This thesis examines three main aspects of the merchant class of York, Beverley, and Hull: their economic activities, political dominance and social and religious concerns. It argues that in each town, merchants played a significant role, and as their commercial fortunes were affected by endogenous factors, so was their position within each town. Chapter 1 gives a brief historical outline of each town's development, up to and including the period under study. Chapter 2 offers an overview of the fluctuating patterns of international trade, and of the changing fortunes of each town's investment in overseas trade. Within that context, chapter 4 focuses on individual merchant's business 'biographies', using them as a basis for a general discussion of the range and quality of the involvement of each town's merchant class in overseas trade. The second part of the chapter explores the evidence of capital accumulation by individuals, assessing the role of real estate, cash and credit in their enterprises. This analysis reveals the wide range in levels of commercial success to be found within the merchant class. Chapter 5 looks at the degree to which merchants dominated the government of each town, highlighting the notable differences between them. It concludes that the merchant oligarchs of each were tenacious in defending their position, until their commercial failure inexorably lead to their political demise. Chapter 6 offers insights into the ways in which merchants underpinned their commercial and political association through social networks. Inter-marriage, the poor survival rate of male heirs, household structure and family provision, all reflect a high degree of interdependence. The second section of the chapter concentrates on merchant benevolence and piety, concluding that their priorities were similar to those of other townsfolk and their religious beliefs as conservative.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-01-28T09:38:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 hyllonaderdearaujosalles.pdf: 5548356 bytes, checksum: a2f83197b608dcca12c758df72d8232a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-01-28T10:53:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 hyllonaderdearaujosalles.pdf: 5548356 bytes, checksum: a2f83197b608dcca12c758df72d8232a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-28T10:53:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 hyllonaderdearaujosalles.pdf: 5548356 bytes, checksum: a2f83197b608dcca12c758df72d8232a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-01-17 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / A descoberta e a crescente produção de ouro no Brasil a partir dos fins do século XVII provocou uma forte inflexão da economia não apenas na colônia mas em todo o império português. A Coroa se voltou para o Atlântico Sul, uma vez que o ouro arrastou para lá o eixo de gravidade econômica do império e os interesses da administração central. A virada do século XVII para o XVIII processou-se de forma critica, pois não foi possível para Portugal manter sua neutralidade na política externa, sendo arrastado para a Guerra de Sucessão Espanhola, alinhando-se assim com a Inglaterra em detrimento das pretensões Bourbon, o que fez com que os corsários franceses se atirassem sobre a América. Portanto, para o custeio do guarda-costas, a Coroa ordenou a taxação em dez por cento das mercadorias que dessem entrada no porto soteropolitano, isto é, a dízima da Alfândega. A presente pesquisa tem por objeto de estudo a dízima da Alfândega da Bahia: a primeira tentativa de estabelecê-la em 1711 e as desordens que se seguiram a esta tentativa; o seu efetivo estabelecimento em 1714 e os dois primeiros contratos da dízima da Alfândega arrematados para os triênios de 1723 a 1726 e o de 1727 a 1729. Do ponto de vista fiscal, no século XVIII, foi notável o crescimento exponencial da movimentação alfandegária e daquilo que podemos chamar do deslocamento do eixo de gravidade da praça de Salvador para o Rio de Janeiro, isto é, a preferência dos homens de negócio pela Alfândega carioca em detrimento da Alfândega de Salvador. Dessa forma, a presente pesquisa tem por objetivo estudar esse processo de deslocamento do eixo de gravidade econômica da praça de Salvador para a do Rio de Janeiro entre o ano de 1697 – data em que o ouro se avolumara nos portos metropolitanos – e 1731, tomado como ano em que este processo já se achava plenamente consolidado. / The discovery and increasing gold production in Brazil from the late seventeenth century caused a sharp turnaround of the economy not only in the colony but throughout the Portuguese empire. The Crown turned back to the South Atlantic since the gold led there the axis of economic gravity of the empire and the interests of the central government. The turn of the seventeenth century to the eighteenth occurred critically, as Portugal could not maintain neutrality in foreign policy, being dragged to the War of Spanish Succession, thus aligning itself with England to the detriment of Bourbon pretensions, which caused the invasion of French corsairs in America. Therefore, toward the cost of bodyguards, the Crown commanded taxation by ten percent of the goods that would enter the Salvador port, i.e., the tithe of Customs. The purpose of this research is to study the tithe of Customs of Bahia: the first attempt to establish it in 1711 and the disorders which followed this attempt; their establishment in 1714 and the first two contracts tithe of Customs auctioned for the triennium 1723-1726 and 1727-1729. From a fiscal point of view, in the eighteenth century, the exponential growth of customs handling and what we call the shift of economic gravity of the Salvador commercial square to the Rio de Janeiro was remarkable, i.e., the preference of business men by the Rio de Janeiro Customs the expense of the Salvador Customs. Thus, this research aims to study the process of displacement of the axis of economic gravity of the commercial square of Salvador to Rio de Janeiro from the year 1697 – date on which the amount of gold increased in metropolitan ports – and 1731, taken as the year in which this process was fully consolidated.