On 19 March 2025, Posthumus alumna Ramona Negr\u00f3n will defend the PhD thesis ‘Dutch Entrepreneurship in the Spanish Americas, 1580-1700’ at Leiden University. Supervisors are Professor C\u00e1tia Antunes (Leiden University) and Dr Susana M\u00fcnch Miranda (Universidade Nova de Lisboa).<\/p>\n
Ramona\u2019s dissertation shows that Dutch entrepreneurs, notably Amsterdam\u2019s influential Coymans family, played a crucial role in the Spanish Americas from 1580 to 1700. In an era of dramatic geopolitical shifts \u2014 like the Eighty Years\u2019 War (1568-1648) and the Fall of Antwerp (1585) \u2014 Dutch merchants turned Amsterdam into a center of world trade. They broke through barriers designed to keep them out of Spanish colonial markets by using clever tactics like innovative financing, strategic partnerships, and flexible shipping methods. Drawing on a rich collection of notarial records, personal documents, and court files from the Netherlands, Spain, the Caribbean, and Latin America, the study reveals how trust and reputation were built across vast distances and diverse legal systems. Ultimately, this research challenges traditional, empire-centered interpretations of trade by revealing that early modern trade thrived on dynamic, interconnected networks that transcended rigid imperial boundaries.<\/p>\n