Asian Textiles in the Carreira da Índia: Portuguese Trade,Consumption and Taste, 1500–1700

This article focuses on the textile trade between Asia and Portugal in the early modern period. It highlights the pivotal role that Portugal played in the distribution of Asian manufactures across Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, before England and Holland set up large trading companies. It further examines the nature of Asian textile imports in Portugal, assessing their impact on consumption patterns, local manufacturing and shifts in taste.