Simón Ruiz: A Great Businessman in Sixteenth-Century Europe

Abstract

The Renaissance was a period of great economic prosperity, partly driven by the development of trade and finances. Major companies such as the German Függer, Welser, Hoechstetter, and the Italian Centurione, Spinola, Doria, Pinello, Grimaldi, Peruzzi, Medici, Strozzi, Bonvisi, Michaeli, and Arnolfini grew rich and contributed to the birth of the “First Global Age”. Spanish companies, comparable to their European counterparts in terms of size and business activity, in how they were run, in their establishing networks worldwide and for their importance, played a key role in this event. This work looks at one of the leading figures therein, Simón Ruiz, and shows how forward-thinking his business management was. The vast number of archives of his to have survived, and which are amongst the finest in Europe, provide a detailed insight into his activities.