Merchant Networks in the Early Modern World, 1450–1800

James Petiver's ‘joynt-stock’: middling agency in urban collecting networks

“…62 This kind of manoeuvring around institutional structures or regulations was typical in the early modern trading world, with informal (often illegal) exchanges posing a serious challenge to centralized state powers who struggled to maintain control of individual agency across their official trading networks. 63 Though on excellent terms with many employees, Petiver regularly expressed his frustration with the institution itself, for example, writing to Jacob Bobart in 1706 that he was 'somewhat dishearted from holding a Correspondence to those [^remote] parts [such as Fort St George] since I have 4 or 5 vellum of Plants wch have lain about 6 months in the East Companies hands without hitherto being able to procure them. I shall be glad to hear suddenly from them.'…”

Introduction: Spatial Assemblages

“…Th e institutions that profi ted from this commerce amassed great wealth, power, and ideological force but also provided unusual space for maneuver (Pearson 1996;Subrahmanyam 1996;Tagliacozzo 2005, Tagliacozzo and Wills 2002;Zheng 2012, Sinn 2013, Siu 2010. Th e institutions that profi ted from this commerce amassed great wealth, power, and ideological force but also provided unusual space for maneuver (Pearson 1996;Subrahmanyam 1996;Tagliacozzo 2005, Tagliacozzo and Wills 2002;Zheng 2012, Sinn 2013, Siu 2010.…”

The formation of a social Hispanic Atlantic space and the integration of merchant communities following the Treaties of Utrecht

“…One of the most important subjects to be considered when attempting to understand the complexity of the connections at both socio-institutional and economic levels relates to the role played by trade communities of different nationalities based in various urban centres in Europe and the Americas linked to the Atlantic economy, along with large trading companies in Asia and Africa. Historiography has also highlighted the importance and features of these merchant communities, how they worked and were structured around this system of global interaction, establishing a close relationship between the phenomenon of migration, the formation of trading companies and the evolution and integration of various socio-cultural and economic areas, together with the role played by these groups in economic transformation (Mauro, 1993;Subrahmanyam, 1996;Crespo Solana, 2011). Furthermore, it has been possible to create a theoretical model for the study of trade communities and their impact on the evolution of these companies, as well as their influence on political and diplomatic relations between modern states.…”