Dimmi come scrivi e ti dirò chi sei: la cultura grafica dei mercanti della costa settentrionale del Portogallo (1560-1600)

Abstract

This paper focuses on the graphic culture of the merchants living in the towns and villages of the northern coast of Portugal in the second half of the 16th century. It aims to analyze their different levels of graphic competence, and also of their wives, based on their signatures. These signatures appear in several Livros de Notas of the first notarial reg-istry of Vila do Conde (now in the district of Porto). The main goal was to find out which merchants, and their wives, were capable of writing and at what level, which was their graphic model, where and in which social and economic context they lived. The analysis of these different aspects made it possible to know this group from the point of view of its cultural and intellectual power, in addition to the already studied social and economic power. Previous researches on cities such as Porto or Vila do Conde in the timeframe considered in this paper allows a better understanding of the different cultural and social dynamics concerning these men and women.