Ansgar Engels (Leipzig)
The Limits of Monopoly. An Analysis of the Cocoa Trade between Venezuela and Spain under the Caracas Company, 1685-1784
13.05.2024
Vortrag im Rahmen des Oberseminars Frühe Neuzeit
In my project, I examine the question of how merchants and colonial officials appropriated cocoa to negotiate authority in the Spanish Empire. Therefore, I look into the building of the cocoa trade between Venezuela and Spain. While chocolate consumption in Spain increased during the 18th century, imperial bureaucrats began to raise the question of how to secure the supply of cocoa. Thus, I want to take the itineraries of the cocoa as a lens to analyze the power conflicts between different stakeholders. For this reason, I investigate the practices and the regulation of trade to understand how actors negotiated imperial authority and relations of power. I claim that we observe ambivalences, fractures, and paradoxes of power.
Zeit: 16 - 18 c.t.
Ort: Amalienstraße 52 - Raum: K202