The Table of Common Good of the Merchants and the Defense of Corporate Interests in Portugal (1756-1833)

Abstract This article revisits the Portuguese merchant guilds and the adaptation of these institutions to an increasingly difficult political environment. It focuses on the guild of retailers of Lisbon, which was reorganized in traditional corporate lines in the aftermath of the 1755 Earthquake, persisting until the final triumph of Liberalism (1834). During this time, these guilds fought back against the gradual spread of an economic thought that was deeply hostile to them. The article follows in the footsteps of an international scholarship that rejects the idea of a persistent decline of guilds and corporations, their inherent conservatism, as well as their negative impact on economic development. The activities of the Mesa do Bem Comum dos Mercadores de Retalho, a corporate structure where the shopkeepers gathered to solve their many problems, show the extent to which this community managed to remain entrenched and protected from outside interferences, precisely as their statutes prescribed.