Spanish merchants in the Low Countries s
87
Spanish Merchants in the Low Countries
StabiHhls Loci or Peregrinatio ?
RAYMOND
FAGEL
L Spanish Merchants in the Netherlands
In order to gain acceptance in western Europe, Saint Benedict of Nursia
softened the rules of asceticism for his monks, but he kepi to binding them lo
one place : stabilitas loci. Yet at the same time, on a far-away island in the
Atlantic, Christianity experienced a very different view on monastic life : that it
was better to let yourself drift in a boat without oars and see which coast you
would reach. Such was the example of Saint Brendan, and it was called
peregrinatio. Despite the obvious differences between monks and merchants,
this dualism can be used to highlight certain features of international trade and
commerce in Europe during the early modern period. Did foreign merchants
form a static and stable part of the urban community, or did they travel
ceaselessly without settling on alien territory ? Stabilitas loci or peregrinatio ?
The case discussed here, deals with the Spanish merchants who acted as
intermediaries between the Low Countries and the Spanish kingdoms of Charles
V during the first half of the sixteenth century. In contrast to the scattered and
mobile Netherlandish presence in Spain 1, the Spanish merchants in the Low
Countries focused their trade only on a few major commercial centres. The
existence of both proper commercial organizations in Bruges in Flanders,
Antwerp in Brabant and Middelburg in Zeeland, and a number of examples of
well-integrated families in these cities, have led historians to consider their
presence as stable or at the least fairly integrated within society 2 • Some English
and French
show an even more convincing integration of Spanish
...
' K FA GEL, De f fispano- Vlaamse wereld De conlaclen tussen .'>panjaarden en Nederlmuiers
I 496- i 555, Bmssels, Nijmegen, 1996, p. 279. The major part of this paper is based on this Ph.D.,
defended at the Kalhoiieke Universileit Nijmegen on 25th September 1996.
2 For example: W.O. PHILLIPS, l.ocallntcgralion and Long-Distance Ties: The Castilian
Community in Sixteenth-Century Bruges, in: SCJ, 17, !986, p. 33-49.
88
RAYMOND
l\.ferclwnts in the Low Countries
FACIEI.
merchants within the host
be
!he lack of
institutionalized
ln the sixteenth
Countries
four C!l!es were of great
for
accommodated most of the
commercial
dated from earlier centuries : the nation of
the nation of
!he nation
and the
and the
!he north
the nation of
from l SJO onwards also the nation of Navarre 4 •
during t.he sixteenth
. Thus it retained
commerce well into the 16th
became !he new commercial centre
!he Low Countries.
with a famous fair
of a trimester system with the nearby
it finally managed to attract international trade !he
whole year round. This led to a strong Spanish presence, and in ! 527 the
nation was transferred to the city. At the same time, Bergen-op-Zoom
have lost much of its commercial
and with it, also many of
its
visitors.
The alreadv mentioned town of Middelbum constituted the fourth
it served as a harbour
inwardly
and !3wges. The
a
merchants who founded an Andalusian
presence in both Bruges and Antwerp will be amply
as !hese two cities contained without doubt
communities. How many merchants were there ? And is
!o say about the nature of !heir slav in the Low Countries ? A
or
-~·
·'
MOLLAT, Le r61e in!ema!ional des marchamls espagnols dans lcs purls de !'Europe
occidenlal a l'epoque des Rois Catholiqucs,
: Anuano de f lis Ioria Econ6micn y Social, 3, ! 970,
p. 41-55; G.K. BRUNELlE, Immigration, assimila!!on and success: three families of Spanish origin
in sixteenth century Rouen, in :SCI, 20, 1989, p. 203-219; C. JONES MATHERS, Family
partnerships and in!cma!iorml trade in early modem Europe · merchants from Burgos in England
and France, !470-!570, in· Business !listuryRevielv, 62, 1988, p. 367-397.
' See the articles of the Bruges ciiy archivist J. Marechal and the documentary collections of his
predecessor L Giliiodts-van Severen. The current archivist A. Vandewalle has published a few
summarizing articles on lhc Spanish influence in Bmgcs. For full bibliographic rdcrcnccs sec
FA GEL, I !ispano- Vlaamse we reid, passim
5 R. FAGEL, De Spaansc kooplieden in Middelburg v66r de opstand: een vombeeld van
succesvolle integratie mel behoud Vl!n
identiteit, in· M. 'T IIART, 1. L!JCASSEN, ll. SCHMAL
(eds.), Nieuwe Nederlanders. Festiging wm migra!llen door de eeuwen heen, Amsterdam, 1996, p.
2!-33
89
third section will discuss the integration of the Spanimds in the earlier
mentioned four Low Countries cities and towns, using three distinct indicators :
citizenship, intermarriage and the access to city office. Finally, I wish to
comment further on the choice between nereFrinatio and slabilitas loci.
2. Hruges: the misrepresentation of representative institutions
Although Bruges housed four Spanish merchant institutions,
reflects almost
on ihe presence of Castilians in the city. The main
reason for this focus is the accidental preservation of documentation about their
owing to the transfer of these papers to the
by the last Castilian
consuls in 1705. This most important archive strangely enough still has to be
studied on the basis of an outdated inventory.
When Joseph Marechal in Ills article of 1951 6 tried to quantify the
number of the Spanish merchants in Bruges in his desire to give 'quelques
donnees sur !'importance nwm!rique', he used the records of the meetings of the
Castilian nation. All names of the representatives (diputados) and others present
and taking part at the reunion had to be written down in these books and
Marechal gives us a few examples of their numbers. He counted 47 in 1525, 4!
in 1552 and around 60 in 1562. Every diputado was chosen as a representative
of a whole
or house. Ever since J 951 these numbers have dominated
Jn fact, !he number of representatives varied
historical literature on this
only slightly between 1502 and 1555. In general there were about 30 diputados.
The highest number ( 43) was reached twice, in 15!9 and 1551 7 .
In a very interesting study of the life of the Castilians in Bruges,
William Phillips used the same figures in a provocative attempt to estimate the
total number of Castilians in the citl. He combined the previous information
with another register in the archives of the Spanish nation. This institution had
its own Spanish notary who could provide the Spaniards \vith legal documents
in their own language and a special register was kept among his papers with
more than twenty last wills and testaments of Spanish merchants. Out of these
documents William Phillips unravelled that the average family consisted of five
individuals and the average Spanish staff of three. This means that for
merchant mentioned a multiplier of eight can be used in order lo get the total
Castilian presence in the city. This amounts lo a total of about 500 Castilians
6
J.
MARECHAL,
le depart de Bmgcs des marchands etrangers (XVe et X VIe sicck), in : J!Em,
88, 1951, p. 26-74 and 46.
7 On the election of consuls and
sec MARECiiAL, I.e (/epart, p. 69-71.
• I'HILLII'S, Local !megration, p. 35-36
Spanish Merchants in the Low Countries
StabiHhls Loci or Peregrinatio ?
RAYMOND
FAGEL
L Spanish Merchants in the Netherlands
In order to gain acceptance in western Europe, Saint Benedict of Nursia
softened the rules of asceticism for his monks, but he kepi to binding them lo
one place : stabilitas loci. Yet at the same time, on a far-away island in the
Atlantic, Christianity experienced a very different view on monastic life : that it
was better to let yourself drift in a boat without oars and see which coast you
would reach. Such was the example of Saint Brendan, and it was called
peregrinatio. Despite the obvious differences between monks and merchants,
this dualism can be used to highlight certain features of international trade and
commerce in Europe during the early modern period. Did foreign merchants
form a static and stable part of the urban community, or did they travel
ceaselessly without settling on alien territory ? Stabilitas loci or peregrinatio ?
The case discussed here, deals with the Spanish merchants who acted as
intermediaries between the Low Countries and the Spanish kingdoms of Charles
V during the first half of the sixteenth century. In contrast to the scattered and
mobile Netherlandish presence in Spain 1, the Spanish merchants in the Low
Countries focused their trade only on a few major commercial centres. The
existence of both proper commercial organizations in Bruges in Flanders,
Antwerp in Brabant and Middelburg in Zeeland, and a number of examples of
well-integrated families in these cities, have led historians to consider their
presence as stable or at the least fairly integrated within society 2 • Some English
and French
show an even more convincing integration of Spanish
...
' K FA GEL, De f fispano- Vlaamse wereld De conlaclen tussen .'>panjaarden en Nederlmuiers
I 496- i 555, Bmssels, Nijmegen, 1996, p. 279. The major part of this paper is based on this Ph.D.,
defended at the Kalhoiieke Universileit Nijmegen on 25th September 1996.
2 For example: W.O. PHILLIPS, l.ocallntcgralion and Long-Distance Ties: The Castilian
Community in Sixteenth-Century Bruges, in: SCJ, 17, !986, p. 33-49.
88
RAYMOND
l\.ferclwnts in the Low Countries
FACIEI.
merchants within the host
be
!he lack of
institutionalized
ln the sixteenth
Countries
four C!l!es were of great
for
accommodated most of the
commercial
dated from earlier centuries : the nation of
the nation of
!he nation
and the
and the
!he north
the nation of
from l SJO onwards also the nation of Navarre 4 •
during t.he sixteenth
. Thus it retained
commerce well into the 16th
became !he new commercial centre
!he Low Countries.
with a famous fair
of a trimester system with the nearby
it finally managed to attract international trade !he
whole year round. This led to a strong Spanish presence, and in ! 527 the
nation was transferred to the city. At the same time, Bergen-op-Zoom
have lost much of its commercial
and with it, also many of
its
visitors.
The alreadv mentioned town of Middelbum constituted the fourth
it served as a harbour
inwardly
and !3wges. The
a
merchants who founded an Andalusian
presence in both Bruges and Antwerp will be amply
as !hese two cities contained without doubt
communities. How many merchants were there ? And is
!o say about the nature of !heir slav in the Low Countries ? A
or
-~·
·'
MOLLAT, Le r61e in!ema!ional des marchamls espagnols dans lcs purls de !'Europe
occidenlal a l'epoque des Rois Catholiqucs,
: Anuano de f lis Ioria Econ6micn y Social, 3, ! 970,
p. 41-55; G.K. BRUNELlE, Immigration, assimila!!on and success: three families of Spanish origin
in sixteenth century Rouen, in :SCI, 20, 1989, p. 203-219; C. JONES MATHERS, Family
partnerships and in!cma!iorml trade in early modem Europe · merchants from Burgos in England
and France, !470-!570, in· Business !listuryRevielv, 62, 1988, p. 367-397.
' See the articles of the Bruges ciiy archivist J. Marechal and the documentary collections of his
predecessor L Giliiodts-van Severen. The current archivist A. Vandewalle has published a few
summarizing articles on lhc Spanish influence in Bmgcs. For full bibliographic rdcrcnccs sec
FA GEL, I !ispano- Vlaamse we reid, passim
5 R. FAGEL, De Spaansc kooplieden in Middelburg v66r de opstand: een vombeeld van
succesvolle integratie mel behoud Vl!n
identiteit, in· M. 'T IIART, 1. L!JCASSEN, ll. SCHMAL
(eds.), Nieuwe Nederlanders. Festiging wm migra!llen door de eeuwen heen, Amsterdam, 1996, p.
2!-33
89
third section will discuss the integration of the Spanimds in the earlier
mentioned four Low Countries cities and towns, using three distinct indicators :
citizenship, intermarriage and the access to city office. Finally, I wish to
comment further on the choice between nereFrinatio and slabilitas loci.
2. Hruges: the misrepresentation of representative institutions
Although Bruges housed four Spanish merchant institutions,
reflects almost
on ihe presence of Castilians in the city. The main
reason for this focus is the accidental preservation of documentation about their
owing to the transfer of these papers to the
by the last Castilian
consuls in 1705. This most important archive strangely enough still has to be
studied on the basis of an outdated inventory.
When Joseph Marechal in Ills article of 1951 6 tried to quantify the
number of the Spanish merchants in Bruges in his desire to give 'quelques
donnees sur !'importance nwm!rique', he used the records of the meetings of the
Castilian nation. All names of the representatives (diputados) and others present
and taking part at the reunion had to be written down in these books and
Marechal gives us a few examples of their numbers. He counted 47 in 1525, 4!
in 1552 and around 60 in 1562. Every diputado was chosen as a representative
of a whole
or house. Ever since J 951 these numbers have dominated
Jn fact, !he number of representatives varied
historical literature on this
only slightly between 1502 and 1555. In general there were about 30 diputados.
The highest number ( 43) was reached twice, in 15!9 and 1551 7 .
In a very interesting study of the life of the Castilians in Bruges,
William Phillips used the same figures in a provocative attempt to estimate the
total number of Castilians in the citl. He combined the previous information
with another register in the archives of the Spanish nation. This institution had
its own Spanish notary who could provide the Spaniards \vith legal documents
in their own language and a special register was kept among his papers with
more than twenty last wills and testaments of Spanish merchants. Out of these
documents William Phillips unravelled that the average family consisted of five
individuals and the average Spanish staff of three. This means that for
merchant mentioned a multiplier of eight can be used in order lo get the total
Castilian presence in the city. This amounts lo a total of about 500 Castilians
6
J.
MARECHAL,
le depart de Bmgcs des marchands etrangers (XVe et X VIe sicck), in : J!Em,
88, 1951, p. 26-74 and 46.
7 On the election of consuls and
sec MARECiiAL, I.e (/epart, p. 69-71.
• I'HILLII'S, Local !megration, p. 35-36