Los hombres de negocios en la ciudad de Soria durante el siglo XVI.

Abstract

To improve our knowledge of the social and economic structure of Castilian towns in the sixteenth century, this article tries to characterize the social group dedicated to trade and business in Soria, a middle-sized Castilian town situated in a region where a lot of wool was produced for export. Special attention is paid to the identification of Sorian merchants active in the export of wool to Italy, France and Flanders. Then it analyzes other ways of profiting from the wool trade that were open to these merchants. Many of them were also owners of sheep flocks, and invested in many other economic activities, among them cloth-making. Finally, in order to situate these merchants in the urban hierarchy, some information is given about their economic wealth, and it is proved that they were much less rich than the members of the noble oligarchy.