Imperial Ambition in the Early Modern Mediterranean
Genoese Merchants and the Spanish Crown

This book examines the alliance between the Spanish Crown and Genoese merchants from 1450 to 1650.

Céline Dauverd (Author)

9781107062368, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 September 2014

310 pages, 4 b/w illus. 2 maps 6 tables
23.4 x 15.8 x 2.2 cm, 0.59 kg

'The book shows convincingly that the symbiosis between the mercantile empire and the dynastic one 'was not just a matter of economics, as the current historiography suggests, but was also underpinned and strengthened by powerful sociocultural ties'.' Rolf Petri, European History Quarterly

This book examines the alliance between the Spanish Crown and Genoese merchant bankers in southern Italy throughout the early modern era, when Spain and Genoa developed a symbiotic economic relationship, undergirded by a cultural and spiritual alliance. Analyzing early modern imperialism, migration, and trade, this book shows that the spiritual entente between the two nations was mainly informed by the religious division of the Mediterranean Sea. The Turkish threat in the Mediterranean reinforced the commitment of both the Spanish Crown and the Genoese merchants to Christianity. Spain's imperial strategy was reinforced by its willingness to acculturate to southern Italy through organized beneficence, representation at civic ceremonies, and spiritual guidance during religious holidays.

1. Empires of the Renaissance, 1453–1650: the Genoese response to shifting alliances in the Mediterranean
2. Genoese emporium and Spanish imperium in the Kingdom of Naples
3. Commercial ascension through silk: Genoese artisans, merchants, bakers
4. Achieving favorite nation status: the economic journey of the Genoese
5. The Genoese merchants: between the viceroys' buon governo and Habsburg expansion
6. Holy Week: the Genoese in the ceremonial triptych
7. The Genoese eye of the storm: spiritual competition in church, sea, and grave
8. The Genoese participation in charitable institutions.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], European history [HBJD], General & world history [HBG]