Crossroads Research

A Portuguese merchant network across the Pacific (16th century), by Cuauhtémoc Villamar

December 6, 2024, 14:00 Central European Time. Online via MS Teams.

A little-known network of Portuguese merchants also participated in the Manila Galleon trade, between the Philippines and New Spain at the end of the seventeenth century. Archive information provides evidence of the multiple connections of these Portuguese merchants rooted mostly in Asia and discreetly participating in the new route of trade across the Pacific Ocean. Their identity as New Christians made them suspect to the Inquisition in Manila, and a court case provided an interesting trace of their global connections.

Cuauhtémoc VILLAMAR is a Mexican historian (PhD National University of Singapore), economist, and retired diplomat. His themes of research are the Manila Galleon, cross-cultural exchanges across the Pacific, the Baroque culture, and mutual influences in the Philippines and New Spain. He lives in Thailand, and since 2019 has been publishing a blog “La Nao Va” (the ship sails) about these topics. He published a book “Portuguese Merchants in the Manila Galleon, 1565-1600.” Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, 2021. 

https://www.routledge.com/Portuguese-Merchants-in-the-Manila-Galleon-System-1565-1600/Villamar/p/book/9780367615567?srsltid=AfmBOopLSHOrKbAGEFHOEYYI1Wzhv9N4jHjqkck-2C0U8lCnf0QfGg9x

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