This article examines the factors that enabled French merchants to enter the Spanish Indies markets during the 1620s, particularly in the period betwen the Peace of Monzón (1627) and the outbreak of the Franco-Spanish War (1635). It highlights how the French nation of Seville received unprecedented support from the Crown to develop their marginal enterprises in the Carrera de Indias. Royal patronage played a significant role in integrating—or exluding—wealthy merchant communities from the Spanish Atlantic trading system, therby expanding their networks for direct exchanges with the Americas. The study reconstructs French commercial connections within the Spanish Atlantic trade, contextualized alongside Flemish and Italian networks already operating in New Spain. These three nations dominated much of the cargo legally shipped to and from the viceroyalty in the 1620s and 1630s. The analysis details French business interactions with “native” and “foreign” merchants, their resilience following the economic reprisal of 1635, and observations on the reconfiguration of foreign trading networks alongthe New Spain axis during the Spanish Empire’s economic and political crises of the 1640s.

This article examines the fear of death in fourteenth-century Italy by analysing miracle testimonies through the methodological frameworks of terror management theory (TMT) and lived religion. It argues that devotion to saints served as a key coping mechanism for existential anxiety. Examples from the canonisation processes of Clare of Montefalco and Nicholas of Tolentino reveal how individuals turned to saints for protection, seeking to prolong life rather than accept death. This study provides both empirical and methodological insights into the medieval fear of death, illustrating its parallels with contemporary experiences of death anxiety.

This article analyzes the influence of hurricane strikes on the returns of sovereign bonds issued by Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti between 1905 and 1930. The study uses a fixed effects regression model to isolate the impact of hurricane-induced destruction on bond returns, providing a deeper understanding of market reactions following natural disasters. The article shows that hurricanes during this period, which have the potential to cause significant damage, increase bond returns by an average of 0.9 percent in the same month. This suggests that investors demand a risk premium on sovereign bonds from hurricane-prone regions due to the direct impact and broader economic consequences of these disasters.

In 1592, a group of English Catholics living in Continental exile commemorated the feast of Thomas Becket with local authorities in the Spanish city of Seville. Though surviving information about the event is sparse, this article reconstructs the complex design behind one of the most extraordinary elements in the celebration: a “devise” or visual poem featuring a representation of Elizabeth I confronted with a political and moral dilemma. The poem’s messages, intended to reach a mixed Anglo-Spanish audience, were displayed through multiple symbolic and rhetorical strategies to resignify the past and make it relatable to them—and to Elizabeth.

An accident at a young age left Hendrick Goltzius (1558–1617), an engraver, draftsman, and painter, with scar tissue that affected the mobility of his hand. During Goltzius’s lifetime, the artist and historian Karel van Mander published a biography that positioned Goltzius as a pinnacle of artistic excellence comparable to Michelangelo. A reevaluation of Goltzius’s career through the lens of critical disability theory reveals that his engagement with the theme of the hand in his artworks, as well as its significance in his biography, framed his disability as a source of unique embodied knowledge and pride.

The established economic historiography asserts that Brazil’s per-capita GDP stagnated in the 19th century and that it grew extremely slowly in the period of the monarchy (1822–1889). We argue that these conclusions are based on inadequate methods, insufficient statistical evidence, and disregard for available historical evidence. Building on the methodology followed by one of us in a previous article, with the use of new databases, and a reasoned exploration of alternatives, our best estimate is that over the 1820–1900 period, Brazil’s per-capita income grew at a trend rate of 0.9% per year, a performance like Western Europe and other Latin America countries. Only a sharp economic contraction at the end of the period dulled Brazil’s performance in the 19th century.

In 1584, Gian Andrea Doria took command of the Spanish Monarchy’s Mediterranean fleet, leading aboard the Real, a galley unmatched in size and symbolic significance. This royal galley, built at the Royal Shipyard of Barcelona, embodied Spain’s maritime hegemony and served as the Christian flagship in the Western Mediterranean. This article examines the challenges and technical complexities involved in its construction, shedding light on early modern shipbuilding practices. Drawing on rich historical sources, it offers fresh perspectives on these iconic Mediterranean vessels, emphasizing their symbolic and strategic roles beyond warfare during their golden age.

In China’s pastoral regions, both formal and informal rules are embedded in society and are continually negotiated and reassembled according to social, cultural and political contexts. In particular, the de facto rules governing rangeland use and access are much more intricate and dynamic than de jure property rights as set forth by statutory law. Through the lens of legal pluralism, this article examines the multiplicity of customary practices in Saga, a pastoral village in Amdo Tibet, where pastoralists develop rangeland practices in multiple contexts to manoeuvre in their struggle for inclusion in wealth building and the right to access rangeland and natural resources. Through three cases of customary practices – grazing bans, pasture patrols and communal summer grazing – this research demonstrates how pastoralists interpret and tailor rangeland governance to meet their expectations. A plural context-based hybrid rangeland governance is visible in Saga, where in response to changing de jure rules, de facto rules are deeply rooted in social, cultural and emotional dimensions. Rather than becoming fixed, de facto rules and practices are always evolving in response to the local context where multiple types of de jure rules apply.