The Political and Social Dynamics of Poverty, Poor Relief and Health Care in Early-Modern Portugal

By the end of the fifteenth century most European countries had witnessed a profound reformation of their poor relief and health care policies. As this book demonstrates, Portugal was among them and actively participated in such reforms. Providing the first English language monograph on this topic, Laurinda Abreu examines the Portuguese experience and places it within the broader European context. She shows that, in line with much that was happening throughout the rest of Europe, Portugal had not only set up a systematic reform of the hospitals but had also developed new formal arrangements for charitable and welfare provision that responded to the changing socioeconomic framework, the nature of poverty and the concerns of political powers. The defining element of the Portuguese experience was the dominant role played by a new lay confraternity, the confraternity of the Misericórdia, created under the auspices of King D. Manuel I in 1498. By the time of the king's death in 1521 there were more than 70 Misericórdias in Portugal and its empire, and by 1640, more than 300. All of them were run according to a unified set of rules and principles with identical social objectives. Based upon a wealth of primary source documentation, this book reveals how the sixteenth-century Portuguese crown succeeded in implementing a national poor relief and health care structure, with the support of the Papacy and local elites, and funded principally through pious donations. This process strengthened the authority of the royal government at a time which coincided with the emergence of the early modern state. In so doing, the book establishes poor relief and public health alongside military, diplomatic and administrative authorities, as the pillars of centralisation of royal power.

Early Modern Trading Networks in Europe. Cooperation and the case of Simon Ruiz.

In the early modern period, trade became a truly global phenomenon. The logistics, financial and organizational complexity associated with it increased in order to connect distant geographies and merchants from different backgrounds. How did these merchants prevent their partners from dishonesty in a time where formal institutions and legislation did not traverse these different worlds? This book studies the mechanisms and criteria of cooperation in early modern trading networks. It uses an interdisciplinary approach, through the case study of a Castilian long-distance merchant of the sixteenth century, Simon Ruiz, who traded within the limits of the Portuguese and Spanish overseas empires. Early Modern Trading Networks in Europe discusses the importance of reciprocity mechanisms, trust and reputation in the context of early modern business relations, using network analysis methodology, combining quantitative data with qualitative information. It considers how cooperation and prevention could simultaneously create a business relationship, and describes the mechanisms of control, policing and punishment used to avoid opportunism and deception among a group of business partners. Using bills of exchange and correspondence from Simon Ruiz’s private archive, it charts the evolution of this business network through time, debating which criteria should be included or excluded from business networks, as well as the emergence of standards. This book intends to put forward a new approach to early modern trade which focuses on individuals interacting in self-organized structures, rather than on states or empires. It shows how indirect reciprocity was much more frequent than direct reciprocity among early modern merchants and how informal norms, like ostracism or signaling, helped to prevent defection and deception in an effective way.

The marriage of João de Alarcão and Margarida Soares and the creation of a transnational Portuguese-Spanish nobility

The main aim of this chapter is to analyze the social and political effects of dynastic marriages between the Portuguese and Castilian-Aragonese crowns on the configuration of transnational, aristocratic families during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. To illustrate these questions we have chosen to follow the Soares de Alarcão family (known in Spain as Suárez de Alarcón) and the paths it took between the royal houses of Portugal and Castile for seven generations. The working hypothesis of the chapter is that the identity of the Iberian nobility during this era was characterized by a shared noble culture rather than by any particular features derived from the family’s land of origin. That assumption allows us to discuss whether the use of a particular language or culture indicates ties or political loyalties based on criteria of nationality, or, at the very least, place of birth. Therefore, this essay discusses the miscegenation of Iberian nobilities derived from dynastic marriages. It articulates the structural characteristics of this group and its political impact with the individual trajectories and historical contexts in which they developed. While these topics can be of interest for the comprehension of Portuguese early modern history, they can also help us to reflect more broadly on processes of identity construction.

DICCIONARIO BIOGRÁFICO DE LA CATEDRAL DE CÓRDOBA (I): LOS MIEMBROS DEL CABILDO EN ÉPOCA MODERNA

This paper presents the first part of the biographical study of a representative number of the members of a Spanish cathedral chapter, that of Cordoba, between the last fifteenth century and the first years of the nineteenth century. To do that, I chose a format of simplified entries with basic information on the origin, parentage, studies and career of several hundred churchmen.

Comunicação e prática política nas monarquias ibéricas de antigo regime (1700-1750): Évora, Córdova, Ouro Preto e Quito

O presente estudo trata da prática política nos diferentes espaços das monarquias ibéricas na primeira metade do século XVIII. Tendo como objecto de análise principal a correspondência de quatro municípios seleccionados como observatórios (Évora, Córdova, Ouro Preto e Quito), pretende-se conhecer com maior detalhe as variações desta mesma prática em função dos contextos. Partindo da ideia de que o modelo político-administrativo implementado na América seria, na essência, decalcado do peninsular, procura-se aqui entender as mutações resultantes desta transferência. Ao longo deste trabalho defender-se-á a ideia de que, apesar das semelhanças entre o aparelho burocrático metropolitano e americano, a prática política nos territórios extra-europeus revestia-se de um conjunto de especificidades que a diferenciavam de forma clara. Neste sentido, argumenta-se que estas mutações condicionavam igualmente quais seriam os interlocutores das coroas nas diferentes regiões. Ou seja, que uma mesma instância teria, nos territórios ultramarinos e peninsulares, graus de participação nos processos de negociação e articulação política consideravelmente diferentes, algo que de que os municípios são um bom exemplo. Para o efeito serão comparados aspectos como os ritmos da comunicação; o relevo de cada instância na comunicação com a coroa; o perfil dos indivíduos que, nos diferentes territórios, ocupavam os ofícios da malha administrativa; as dinâmicas de especialização de competências ou de concentração de funções num mesmo cargo; a conflitualidade institucional e a existência de iniciativas políticas de cariz supramunicipal; Abstract: This study deals with the political practice in different areas of the Iberian monarchies in the first half of the eighteenth century. The main object of study is the correspondence of four selected municipalities (Évora, Cordoba, Ouro Preto and Quito), and it aims to know in greater detail the variations of this same practice on different contexts. Starting from the idea that the political and administrative model implemented in America would, in essence, be modeled on the peninsular, the intent is to understand the changes resulting from this transfer. Throughout this work we will argue that, despite the similarities between the metropolitan and American bureaucracy, political practice in non-European territories possessed a set of characteristics that were very specific. In this sense, it is argued that these mutations would also determine which would be the interlocutors of the crowns in different regions. That is, if the same instance would, in the overseas and peninsular territories, have different levels of participation in the negotiation and in the political articulation processes, something that municipalities are a good example of. For this purpose, aspects such as the rhythms of communication; the importance of each instance in the correspondence with the crown; the profile of the individuals who, in different territories, occupied the offices of the administrative network; the dynamics of specialization or concentration of functions in the same position; the institutional conflicts and the existence of supramunicipal initiatives will be compared.

Castilian and Portuguese merchants in collaboration (1580-1590). Has the Hispanic Monarchy favored Iberian commercial partnerships?

The Iberian Union allowed the existence of formal mechanisms of government authority in Portugal. In what concerns the Iberian trade dynamics, including the colonial circuits, the Habsburgs legislated according to those that would be the most politically convenient circumstances, making an impact on Iberian affairs. Over the last decade, historical literature has highlighted the transnational nature of Early Modern business partnerships. On the other hand, Iberian scholars have put forward many case studies that show formal or informal Portuguese participations in the Spanish Indies affairs. However, the inverse situation as not been considered yet. What was the role played by Castilian merchants in the Portuguese colonial trade? This paper aims to present data about the collaboration between Portuguese and Castilian merchants within the European and the overseas trade dynamics, approaching the Iberian Union as an event that favored these business partnerships. It also debates the formal or informal nature of these relationships. Were they promoted by the State’s policies or, alternatively, were they devised as a means to bypass the Crown’s monopolistic policies? For this propose, we will analyze Portuguese notarial records from the period between 1580 and 1590.