‘Profits sprout like tropical plants’: a fresh look at what went wrong with the Eurasian spice tradec. 1550–1800

Abstract

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S1740022808002775 How to cite this article: Stefan Halikowski Smith (2008). 'Prots sprout like tropical plants': a fresh look at what went wrong with the Eurasian spice trade c.

From colonialism to global health: Frameworks for the history of medicine in Portugal's empire

“…Before the eighteenth century, medicines appeared to have circulated between areas of Portuguese colonization with little or no inquiry, instruction, or sustained planning from metropolitan officials (Bastos, 2011; Bracht & Polónia, 2018; Walker, 2009). The Crown remained only intermittently interested in novel therapeutics—and then only inasmuch as they could be lucratively traded or profitably taxed (Halikowski‐Smith, 2008). The pharmacies of colonial hospitals were only irregularly stocked with materia medica from metropolitan apothecaries (Dias, 2007; Walker, 2011, 2013).…”

The Ordeals of Colonial Contracting: Reactions to and Repercussions of Two Failed State-Private Ventures in Habsburg Portugal (1622–1628)

“…15For sectorial contributions on specific colonial contracts, see Salvado, “O Estanco do tabaco em Portugal”; Machado, “Contratos e Contratadores Régios.” Among the seventeenth-century government concessions, the West African contracts, especially the Cape Verde/Upper Guinea Coast slaving farm, have received most coverage; see Cohen, “Subsídios para a História,” Torrão, “Rotas Comerciais, Agentes Económicos”; Rodney, “Portuguese Attempts at Monopoly,” Salvador, Os Magnatas do Tráfico . For public-private partnerships involving naval logistics, see Costa, Naus e Galiões and “Portuguese Resilience in Global War.” For royal contracts involving Portugal's trade with Asia and particularly the state's monopoly on pepper imports and marketing, see Halikowski Smith, “Profits Sprout Like Tropical Plants,” 392–6; Boyajian, Portuguese Trade in Asia ; Godinho, Os Descobrimentos , vol. 3; Kellenbenz, “Autour de 1600.” Freire Costa has provided some aggregated insights into Portuguese government contracts; see Costa, “State Monopoly or Corporate Business” and “Tax Farming and Uncertainty.” For an Atlantic leaning perspective, see Mauro, Portugal , o Brasil e o Atlântico , vol.…”