Dislocating a Trade Network: New Christian and Jewish Merchants Between the Portuguese and the British Empires (1700-1730)

  • Carla Vieira CHAM, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas (FCSH), Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1069-061 Lisboa
Keywords: Inquisition, Migrations, Sephardim, London, Lisbon, Inquisição, Migrações, Sefarditas, Londres, Lisboa

Abstract

This article correlates the transformations of the Lisbon's commercial elite during the first half of the 18th century, the Inquisition repression against New Christians, and the Sephardic influx to London in the 1720s-1730s. These intertwined events are considered under the framework of the Anglo-Portuguese relations after the Treaty of Methuen. Our analysis focuses on the crisscrossed trajectories of three New Christian homens de negócio, which illustrate how the circumstances of the progressive "Old Christianization" of Lisbon's mercantile elite and the migratory flows to London are key points to understand the dynamics and imbalances of the Anglo-Portuguese trade in the 18th century.

Este artigo inter-relaciona as transformações da elite mercantil de Lisboa na 1.ª metade do século XVIII, a repressão inquisitorial contra os cristãos-novos e o fluxo migratório sefardita para Londres nas décadas de 20 e 30. Estes acontecimentos são analisados à luz das relações luso-britânicas após o Tratado de Methuen. A nossa análise foca-se das trajectórias cruzadas de três homens de negócio cristãos-novos, as quais ilustram como as circunstâncias da progressiva mudança do perfil da elite mercantil lisboeta e os fluxos migratórios para Londres são pontos-chave para a compreensão das dinâmicas e desequilíbrios do comércio luso-britânico em Setecentos.

Author Biography

Carla Vieira, CHAM, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas (FCSH), Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1069-061 Lisboa

Carla Vieira is a post-doctoral researcher at the CHAM (NOVA FCSH/ Uaç), with the project “Nation between Empires: New Christians and Portuguese Jews in Anglo-Portuguese Relations (first half of the 18th century)”, funded by the FCT (SFRH/BPD/109606/2015), website: <https://nationbetweenempires. wordpress.com>. She is the principal investigator of the project Western Sephardic Diaspora Roadmap, developed by the CHAM and the Digital Humanities Lab and supported by international funding. She is editor of the journal Cadernos de Estudos Sefarditas, published by the Cátedra de Estudos Sefarditas Alberto Benveniste.

Published
2021-12-31
Section
RiMe 9/II n.s. (December 2021). Special Issue