This thesis analyses the appointments, activities, and loyalties of three Dutch consuls in the Spanish port city of Cádiz during the first half of the eighteenth century. It reveals that merchants...Show moreThis thesis analyses the appointments, activities, and loyalties of three Dutch consuls in the Spanish port city of Cádiz during the first half of the eighteenth century. It reveals that merchants played an influential role in the appointment of consuls, how consuls participated in commerce, and subsequently explains how this affected their loyalties as part of the Dutch merchant community of Cádiz. This research adds to the increasing body of historiography on new diplomatic history and consular history in particular, which proposes a new manner of researching diplomatic history and therein attributes significant importance to consuls.Show less
