Durand R. (2004) Muslim Gold and the Rise of Portugal

Durand Robert (2004) “L’or musulman et la formation du Royaume du Portugal” in Michaud Françoise (ed.) Les Relations des pays d’Islam avec le monde latin du milieu du Xe siècle au milieu du XIIIe siècle, Paris, Vuibert, 250-261.

Introduction

In the early 20th century, M. Lombard proposed the following thesis: the Muslim expansion triggered a major de-hoarding movement of the Sassanid and Byzantine gold reserve held in the newly conquered territories. According to R. Durand, a rather similar event may have followed the Almoravid and Almohad conquests of Spain. And it may have had a significant impact upon the formation of the Portuguese kingdom (p.250).

Subrahmayam S. and Thomaz L. F. (1991) The Portuguese in the Indian Ocean during the 16th century

Subrahmayam Sanjay and F. R. Thomaz Luis Felipe (1991) “Evolution of empire: The Portuguese in the Indian Ocean during the sixteenth century” in The Political Economy of Merchant Empire. State Power and World Trade 1350-1750, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 298-331.

This book is available on google for every one to read!!!

Models of expansion

Before Da Gama‘s voyage (1498), the Portuguese were already involved in overseas colonisation. Their expansion followed three main models:

1. In North Africa, a network of fortresses involved in endemic warfare with their neighbouring hinterland.
2. In the Atlantic Islands, an agrarian and territorial settlement by Portuguese colons.
3. In Guinea, a network of commercial coastal emporium involved in peaceful relationships with their surrounding.

Reis Mourão P. (2007) The Company of the Port Wines in the 18th century

Reis Mourão Paulo (2007) “Uma visao integrada sobre a Companhia das Vinhas do Alto Douro”, Fênix. Revista de História e Estudos Culturais, 4/3, 11p.

This article is available on line

The creation of the Company of the Wines of the High Douro took place at a time when many of these companies were created by the state. By the 1740s when the talks about the creation of the company started, Port wines (or Oporto wines as they were then called) had already a thousands years history and had met international success on the western European markets since the 1600s.

O’Rourke K. and Williamson J. (2006) Did Vasco da Gama matter for European markets?

O’Rourke Kevin H. and Williamson Jeffrey G. (2006) “Did Vasco da Gama matter for European markets? Testing Frederick Lanes hypotheses fifty years later”, IIIS Discussion Paper, 118, 53p.

This paper is available on line.

Summary: In this article, the authors argue against F. C. Lanes’ traditional thesis which considered that the Portuguese discoveries had little long-lasting effect on the European spices markets. They show that the Portuguese route did decrease the spices prices in 16th-century Europe. Moreover they contributed to the creation of an integrated European market for luxury goods that did not exist before 1500. They conclude by saying that the European consumers were ultimately the main beneficiaries ofda Gama’s voyage.

Studnicki-Gizbert D. (2002) Portuguese commercial networks in the early modern Atlantic

Studnicki-Gizbert Daviken (2002) “Interdependence and the collective pursuit of profits: Portuguese commercial networks in the early modern Atlantic”, Curto Diogo Ramada and Molho Anthony eds., European University Institute Working Paper, 2, Commercial Networks in the Early Modern World, 90-120.

This article is available on line (pdf).

Introduction

The Portuguese merchant network or nation was one of the “most dynamic institutions of transnational and inter-regional trade of the early modern period” (91). A nation was a community of foreign merchants distinguished from the local society and institutionally and/or socially bond together.