 41
Chapter Three: ‘‘Cada Casa, Un Mundo’’: The Domestic
Foundations of a Trading Community 67
Chapter Four: A Vast Machine: The Nation’s Atlantic
Trading Networks 91
Chapter Five: Representing the Market: From Day-to-Day
Experience to the Literature of
Commercial Reform 123
Chapter Six: The Nation Unraveled 151