Trans-national cooperation: an asset in the Portuguese overseas trade. Foreigners operating in the Portuguese overseas trade, 1580-1590

This paper aims to discuss the role of foreign merchants, operating from Portugal, in the Portuguese overseas trade, during the first ten years of Iberian Union. The focus is not in products or routes, but in the mechanisms of association of such merchants. Iberian Union created a legal framework which prohibited the interference and trade of Portuguese agents in the Spanish Empire and vice-versa. Due to the imperialist wars of the Habsburgs, the Portuguese Empire also suffered from Dutch and English rivalry both in the Indic and in the Atlantic and also from the embargos of Dutch and English products and ships in Iberian ports. In such conjuncture, how did merchants related with each other? What was the impact of the political union of the Portuguese and Spanish crowns in trading associations? The used data sources are the notarial contracts of Lisbon for the same period. The paper highlights the role of Castilian merchants in the Portuguese trade, but it also stresses that Iberian partnerships have prevailed before 1580. The role of other merchants, such as Flemish/Dutch, Germans, Italians and French, is also considered. The paper discusses how and why did these merchants join in trans-national partnerships and what was their role in the Portuguese trade network at the time.

As rotas Jacobeias em Portugal : estudo e divulgação do caso alentejano. Proposta de valorização - criação de um museu virtual e de um centro de interpretação

As peregrinações, entre elas a Santiago de Compostela, marcaram profundamente a sociedade europeia. Além das questões religiosas, os caminhos de Santiago originaram a criação de uma rede de infraestruturas que permitiu o desenvolvimento de regiões e aglomerados urbanos. Para provar a importância desses caminhos no distrito de Évora partimos de uma abordagem aos testemunhos patrimoniais evocando S. Tiago (móveis e imóveis, materiais e imateriais), procurando, como objectivo da Dissertação de Mestrado, conceber um projecto para divulgação da informação recolhida. Assim, sabendo que a sociedade actual exige mais informação visual na compreensão do legado cultural, optámos pela criação de um Museu Virtual e de um Centro de Interpretação. Se os Museus Virtuais oferecem inúmeras possibilidades de acesso às manifestações culturais, possibilitando ainda a formação através de tecnologias aplicadas na educação, os Centros de Interpretação criam condições de acolhimento e visita adequadas, fornecendo informações essenciais na compreensão e valorização dos legados patrimoniais. ABSTRACT: The pilgrimages, among them Santiago de Compostela, profoundly marked European society. ln addition to religious matters, the Way of Saint James led to the creation of a network infrastructure that enabled the development of regions and urban areas. To prove the importance of these pathways in the district of Évora part of an asset with reference to testimonies S. James (movable and immovable, tangible and intangible), for such purpose the master's thesis, designing a project to disseminate the information collected. So, knowing that society is demanding more visual information to understand the cultural legacy, we decided to create a Virtual Museum and an Interpretation Center. lf the Virtual Museums offer many opportunities for access to cultural events and can therefore training through technologies applied to education, the Centers for Interpretation create conditions for the reception and visit appropriate, providing key information in understanding and appreciation of legacies.