Contactos comerciales del Conde Nicolás Pálffy (1552–1600) con el extranjero

Abstract

The study is based on a letter of the Hungarian nobleman Nicolás Pálffy (1552–1600) from February 1596, addressed to Vincenzo I. Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (1562–1612). The subject of the letter was horses and greyhounds. This prompted a study of Pálffy’s correspondence in terms of his business activities and contacts. Upon closer examination of the surviving letters, in addition to the well-known grain and wine trades, frequent horse and game hunting trades were also discovered. Among those interested in these goods were not only prominent local nobles, but also members of well-known foreign families. The research has also confirmed the number of languages that this early medieval nobleman was able to communicate in, besides Latin, Hungarian, German, Italian also in Spanish, which is the language of this letter. The study concludes with a linguistic analysis of the letter and its transcription.