We the Puigcerdà family have become quite well known throughout Ibiza Townas merchants in the salt trade, as well as capable privateers on the sea. Salt has become astaple trade good of Ibiza, although we merchants are largely under the management ofthe great Genoese in this part of the Mediterranean.1 Since roughly 1450, the Genoesehave reaped the rewards from our salt, which they exchange for Lombardy steel and wheat.2 The Basques have also become partnered with the Genoese in order to exploit the profits which the salt of Ibiza brings.3 Being under the thumb of these foreign merchantsm has meant that the Puigcerdà family has had to resort to privateering on the seas merely to supplement what little we actually came away with by participating in the exchange of salt. However, to say our family has plundered those on the sea indiscriminately would be a false charge indeed. For example, Jews have long been prominent members within Ibiza and its salt trade, acting as tax collectors, shippers, and even merchants. Thus, it is often a popular practice by us privateers to give Jews a pass, and even help them steer clear of the Inquisition. In fact, the Puigcerdà family itself helped five young Jewish men to safety on one occasion.4 So, with these closing words, I urge future generations to continue to strive for wealth, the good of the community, and respect for the Puigcerdà family name.
Notes.
1 Michel Balard, “A Christian Mediterranean: 1000–1500,” in The Mediterranean in History, ed. David Abulafia (London: Thames & Hudson, 2003), 211-212.
Experiments in the Past 