Date: Wednesday 30 June 2021
Times: 19:00 to 20:00 BST, and available to view for one week thereafter
Location: Zoom Webinar (Online)
Speaker: Dr Claudio Marsilio, Researcher, University of Lisbon
Talk Description: During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Genoese bankers were the undeniable leaders of the credit market of the Spanish Empire. The bullion they received as pay back from the Spanish king could be sold not only to private economic agents but also to public mints all over Europe. In this talk, Claudio Marsilio will reveal that in those years, in Madrid, there were two different Genoese networks at work: the ‘old party’, with strong Spanish political connections; and the ‘new party’, supported by new Portuguese bankers. Both of them tried to take advantage from the recently signed peace treaty with England (1630), which encouraged an unexpected new commercial opportunity for all the Genoese bankers living in Madrid.
About the Speaker: Dr Claudio Marsilio is a specialist in the economic and financial history of Early Modern Europe. He works at the University of Lisbon, leading a research project on the international payments system of the 16th to 18th centuries, with a special focus on exchange rates and the bullion market. He has taught at Bocconi University, Milan, and at the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville.
Rubens Talk Series, 9 June to 21 July: To accompany the Wallace Collection’s new exhibition, Rubens: Reuniting the Great Landscapes, this series of seven evening talks will explore different aspects of Rubens’s extraordinary life and achievements, the fascinating social, cultural and economic circumstances of his age, and his enduring artistic legacy.
For more information and to register, see wallacecollection.org