Publication Date
2012
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The recorded history of the Welser Family begins in 1246 in Augsburg, High Germany. There, from the 13th century on, the Welsers were part of the town nobility. In the Middle Ages, Welser commercial activities gained international renown. In the 15th century the family started branching out. Between 1496 and 1498, the Welser Commercial House and the Vöhlin of Memmingen established a company that until its closure in 1517 played a fundamental part in the rise of the Welser House. With the merger, the company added capital in the amount of 250,000 florins, becoming the largest merchant-banker establishment in the entire German territory. It dominated European high finance and silver mining in Tyrol and Saxony, as well as commerce in spices, metals, textiles, cotton, wool and fustian.
Of the large High German commercial establishments, the Welser (-Vöhlin) company was the first to respond to the significant changes in the spice trade that began after the cape route was established by the Portuguese. In 1502, their delegation, led by Simon Seitz, traveled to the Portuguese Court to negotiate directly with King Dom Manuel I. Through the mediation efforts of the famous printer Valentim Fernandes, in 1503 the Welsers were granted very favorable privileges, which enabled them to become established in Portugal and to participate directly in the overseas trade. A few months later, they established the first trading post in Portuguese territory that was owned by a German commercial house. In September 1503, the Welser representative, Lucas Rem, purchased a house for them in Lisbon, remaining in Portugal until 1508, in the position of factor. According to his autobiographical notes, the “Diary of Lucas Rem,” it is known that, in 1505 and 1506 the company participated in the process of equipping the India fleets, commanded by Dom Francisco de Almeida and Tristão da Cunha, respectively. In 1505, the Welsers were part of a consortium, comprised of several Augsburg and Nuremberg commercial establishments and some Genoese and Florentine merchants. The group invested 65,400 cruzados in three of the twenty ships in the fleet. The Welsers made the largest investment, contributing 20,000 cruzados; their representative, Balthasar Springer, traveled to India aboard the Lionarda. When the fleet returned to Lisbon in 1506, business with the Portuguese Crown became quite complicated, because King Dom Manuel had monopolized the pepper trade and refused to deliver to the German merchants the goods to which they were entitled. Lengthy processes were followed until an agreement was reached. According to its terms, the Welsers received only part of their pepper and, in exchange, were compensated in sugar. Despite these obstacles, they benefitted handsomely from that enterprise. According to Rem’s notes, their profit was around 150%.
The financial results were less favorable the second time the Germans participated in the process of equipping a Portuguese fleet for India. The Welsers invested, again, this time jointly with the Imhoff Family of Nuremberg and Rui Mendes, who was Portuguese. Only 3,500 cruzados were invested in three of fifteen ships, which departed in 1506, commanded by Tristão da Cunha. As two of the three ships were lost on the way to India, this expedition ended in failure for the German investors. In the following decades, the German merchant-bankers gave up their financial participation in the Portuguese overseas adventures, which cannot be explained by the lack of success of the 1506 enterprise alone; King Dom Manuel I’s monopolistic policy was probably the main reason.
According to Lucas Rem, in the first decade of the 16th century, the Welser company conducted “considerable and voluminous trade” in Portugal, selling copper, lead, rouge, mercury, Flemish cloth, and cereals, to purchase mainly spices, and bought olive oil, wine, figs ivory and cotton as well. Sugar from Madeira Island also gained importance as a commodity imported by the Welsers, who owned a trading post in Funchal for a few years, beginning around 1507. Sugar-related business was at the center of Lucas Rem’s attention during his second period of stay in Portuguese territory, between August 1509 and March 1510. When the Welsers’ factor left Portugal permanently, his brother, Hans Rem, succeeded him in this function for a few months, supported by Gabriel Steudlin, who became factor in 1511. The names of these and other German commercial agents are not always discernible in the 16th century Portuguese records, due to the different ways in which they were paid. Yet, one can surmise that Hans Rem and Gabriel Steudlin are present behind the merchants “João de Augusta” and “Gabriell,” whose names appear in the original sources. The latter of the two is proven to be the factor of the Welsers in Lisbon, at least until 1516. In 1517, a “Gabriell allemão” supplied large quantities of silver to the Royal Mint. The identity of Gabriel Steudlin’s replacement is not known with certainty; however, it was proven that a factor of the Welsers’ still resided in the Portuguese capital as of 1521.
The importance attributed to the German merchant-bankers by the Portuguese Crown in the first two decades of the 1500s is demonstrated by the voyages of Tomé Lopes and Rui Fernandes Almada in 1515 and 1519, respectively, to Augsburg and Nuremberg. There, these two senior officials of the Antwerp Trading Post met with those in charge of the Welser Commercial Establishment and of other large, local German commercial houses, to establish contractual agreements regarding copper and pepper as principal trading goods.
The “Diary of Lucas Rem” mentions that the Welsers obtained considerable income from commerce in Portugal, especially between 1505 and 1507, as well as in 1516/17. During these years, the company’s annual profit margin exceeded 13%. In the third decade of the 16th century, when several commercial establishments in High Germany abandoned the spice trade, the Welsers continued to purchase pepper from the Portuguese crown. It should be noted, however, that during this period the attention of the company was directed mostly towards Spanish colonial commerce, a consequence of the election of Charles V as Emperor of the Holy Roman German Empire in 1519 with substantial financing from the Welsers and Jacob Fugger. Though it failed, the ambitious Welser project focused on the colonization of Venezuela exemplifies this new economic orientation.
Almost simultaneously with the Welsers of Augsburg’s decreased interest in Portuguese business, a Nuremberg branch of the family became established in Lisbon. The Welsers of Nuremberg intervened in the commerce of precious stones and maintained permanent representatives in the city of the Tagus during the 1530s and 1540s (i.e. Francesco Lobo, Hans Schwerzer, Hans Ortt, Jan van Hilst).
In the second half of the 16th century, the Welsers of Augsburg, again, intensified their commercial activities in Portugal: first, in the 1570s, through their countryman Konrad Rott, who traded in pepper, and later, at the end of the 1580s and early 1590s, with the Fuggers. During this period, the two renowned German commercial establishments belonged to the contractors who acquired spices from the Portuguese Crown annually. In 1587, Ferdinand Cron, commercial agent of the Fuggers as well as of the Marx and Matthäus Welser Company, traveled to Cochin, where he established a trading post. In Lisbon, the Welsers were represented by Hans Christoph Manlich, who, after his death in 1594, was succeeded by his brother Philipp Manlich. With the latter, the activities of the Welser-owned Portuguese trading post must have ended, but the date is unknown. In 1614, the Augsburg Company went bankrupt, thus sharing a fate similar to the Nuremberg branch of the family four years prior.
Bibliography:
ALMEIDA, A. A. Marques de, Capitais e Capitalistas no Comércio da Especiaria. O Eixo Lisboa-Antuérpia (1501-1549). Aproximação a um Estudo de Geofinança, Lisboa, Edições Cosmos, 1993; EHRHARDT, Marion, A Alemanha e os Descobrimentos Portugueses, Lisboa, Texto, 1989; GROSSHAUPT, Walter, “Commercial Relations between Portugal and the Merchants of Augsburg and Nuremberg”, in: Jean Aubin (ed.), La découverte, le Portugal, et l’Europe: actes du colloque, Paris, CCP, 1990, pp. 359-397; HÄBERLEIN, Mark/ BURKHARDT Johannes (eds.), Die Welser. Neue Forschungen zur Geschichte und Kultur des oberdeutschen Handelshauses, Berlin, Akademie Verlag, 2002; POHLE, Jürgen, Deutschland und die überseeische Expansion Portugals im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert, Münster, Lit, 2000; WESTERMANN, Angelika/ WELSER, Stefanie von (eds.), Neunhofer Dialog I: Einblicke in die Geschichte des Handelshauses Welser, St. Katharinen, Scripta Mercaturae Verlag, 2009.
Translated by: Maria João Pimentel
Of the large High German commercial establishments, the Welser (-Vöhlin) company was the first to respond to the significant changes in the spice trade that began after the cape route was established by the Portuguese. In 1502, their delegation, led by Simon Seitz, traveled to the Portuguese Court to negotiate directly with King Dom Manuel I. Through the mediation efforts of the famous printer Valentim Fernandes, in 1503 the Welsers were granted very favorable privileges, which enabled them to become established in Portugal and to participate directly in the overseas trade. A few months later, they established the first trading post in Portuguese territory that was owned by a German commercial house. In September 1503, the Welser representative, Lucas Rem, purchased a house for them in Lisbon, remaining in Portugal until 1508, in the position of factor. According to his autobiographical notes, the “Diary of Lucas Rem,” it is known that, in 1505 and 1506 the company participated in the process of equipping the India fleets, commanded by Dom Francisco de Almeida and Tristão da Cunha, respectively. In 1505, the Welsers were part of a consortium, comprised of several Augsburg and Nuremberg commercial establishments and some Genoese and Florentine merchants. The group invested 65,400 cruzados in three of the twenty ships in the fleet. The Welsers made the largest investment, contributing 20,000 cruzados; their representative, Balthasar Springer, traveled to India aboard the Lionarda. When the fleet returned to Lisbon in 1506, business with the Portuguese Crown became quite complicated, because King Dom Manuel had monopolized the pepper trade and refused to deliver to the German merchants the goods to which they were entitled. Lengthy processes were followed until an agreement was reached. According to its terms, the Welsers received only part of their pepper and, in exchange, were compensated in sugar. Despite these obstacles, they benefitted handsomely from that enterprise. According to Rem’s notes, their profit was around 150%.
The financial results were less favorable the second time the Germans participated in the process of equipping a Portuguese fleet for India. The Welsers invested, again, this time jointly with the Imhoff Family of Nuremberg and Rui Mendes, who was Portuguese. Only 3,500 cruzados were invested in three of fifteen ships, which departed in 1506, commanded by Tristão da Cunha. As two of the three ships were lost on the way to India, this expedition ended in failure for the German investors. In the following decades, the German merchant-bankers gave up their financial participation in the Portuguese overseas adventures, which cannot be explained by the lack of success of the 1506 enterprise alone; King Dom Manuel I’s monopolistic policy was probably the main reason.
According to Lucas Rem, in the first decade of the 16th century, the Welser company conducted “considerable and voluminous trade” in Portugal, selling copper, lead, rouge, mercury, Flemish cloth, and cereals, to purchase mainly spices, and bought olive oil, wine, figs ivory and cotton as well. Sugar from Madeira Island also gained importance as a commodity imported by the Welsers, who owned a trading post in Funchal for a few years, beginning around 1507. Sugar-related business was at the center of Lucas Rem’s attention during his second period of stay in Portuguese territory, between August 1509 and March 1510. When the Welsers’ factor left Portugal permanently, his brother, Hans Rem, succeeded him in this function for a few months, supported by Gabriel Steudlin, who became factor in 1511. The names of these and other German commercial agents are not always discernible in the 16th century Portuguese records, due to the different ways in which they were paid. Yet, one can surmise that Hans Rem and Gabriel Steudlin are present behind the merchants “João de Augusta” and “Gabriell,” whose names appear in the original sources. The latter of the two is proven to be the factor of the Welsers in Lisbon, at least until 1516. In 1517, a “Gabriell allemão” supplied large quantities of silver to the Royal Mint. The identity of Gabriel Steudlin’s replacement is not known with certainty; however, it was proven that a factor of the Welsers’ still resided in the Portuguese capital as of 1521.
The importance attributed to the German merchant-bankers by the Portuguese Crown in the first two decades of the 1500s is demonstrated by the voyages of Tomé Lopes and Rui Fernandes Almada in 1515 and 1519, respectively, to Augsburg and Nuremberg. There, these two senior officials of the Antwerp Trading Post met with those in charge of the Welser Commercial Establishment and of other large, local German commercial houses, to establish contractual agreements regarding copper and pepper as principal trading goods.
The “Diary of Lucas Rem” mentions that the Welsers obtained considerable income from commerce in Portugal, especially between 1505 and 1507, as well as in 1516/17. During these years, the company’s annual profit margin exceeded 13%. In the third decade of the 16th century, when several commercial establishments in High Germany abandoned the spice trade, the Welsers continued to purchase pepper from the Portuguese crown. It should be noted, however, that during this period the attention of the company was directed mostly towards Spanish colonial commerce, a consequence of the election of Charles V as Emperor of the Holy Roman German Empire in 1519 with substantial financing from the Welsers and Jacob Fugger. Though it failed, the ambitious Welser project focused on the colonization of Venezuela exemplifies this new economic orientation.
Almost simultaneously with the Welsers of Augsburg’s decreased interest in Portuguese business, a Nuremberg branch of the family became established in Lisbon. The Welsers of Nuremberg intervened in the commerce of precious stones and maintained permanent representatives in the city of the Tagus during the 1530s and 1540s (i.e. Francesco Lobo, Hans Schwerzer, Hans Ortt, Jan van Hilst).
In the second half of the 16th century, the Welsers of Augsburg, again, intensified their commercial activities in Portugal: first, in the 1570s, through their countryman Konrad Rott, who traded in pepper, and later, at the end of the 1580s and early 1590s, with the Fuggers. During this period, the two renowned German commercial establishments belonged to the contractors who acquired spices from the Portuguese Crown annually. In 1587, Ferdinand Cron, commercial agent of the Fuggers as well as of the Marx and Matthäus Welser Company, traveled to Cochin, where he established a trading post. In Lisbon, the Welsers were represented by Hans Christoph Manlich, who, after his death in 1594, was succeeded by his brother Philipp Manlich. With the latter, the activities of the Welser-owned Portuguese trading post must have ended, but the date is unknown. In 1614, the Augsburg Company went bankrupt, thus sharing a fate similar to the Nuremberg branch of the family four years prior.
Bibliography:
ALMEIDA, A. A. Marques de, Capitais e Capitalistas no Comércio da Especiaria. O Eixo Lisboa-Antuérpia (1501-1549). Aproximação a um Estudo de Geofinança, Lisboa, Edições Cosmos, 1993; EHRHARDT, Marion, A Alemanha e os Descobrimentos Portugueses, Lisboa, Texto, 1989; GROSSHAUPT, Walter, “Commercial Relations between Portugal and the Merchants of Augsburg and Nuremberg”, in: Jean Aubin (ed.), La découverte, le Portugal, et l’Europe: actes du colloque, Paris, CCP, 1990, pp. 359-397; HÄBERLEIN, Mark/ BURKHARDT Johannes (eds.), Die Welser. Neue Forschungen zur Geschichte und Kultur des oberdeutschen Handelshauses, Berlin, Akademie Verlag, 2002; POHLE, Jürgen, Deutschland und die überseeische Expansion Portugals im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert, Münster, Lit, 2000; WESTERMANN, Angelika/ WELSER, Stefanie von (eds.), Neunhofer Dialog I: Einblicke in die Geschichte des Handelshauses Welser, St. Katharinen, Scripta Mercaturae Verlag, 2009.
Translated by: Maria João Pimentel