This fascinating history reassesses the consequences of Portugal's flourishing private trade with Asia, including increased tensions between the growing urban merchant class and the still-dominant landed aristocracy. James C. Boyajian shows how Portuguese-Asian commerce formed part of a global trading network that linked not only Europe and Asia but also-for the first time-Asia, West Africa, Brazil, and Spanish America. He also argues that, contrary to previous scholarly opinion, nearly half of the Portuguese-Asian trade was controlled by New Christians-descendants of Iberian Jews forcibly converted to Christianity in the 1490s.

About the Author
James C. Boyajian is the author of Portuguese Bankers at the Court of Spain, 1626-1650.

Reviews
In a superbly researched work, rich in provocative and revisionist interpretations, whose sources, ideas, and references will be mined by many scholars, Boyajian adopts a comparative approach to study Portuguese commercial links to Asia, reassess crown involvement in trade vis a vis private participation, place the Cape trade within the context of global trade, and throw new light on Portuguese merchant families. Canadian Journal of History Concentrates on the flourishing Portuguese private trade with Asia during the period of Spanish rule... A new turn in the historiography of European expansion. English Historical Review Portuguese Trade in Asia under the Habsburgs illuminates complex trade and social networks within an emerging global system. It is essential reading for those concerned with the interplay of state goals and private enterprise, as well as the influence of the Inquisition on global trade in the early modern era. -- Joan Meznar Renaissance Quarterly 2008



Book Information
ISBN 9780801887543
Author James C. Boyajian
Format Paperback
Page Count 360
Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Weight(grams) 590g