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Natural Resource Economics

Summer Research

Economics

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Some Papal Bull: 16th Century Alum Trade And English Royal Autonomy, Kyra Zapf Jan 2020

Some Papal Bull: 16th Century Alum Trade And English Royal Autonomy, Kyra Zapf

Summer Research

The early 16th century saw the rise of a wealthy middle class fueled by a new and expanding global textile industry. With this expansion came opportunities for exploitation fueling the rise of a new economic nationalism at odds with the ideals of a unified Christian church. In this essay, I shall be looking at the popular alum trade in Italy, Spain, and England from the 14th to the 17th centuries and explore how the lucrative trade profoundly shaped early modern economies, social hierarchies, governance, and law.

Alum, a dye fixative was one of the first and most …