Lo sviluppo del commercio coloniale spagnolo. Il ruolo della Casa de la Contratación e del Consulado di Siviglia, 1503-1650

The Casa de la Contratación of Seville, founded in 1503 with the aim to promote and stimulate the colonial Spanish trade, was joined in 1543 by the Consulado of Seville, that over time strengthened its role as ‘key’ institution of the ultramarine private trade, becoming also the main partner in the negotiation of the forced loans imposed by Crown for solving the recurrent financial crises triggered by the military or foreign policy. The aim of this paper is focus on the limitations, conceptual and interpretative, of the most recent institutionalist theory, promoted by some US economists, that seems more inspired by stereotypes as the “Black Legend” rather than based on a solid historical and economic analyses, empirical and realistic, or on a correct interpretation of the role played by the Spanish institutions that regulated the Atlantic trade during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries.