Families, Networks, and the Challenge of Social Organization
Families, Networks, and the Challenge of Social Organization
This chapter explores the Sephardic trading networks that developed from the mid-sixteenth century onward. As the refugees of 1492 set about reestablishing local political associations, they also began to form broader interregional links with one another. Those who were integrated into these networks were bound together by shared circumstances as much as by a common religious ideology or cultural background. Indeed, the commitment of early modern Jewish and Converso merchants to an international Sephardic community was grounded in a common heritage, but also dependent upon mutual economic benefit. Moreover, the shared trauma of exile and the many obstacles faced by the refugees helped bring Sephardic merchants together. However, it never fully obliterated the competition and tensions among leading families and factions as they encountered a host of new political and economic opportunities.
Keywords: Sephardic trading networks, interregional links, Jewish merchants, Converso merchants, international Sephardic community, Sephardic merchants
NYU Press Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
