Brazil in the Global Economy of the Catholic Monarchy: the dutch capture of Salvador da Bahia and the ‘Merchants’ War’-Arbitrio of Francisco de Retama

Résumé 0

The end of the twelve-year truce (1609-1621) between the Hispanic Monarchy and the United Provinces of the Netherlands brought Portugal and its colonies to the center of the European conflict. In this article we discuss the arbítrio of the Andalusian merchant, Francisco de Retama, on the Dutch seizure of Bahia in 1624. A well-known figure to the Junta de Comercio, and promotor of economic warfare against the Dutch rebels, Retama wrote numerous arbítrios on matters of economic policy and in particular on trade, on which he was an expert. Retama would come to be known as one of the main advocates in favor of the Spanish creation of a Company of Commerce on the Dutch model. His belief that Flanders was the key to the success of the Habsburg monarchy, placed the interests of Portugal in a secondary position, and is an early example of policy proposals that led to growing Portuguese discontent. The previously unknown project that we now publish underlines the contradictions and difficulties of a composite monarchy in the face of the need for economic profitability, which, in the opinion of Francisco de Retama, was the key to the enrichment of countries and the survival of the Catholic Monarchy.