Francesco Grimaldi, un mercader-banquero genovés entre Granada, la Corte e Inglaterra (siglos XV-XVI)

Abstract

Studies on the Genoese community in the Kingdom of Granada have mainly focused on activities carried out in the territory, and only rarely have individual biographies been reconstructed, largely due to the almost exclusive use of notarial deeds. The case of Francesco Grimaldi is unique for several reasons. He is mentioned in very different sources, including notarial deeds from Granada and Málaga, the Seal Register of Simancas and Granada, the Chancellery of Valladolid, the collected letters of the ambassador Fuensalida, and the private archive of the Grimaldo de Cáceres family, and this has made it possible to trace his presence and activities in Granada, the Court and England –where he played a key role in the marriage between Katherine of Aragon and Henry VIII. It has also been possible to elucidate his business activities related to loans and rents, the circumstances of his marriage to Francisca de Caceres and his acquisition of an important estate in the Kingdom of Granada.