Atlántico - History Lab

Manifesto on the benefits produced by the establishment of the Royal Gipuzkoa Company of Caracas

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:58 +0000

In 1728, a group of merchants from San Sebastian founded the Royal Guipuzcoa Company of Caracas with the aim of providing the province with a privileged commercial circuit. Thanks to a royal concession, the Company had a monopoly on the cocoa trade, suppressing piracy and smuggling in that part of the Caribbean. This foundation broke the monopoly of cities such as Seville and Cadiz, although competition, falling prices and Venezuelan opposition led to the search for commercial alternatives for a company that was suffering the consequences. Finally, in 1778, the Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas merged with that of the Philippines.

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Printed matter on free trade for Spanish America in the ports of Bilbao and San Sebastián

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:51 +0000

In 1765, Cadiz’s monopoly on trade with America was ended, granting freedom of trade to eight Spanish seaports. In 1778 the Decree of Free Trade with America was promulgated. This prompted the regions peripheral to the Court, which had invested in different types of industries to trade with America. In this context, two of the ports that benefited were Bilbao and San Sebastian.

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List of those killed and wounded on the Bahama in the Battle of Trafalgar

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:51 +0000

After Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in 1799, the Spanish court proved to be a weak extension of French policy. Charles IV’s latent weakness encouraged the French cause around the invasion of Portugal in 1801. A year later, France and England signed the Peace of Amiens, but their confrontation was soon to resume, and Spain became involved in this confrontation. The direct consequence of this situation was the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), where the Spanish fleet was destroyed by Admiral Nelson’s squadron. This defeat led to a further weakening of control of the overseas territories, which resulted in considerable economic collapse.

The post List of those killed and wounded on the Bahama in the Battle of Trafalgar first appeared on History Lab.

Map of the Atlantic Ocean, by Battista Agnese, 1544

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:42 +0000

Nautical chart of the Atlantic at the height of 1544, showing Europe, Africa and the Americas known up to that time. Because of its maritime interest, it does not include the interior territory of South and North America. The coastal profiles are accompanied by the names of the most important coastal settlements

The post Map of the Atlantic Ocean, by Battista Agnese, 1544 first appeared on History Lab.

Original treaty concluded between the Catholic Monarchs and John II of Portugal on the limits of territories

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:42 +0000

Castile and Portugal engaged in long territorial disputes during the Modern Age over the control and administration of overseas territories. This confrontation came to an end in 1494 with the signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas, which established an imaginary dividing line 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands between the overseas dominions of each.

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Hernán Cortés’ Expedition to New Spain

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:42 +0000

Information at the request of Gonzalo de Guzmán, before the governor and adelantado Diego Velázquez, about the expedition of Hernán Cortés to New Spain, taking with him Alonso Fernández Puertocarrero and Francisco Montejo, a certain Alaminos as pilot and a Bautista as master. They were determined to follow up the discoveries made earlier by Juan de Grijalva. Arriving at a certain place, they took a ship, and loading it with gold and other riches, they sailed along dark and dangerous roads, fleeing lest they be caught. Signed by Diego Velázquez – Santiago de Cuba, 7 October 1519

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Portulan chart of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coasts of Europe and Africa

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:33 +0000

The representation of the portulan chart covers the Mediterranean and the European Atlantic from Iceland and the southern coast of Scandinavia to Gambia and Cape Rouge in Africa. It includes enough ocean space to depict the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and Cape Verde. There is no section of the South American coastline. There are two longitude scales over the Atlantic, in red and blue; next to the southernmost one, the authorship and date are mentioned, stating: ‘[Rubric] Joan Vespuchi, pilot of his Highness, me fecit en Sevilla, anno de 1520 [Rubric]’. Coats of arms appear over England, Scotland and Ireland. There are symbols of major cities on seven identical monuments, red over Tunis, Milan and Belgrade (possible sources of threat) and green over Jerusalem, Venice, Genoa, Seville and over Morocco. Flags over Turkey, Crimea, France and the islands of Madeira and the Canaries. The chart, whose author is Juan, or Giovanni, Vespucci, was drawn according to the Mediterranean chart kept at the Casa de la Contratación. It introduces the theme of navigation to the west across the Atlantic by means of the double graduation system, embodied in the use of two longitude scales. The coastal outlines are very similar to Gabriel de Valseca’s chart of 1439. The coastline is drawn in sepia and green, the place names in sepia and red, and the islands in red, blue and gold.

The post Portulan chart of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coasts of Europe and Africa first appeared on History Lab.

The evolution of generational demographic parameters in Southern Western Galicia (1584-1670)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:40 +0000

The resource deals with the demographic evolution of four generations, looking at their family composition, number of families, ages of access to marriage and the duration of marriage, among other items, between 1584 and 1670. The geographical area is centred on the south of western Galicia, the Bajo Miño, through the study of the rural parish of San Martín de Caldelas; a North Atlantic demographic model marked by the late age of access to marriage for women (24.5 years), the low level of second marriages (16.7%) and the duration of marriage (25 years) which resulted in a duration of fertility for couples of 13.9 years. The intergenerational synthesis reflected in the resource is reflected in the exponential growth of the parish which, after 100 years, had to be remodelled to increase its capacity to welcome the faithful. The growth, according to the author’s study, was mainly due to the nuptiality; a framework of legitimised fecundity, and the low mortality of those born.

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Shaping the Demographic Parameters of the Differentiated Household in a North Atlantic Model (1584-1670)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:40 +0000

Rural society in south-western Galicia, in the Bajo Miño region, was part of the North Atlantic demographic system. The study of the parish of San Martín de Caldelas, between 1584 and 1670, shows us the configuration of households according to their economic, material and status level within society: upper, middle and lower families. A first analysis reveals the predominance in number of the lower, more humble families. In these families, the average number of children per family was lower than in the middle and upper families, being 5.79, 7.67 and 6.6 respectively. Another significant difference is the age of entry into marriage, both for women and men, with the poorer families showing a tendency to delay entry due to a late exit from the family, while the upper families had a younger age of marriage for the male than the others. This age difference had an impact on the years of actual fertility, being higher in the more privileged families. The wide variety of information provided by the author helps us to understand the demographic dynamics of families; a structural issue for the analysis and explanation of the society of the Ancien Régime.

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City and frontier between the Mediterranean and the Hapsburg Atlantic

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:11 +0000

This audio explains the main characteristics of walled cities in the Hapsburg period and the cities that were the maritime frontier of Spanish possessions in the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Caribbean. Firstly, the subject is approached from an architectural and construction point of view, making a comparison between the different port cities. Secondly, the importance of fortification goes beyond the simple defensive wall, they are also frontiers of power, with a strong symbolic character, where the city itself acts as a political, economic and military centre, especially in coastal cities. These are the gateways to maritime trade, in short, to the connection between continents.

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