Chapter Four. Networks In Action

Manoel Rodrigues Vega, Manoel Carvalho, and Bento Osorio were merchants who were global (in terms of geographic participation), integrative, and innovative. To paraphrase historian David Hancock, their ventures were not unified organizations, but, rather, loosely bound sets of plans, projects, and ventures that combined their linked networks of partners, relations, dependents, agents, and contacts, many of whom were Dutch. This chapter explores how the loosely knit networks functioned in practice, by looking at the innovative ways Manoel Rodrigues Carvalho, Manoel Carvalho, and Bento Osorio conducted commercial interactions with their primary Dutch associates. It discusses the definition of "network" and then examines Amsterdam as the locus for their interactions. It then delves into the connections and links between individuals, and the opportunities and innovations these connections created. Finally the chapter explores more of these inter-cultural network relationships with a larger group of merchants.Keywords: Amsterdam; Bento Osorio; commercial interactions; inter-cultural network relationships; Manoel Carvalho; Manoel Rodrigues Vega; merchants; primary Dutch associates