Trade Politics and the Trade Political Relations of the Juntas y regimientos de Vizcaya in the Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries

• Applicant: Dr. Hanna Sonkajärvi
• Subject Area: Early Modern History
• Term: from 2013 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 230993882

The research project positions itself in the new social and economic history as influenced by cultural history and sociology. It examines early modern trade from an actor-centred perspective. More specifically, it explores the role local and regional elites played in the consolidation of the Iberian composite monarchy, the political culture of which has frequently been described as removed from or even opposed to economic concerns. The working hypothesis is that the rise of the north Spanish elites, moreover in the seventeenth century, when Spain was suffering a deep recession, can only be understood if one takes their ability to link politics and trade and bridge distance into account. What is being investigated is who traded and who made trade politics with whom, how, why, and within which structures of power. The project distinguishes itself from other research projects in the field in that it analyses the agents and practices of trade within mercantile and political networks and against the background of family and client relationships. The innovative potential lies in the chosen approach: Taking a regional administrative body as its starting point, it enquires into the possibilities and capacity of this organisation to defend trade political issues against other instances such as the Consulado de Burgos, the Juntas y regimientos de Guipuzkoa, foreign governments or the Spanish Crown. Furthermore, within - and in relation to - the Juntas y regimientos de Vizcaya, a wide range of institutions, including family, commercial agents and religious confraternities are studied, in order to reconstruct communication across territorial space and, more importantly, beyond the centre-periphery divide. The networks of merchants can therefore be examined at the local, regional and supraregional level. This translocal approach does justice to the fact that, from a political perspective, the north of Spain was considered part of the periphery at the time, yet also contained important trading centres with interests in Europe and overseas. Focusing on actors and their objectives, the project provides new insights into the hitherto little researched integration of mercantile and political elites in the early modern period. At the same time, it will also make a valuable contribution to economic, administrative and cultural historical research.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants