This book follows the renovation of European economic history towards a more unified interpretation of sources of growth and stagnation. To better understand the diversity of patterns of growth, we need to look beyond the study of the industrialization of the core economies, and explore the centuries before it occurred. Portuguese agriculture was hardly ever at the European productivity and technological forefront and the distance from it varied substantially across the second Millennium. Yet if we look at the periods of the Christian Reconquista, the recovery from the Black Death, the response to the globalization of the Renaissance, to the eighteenth century economic enlightenment, or to nineteenth century industrialization, we may conclude that agriculture in this country of the European periphery was often adaptive and dynamic. The fact that economic backwardness was not overcome by the end of the period is no longer the most relevant aspect of that story. Contributors are: Luciano Amaral, Amélia Branco, Dulce Freire, António Henriques, Pedro Lains, Susana Münch Miranda, Margarida Sobral Neto, Jaime Reis, Ana Maria Rodrigues, José Vicente Serrão and Ester G. Silva.

This book analyses the key global processes transforming rural spaces in the early 21st century – financialization; standardization; consumption, and commodification. Through detailed case studies, the book examines why these processes are important, how they work in practice, and the challenges they raise as well as opportunities created.

A fascinating exploration of the evolution of the Portuguese economy over the course of eight centuries, from 1143 to 2010.

Although Portugal was one of the first European states with stable borders, the process of the making of a Portuguese fiscal state still remains to be studied in detail. This volume brings together studies on the development of the Portuguese fiscal state within a comparative perspective in relation to other kingdoms across Europe, such as Castile and Aragon, England, Tuscany, the Papal States, Holland and France, in order to bring Portugal into the broader and comparative international debate about the development of the fiscal state. As a very distinctive case, Portugal remains understudied and underrepresented in the broader literature on the development of fiscal states. There are relatively few studies on the building of a fiscal state in Portugal that are accessible to an international audience. This book will make a fundamental contribution to this field, which is still full of untapped potential. It will combine the latest theory and comparative context with a detailed reconstruction of Portuguese state finance, taking a longer chronological frame that follows its development from the medieval through to the early modern period. It will also make the latest research from Portuguese scholars available to a wider, international audience, and will be of particular interest to researchers and students of financial and economic history. ​

The Iberian World: 1450–1820 brings together, for the first time in English, the latest research in Iberian studies, providing in-depth analysis of fifteenth- to early nineteenth-century Portugal and Spain, their European possessions, and the African, Asian, and American peoples that were under their rule. Featuring innovative work from leading historians of the Iberian world, the book adopts a strong transnational and comparative approach, and offers the reader an interdisciplinary lens through which to view the interactions, entanglements, and conflicts between the many peoples that were part of it. The volume also analyses the relationships and mutual influences between the wide range of actors, polities, and centres of power within the Iberian monarchies, and draws on recent advances in the field to examine key aspects such as Iberian expansion, imperial ideologies, and the constitution of colonial societies. Divided into four parts and combining a chronological approach with a set of in-depth thematic studies, The Iberian World brings together previously disparate scholarly traditions surrounding the history of European empires and raises awareness of the global dimensions of Iberian history. It is essential reading for students and academics of early modern Spain and Portugal.

The way merchants trade, think about business and represent commerce in art forms define merchant culture. The world between 1500 and 1800 encompassed different merchant cultures that stood alone and in contact with others. Culture, power relations and institutions framed similarities and differences and outlined the global outcome of these exchanges.

This volume approaches the history of water in the Iberian Peninsula in a novel way, by linking it to the ongoing international debate on water crisis and solutions to overcome the lack of water in the Mediterranean. What water devices were found? What were the models for these devices? How were they distributed in the villas and monastic enclosures? What impact did hydraulic theoretical knowledge have on these water systems, and how could these systems impact on hydraulic technology? Guided by these questions, this book covers the history of water in the most significant cities, the role of water in landscape transformation, the irrigation systems and water devices in gardens and villas, and, lastly, the theoretical and educational background on water management and hydraulics in the Iberian Peninsula between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries. Historiography on water management in the territory that is today Spain has highlighted the region’s role as a mediator between the Islamic masters of water and the Christian world. The history of water in Portugal is less known, and it has been taken for granted that is similar to its neighbour. This book compares two countries that have the same historical roots and, therefore, many similar stories, but at the same time, offers insights into particular aspects of each country. It is recommended for scholars and researchers interested in any field of history of the early modern period and of the nineteenth century, as well as general readers interested in studies on the Iberian Peninsula, since it was the role model for many settlements in South America, Asia and Africa.

This book uses empirically-based analytical narratives to shed light on the development of national wine markets throughout the world.

This book offers insights into the behaviour of the Portuguese economy in relation to economic growth from the twentieth century to the present. How did the 1891-92 crisis and World Wars impact Portugal economically? How did the Portuguese economy behave during the 'Golden Age' of economic growth in postwar Europe? What have the effects of the European Monetary Union been? Amaral examines long-running trends in the development of the modern Portuguese economy in order to help us understand various growth phases of the modern period. This title is important reading for economic historians and economists researching economic growth, crises, stablisation and monetary unions.

Historiographically this book rests on the fact that European transitions to modern economic growth were obstructed and promoted by the Revolution in France and 15 years of geopolitical conflict sustained by Napoleon in order to establish French Hegemony over the states and economies of Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal and overseas commerce. The chapters reveal that their authors concerns to analyse both the nature and significance of connections between geopolitical and economic forces lend coherence to a collaborative endeavour utilising comparative methods to address a mega question. What might be plausibly concluded about the economic costs and the benefits of this protracted conjuncture of Revolutionary and Napoleonic Warfare? Contributors are: Patrick Karl O’Brien, Loïc Charles, Guillaume Daudin, Silvia Marzagalli, Marjolein ’t Hart, Johan Joor, Mark Dincecco, Giovanni Federico, Leandro Prados de la Escosura, Carlos Santiago-Caballero, Cristina Moreira, Jaime Reis, Rita Martins de Sousa, and Peter M.Solar.