Strangers within : the rise and fall of the New Christian trading elite / Francisco Bethencourt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bethencourt, Francisco, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Crypto-Jews--Iberian Peninsula--Economic conditions.

Crypto-Jews.

Crypto-Jews--Commerce--Iberian Peninsula.

Jewish merchants--Social conditions.

Jewish merchants.

Religion--Economic aspects.

Religion.

Commerce--History.

Commerce.

Economic history--16th century.

Economic history.

Economic history--1600-1750.

Europe--Iberian Peninsula.

Genre:

History

Physical Description:

xvii, 602 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Other Title:

Rise and fall of the New Christian trading elite

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2024]

Summary:

"The New Christians, largely former Jews and Muslims who were forced to convert to Christianity in the 16th and 17th centuries, were both a persecuted group as well as an international elite, and their story, argues Francisco Bethencourt, offers a fascinating and indispensable veiw into the period and the making of a global economy. In what is intended to be an authoritative and innovative book, the author will recount how the New Christians were a major force in structuring the Atlantic economy and reconstruct their involvement in trading system which ran from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. Their hybrid religious allegiances, situated as they were primarilybetween Judaism and Christianity, provide a unique case of cosmopolitanism in various parts of the world. New Christian business practices, forms of organisation and codes of behaviour linked intercontinental networks to local agencies. Their ability to resist religious persecution implied alliances at the highest levels of the Catholic Church and the Iberian monarchies. This book will provide entirely new perspectives for our understanding of cosmopolitanism, religious allegiances, political alliances and business history. The New Christian trading elite has been studied in a fragmentary way, compartmentalised in time and space; but it has never been the subject of comprehensive research over the long term, from the forced conversion of the Jews in Portugal in 1497 to the abolition of the distinction between New Christians and Old Christians in Portugal in 1773, spanning connections between Europe, Africa, Asia and the New World"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Background

Continuities

Disruptions

Creativity

Networks

Migration

Property

Values

Conflict

Politics

Business

Identities

Persecution

Suspension

Breakdown

Immersion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Bethencourt, Francisco. Strangers within

ISBN:

9780691209913

069120991X

OCLC:

1381443196