Mercaderes y asociaciones mercantiles en el comercio toledano de la seda en la segunda mitad del siglo XVII

Abstract

At the end of the seventeenth century, Toledo was one of the main centres of silk production, with a large number of masters, officials and apprentices. Commercialisation was in the hans of the merchants. Most production was commercialised, either individually or through societies. Some of these merchants, the so-called manufacturers, intervened directly in the process of manufacturing. Most of them gave the weavers a loom and the silk that was necessary to make varied goods such as taffeta, damask, velvet or stockings. Some merchants were entrusted with bringing the raw material from Murcia or Valencia. This material was paid with silver coins. Later, merchants gave the raw material to silk masters, who adopted the practice known as the putting out system. Some merchants were only investors; they established a commercial partnership with a person who knew the business well. This important profits might be obtained through those partnerships. In this paper, matters such as the analysis of number of members, the duration of their businesses, the profit obtained, and the system of collecting income are also explored.