'Up and down' : Genoese financiers and their relational capital in the early reign of Philip II

Abstract

This doctoral thesis analyses the process of state construction in the early modern period from a joint perspective that amalgamates the agencies of state officials, lending communities, and local elites in the Hispanic Monarchy during the four initial years of Philip II’s reign. The project examines the convergence of private agendas inside and outside the royal administration, which were channelled by the Genoese lending community to overcome the consolidation of royal short-term debt in 1557 and its consequences. The application of an institutional approach, based on the works of Avner Greif, to the analysis of the social organisations that prevented a failure of coordination in the Hispanic Monarchy offers a fresh perspective on a topic normally assessed under predatory models. The specific study of two Genoese lenders who contributed to the establishment of a more viable and efficient financial system in the monarchy, Costantin Gentil and Nicolao de Grimaldo, provides details about how interregional transactions and local economies contributed to the consolidation of the early modern state.