Business companies in Plasencia during the Early Modern Times

Abstract

One of the most unknown aspects of economy of Extremadura in the Early Modern Times are the business of craftsmen and merchants and their financing sources. One of these was the so called “compañías a pérdida y ganancia”, in which a  capitalist partner was contributing money to his worker companion in order that he could continue with his trade or business, in exchange for receiving at the end of an established term the half of the benefits or the losses. Our work studies the city of Plasencia, one of the most dynamic urban centers of modern Extremadura, from mid-16^th century up to the first third of the 17^th century, analysing characteristics of the partners, quantities of money, financed business and other questions.