‘This is their profession’ Greek merchants in Transylvania and their Networks at the End of the 17th century

Abstract

This article explores the commercial network of a Greek merchant from Transylvania at the end of the seventeenth century. Based on various archival material, it unfolds the extent of business interests and contacts of a trading network, spanning a wide territory in the Balkans and Central Europe as well, extending our prior knowledge of how the early Greek diaspora communities operated. Established in the Transylvanian juridical system with the specific role of providers of Ottoman products, Greek merchants swiftly extended their commercial activities as intermediaries of trade with Central European markets as well. The article also touches upon the difficulties of identifying individual merchants in different sources and languages.