Rich, noble and powerfull: the image of genoese merchants of the Kingdom of Granada in the Modern Age

Abstract

Historiography on the image of Genoese merchants in Spain in the Modern Age, almost always using literary sources, has resulted in a pejorative view of the Ligurian. Greedy profiteers, unscrupulous lenders, one of the causes of the decline of the Spanish Monarchy. However, locally, between the elites and the people, this vision is not as negative or at least, not as biased. In the Kingdom of Granada, Genoese are powerful allies, customers, clients and patrons of the spanish elite, splendid match for marriageable daughters and patrons of arts and introducers of architectural styles. Their wealth and power is admired and envied, becoming the Genoese a real cultural and religious reference for oligarchies of Granada. This article is about the image of Genoese merchants through civil and religious chronicles, commercial letters, judicial and notarized documents in Granada. In these sources, the utmost negative view becomes more positive, the Genoese were perceived as wealthy, powerful and nobles, although they were really not.