Imperial Ambition in the Early Modern Mediterranean Genoese Merchants and the Spanish Crown

This book examines the alliance between the Spanish Crown and Genoese merchant bankers in southern Italy throughout the early modern era, when Spain and Genoa developed a symbiotic economic relationship, undergirded by a cultural and spiritual alliance. Analyzing early modern imperialism, migration, and trade, this book shows that the spiritual entente between the two nations was mainly informed by the religious division of the Mediterranean Sea. The Turkish threat in the Mediterranean reinforced the commitment of both the Spanish Crown and the Genoese merchants to Christianity. Spain's imperial strategy was reinforced by its willingness to acculturate to southern Italy through organized beneficence, representation at civic ceremonies, and spiritual guidance during religious holidays.

1. Empires of the Renaissance, 1453–1650: the Genoese response to shifting alliances in the Mediterranean; 2. Genoese emporium and Spanish imperium in the Kingdom of Naples; 3. Commercial ascension through silk: Genoese artisans, merchants, bakers; 4. Achieving favorite nation status: the economic journey of the Genoese; 5. The Genoese merchants: between the viceroys' buon governo and Habsburg expansion; 6. Holy Week: the Genoese in the ceremonial triptych; 7. The Genoese eye of the storm: spiritual competition in church, sea, and grave; 8. The Genoese participation in charitable institutions.

Céline Dauverd is Assistant Professor of History and a board member of the Mediterranean Studies Group at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research focuses on sociocultural relations between Spain and Italy during the early modern era (1450–1650). She has published articles in the Sixteenth Century Journal, the Journal of World History, Mediterranean Studies, and the Journal of Levantine Studies.