Abstract
This article explores whether or not Flemish commercial networks reached the interior of the Iberian Peninsula and if so, how they functioned. By analysing the case of the Valladolid region through hitherto unexplored sources, this study shows that the economic opportunities offered by this region did not pass unnoticed by the Flemish merchants. While previous research focused on the conceptual dichotomy between ambulant and sedentary migration, this article shows that in practice, the Flemish merchant community in the Valladolid region covered the whole spectrum between these two positions. In fact, the hybrid nature of this Flemish merchant community seem to have been its strength as it connected different trade networks to each other and permitted the transfer of commercial expertise.
Highlights
In 1556, Jorge Tulaime, a nineteen-year-old from Tournai, had to appear before the Real Chancillería de Valladolid, one of the two high courts of appeal in Castile, representing his two employers, the Flemish merchants Guillermo Rubin and Antonio Fermaute
As the fairs of Medina del Campo had become an important commercial hub in the sixteenth century, the town was attractive as a place of residence for merchants from France and the Italian peninsula, and the legal adventures of young Jorge Tulaime indicate that at least some Flemish merchants too, had set up a foothold here
As many Flemish centres for textile production shifted from using English to Spanish merino wool, trade relations between the Low Countries and the interior of the Iberian Peninsula bloomed in the course of the fifteenth century.[4]
Summary
In 1556, Jorge Tulaime, a nineteen-year-old from Tournai, had to appear before the Real Chancillería de Valladolid (hereafter Chancillería), one of the two high courts of appeal in Castile, representing his two employers, the Flemish merchants Guillermo Rubin and Antonio Fermaute. Both men were accused of the embezzlement of trade goods of a deceased French. Wool by the Netherlandish textile industry.[14] Medina del Campo, the most important of the three fair towns, became the largest commercial centre in Northern Castile, attracting at least 2,000 foreign merchants.[15] the Castilian fairs were not the only centre of attraction in the region.
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Schedule a callMore From: Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis/ The Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History
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