Overseas Trading Company (Parallel Brazil)

The Overseas Trading Company (Portuguese: Companhia de Comércio do Ultramar; COU), also known as the Company or just COU, was a Brazilian company, formed in the colonial period by grouping  all   the Brazilian Medicis' business in the commerce of India, America and Europe.

Unlike other large companies at the time, it was not chartered by the metropolitan Crown. Ignored by the Portuguese government at the time, COU would expand to the point of becoming the richest and most powerful company in its time, rivaling the colonial powers of Europe in trade and war and starting the Brazilian first colonial expansion.

It is considered the first multinational company in the world, the first mega-corporation, and the first issue stock. It was a powerful company, possessing governmental powers, including the ability to maintain military force and make war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, coin its own currency and establish colonies. It had had enough prestige and influence to be treated equally by the Great Powers in the international arena. A sovereign state itself, the COU was one of the greatest powers of the colonial period. According to the historian Marcus O'Neill "the Company Overseas was not only the first corporation in history, but the first to be more powerful than nations and to dominate politics and the economy of entire states. In fact, the COU was an economic and political force worthy of its current conspiracy theories."

The great success of the COU was not due only to its administrative structure, political independence and ability to influence governments, but also the military prowess. Leaders like Emiliano Castranova, Lucio D'Avila, Antonela Petrov, Roberto da Costa and Lorenzo Souza became famous at the time and unforgettable in military history. Also according to Marcus O'Neill, "Even being a naval power itself, its [COU's] greatest strength were its strategies. The COU would never win against powers like the Ottoman Empire and Spain, with large fleets and armies, without their brilliant strategies. The way they joined their military tactics with espionage and conspiracies to political and economic destabilization was unique and, for centuries, unrivaled."

Background and Foundation
The origins of the COU are closely linked to the conflicts between the colonial economic elite, especially in New Florence ,and the Angelo de  Medici  explorations  within the Sertão. The discovery of big amethyst deposits in the small sertanian town of Caetité in 1551 lead to the creation of the Caetité Mining Company, ancestor of the COU. Until the 18th century, amethyst was considered one of the most valuable gems in the Old World, next to the diamond, emerald, ruby ​​and sapphire. The value of Caetité mines made Angelo to keep it discovery in secret and convince King John III to grant him a monopoly on the extraction, processing, manufacturing and trade of gems. Portugal was a little populous kingdom at the time and   such  discovery,   the   king  feared, could generate a mining rush that would empty the kingdom.

Medici fenced the region and, with the help of the Colonial Self-Defence Force (CSDF), he controlled all the mining of amethysts.

The accumulation of capital favored by the extraction of gems, jewelry manufacturing in New Florence and exportation allow Angelo de Medici realize an old dream, to unify the family's business empire and put the economic elites of the colony under its control and protection. Looking for that goal, he founded the Overseas Trading Company (COU) in 1560, bringing together under its banner all business of the Brazilian Medicis and opening a part of its capital to private investment, creating for this New Florence Stock Exchange in 1562, the oldest in the world.

Angelo could satisfy more than its original goal. Attracted by the novelty of the business and its profit promises and power, the commercial elite of the colony met under the Medicis in a common objective through investing on the COU and its amazing growth would strengthen the bonds that united the elite.

Such a union  influenced   greatly the history of Brazil. Until then a powerful but disunited   social   group, the  commercial elites gained their freedom from the Portuguese metropolis with great difficulty. Now united, they would become the largest political force of the colony, eclipsing the rural elites remaining power and dominating politics in the Magisterium until the Courtese Period.

Commercial and Colonial Expansion
As an entity formed by the union of the Brazilian Medicis' all business, the COU had business spread all over the world. The Medici Bank has had considerable influence in several European nations. Many paid their debts as commercial rights.

With the Iberian Union from 1580 to 1640, the COU, which supported the Spanish king in his claim to the Portuguese throne, comes to dominate the spice trade to Spanish America.

In 1568, Medici completed the construction of  the  New Florence  Arsenal. Inspired by the Arsenal of Venice, it used an efficient mass production method for the construction of ships, cannons and nautical instruments. Covering an area of ​​more than 260 acres, the Arsenal wore a system that produced prefabricated parts almost identical to each other and then simply mounted the vessels. It employed 19,000 people, of from the 100,000 inhabitants the city had that time, and could build two large ships per day. In 1575 the COU already had a fleet of 300 ships. In 1566 Medici founded the School of Navigation, a  center of  systematization and teaching of naval knowledge and techniques nautical, geographical, astronomical and cartographic, as well as training of sailors and officers.

So the COU had a merchant fleet able to carry heavy loads along maritime routes, a powerful war fleet to destroy all enemies who crossed it path, an agile   and well equipped  factory of ships and nautical instruments, permission to navigate freely by the great  Portuguese and Spanish  empires, united the Iberian Union from 1580 to 1640, and much capital to invest.

In 1568 the COU founded its first colony, conquering an area north of the Island of Terra Nova (known in English also as Newfoundland), in North America, in order to control a rich source of fish and fur. Over time, COU's domain extended further north to Labrador and Baffin Island. There it discovered a new product that could be marketed: the narwhal horn. Cetacean native of North Pole, the narwhal has a   spiral shaped  ivory horn (actually a tooth). In the Middle Ages, narwhal horns were sold in Europe by the Vikings, who claimed to be horned unicorn. With the expansion of  narwhal   whaling by the COU, the narwhal ivory flooded Europe, generating huge profits COU. Another product found in the region were the polar bear and arctic foxes fur, appreciated by the European elite.

With the expansion of   COU's  commercial influence in the Baltic Sea, mainly through privileges guaranteed by the States of the Holy Roman Empire as payment of debts, the COU entered in conflicts with the declining,   but anxious to maintain its status in the Baltic trade  Hanseatic League. The Hansa War (1591-1595), which brought together the main cities of the League, ended with a surprising victory to the COU and the total change of the status quo in the region. With great influence on Denmark, Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire, the COU defeated the Hansa without interference, ensuring hegemony Baltic trade, amber trade monopoly, sovereignty over the Baltic city of Riga, and the right to sell its exotic products and dock and refuel in the League cities.

Between 1600 and 1630, it founded the colony of Lagos, on Lake Michigan, current US; It conquered the coastal areas of the kingdoms of Ife and Benin in Africa, the rest of the island of Terra Nova and the  region   Labrador in North America; It took Corsica in the Brazilian-Genovese War (1627-1630); it won Aden and became protector of Abu Dhabi in Arabia; It conquered Ceylon and created many trading posts in India.

The COU was  China's  best western trade partner. Unique brazilian products as  ollancelus, propelines, newflorentine steel products and other, won the Chinese favor. In 1653, the Chinese imperial government allowed the COU to establish a permanent diplomatic presence in China and in 1656, leased the region of Weihai to the COU. Between 1653 and 1842 the COU (Brazil after 1835) was the only Western government to have a permanent diplomatic presence in China.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">With the Venetian-Brazilian War (1632-1640), the COU took the island of Crete from the Venetians. In 1642, taking advantage of a  20-year p ower vacuum in the Turkish Empire and its decline, the COU led several military campaigns against the Empire, the two Turkish-Brazilian Wars (1642-1645 and 1653-1668), taking some territories and achieving many commercial privileges. It took the Crimea, which was allied with the Turks, several islands in the Aegean, the cities of Sur and Akaba, the island of Cyprus, the right to free navigation in the seas under Turkish rule, the right to free trade in the main cities of the empire, right to install a branch of Medici  Bank   in Constantinople, and Turkish recognition of the COU's on Crete. In 1673, the Sultan tried to recover the  lost   territory and pride, starting the Third Turkish-Brazilian War. At first the Turks were winning, but after a reorganization by the COU, the Turks were defeated. In addition to recovering the lost territories, COU yet earned the right to install Medici Bank branches in Damascus and Alexandria. In the late 18th century, the international trade of the Turkish Empire was totally dominated by foreigners, mostly Brazilian, French and Venetians. In 1650, the COU bought some land in the German island of Rugen, then belonging to Sweden, where it founded the port and the city of Zenith, now an autonomous city of Brazil.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">A powerful naval empire in the COU 17th century, it became popularly known as the "Sea Empire".

<p style="font-weight:normal;">The COU participated in many European wars, directly or indirectly, achieving great commercial advantages in Europe. It participation in the Iberian Succession War in 1580 allowed Brazil to maintain its freedom under Spanish rule and to gain trade privileges. The War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713) earned it the domain of Cadiz and Ceuta and the definitive recognition of Britain (ally) and France (enemy) of its domain over the colonies of Terra Nova and Labrador, Ceylon and East Bengal. In an attempt to weaken Britain, increasingly hegemonic at sea, took part in the American War of Independence (1776-1783) alongside American rebels, France and Spain.

The "Grand Plan" and Decline
<p style="font-weight:normal;">[[File:Europe_map_Napoleon_Blocus.png|thumb|Maximum extension of Napoleon's rule in Europe. Dark blue: French Empire; Light blue: French satellite states and occupied zones; Blue-grey: Countries forced by France into applying the Continental System.
 * 310x310px]]The COU's declining began abruptly in the early 19th century with the rise of the Napoleonic government in France. Accumulating enormous executive powers since 1799, Napoleon began to undermine the economic influence of COU in France an the continent, calling it "a cancer which weakens and breaks Europe." The so-called "Grand Plan" aimed to solidify the French influence in Europe. As he conquered countries and made allies, Napoleon tried to replace the COU's bussiness in these countries by French capital, and prohibit these countries to trade with the COU, similar to the Continental System decreed against Britain. Unfortunately, the COU did not resist as well as the British.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">In 1805, the naval Battle of Trafalgar, in which the British fought and defeated the Spanish and French close Cadiz, allowed the COU to maintain its control over the city for a while. However, in 1807, during the French invasion of Portugal, the Spanish allied to France briefly occupied Cadiz. As a last act in the Napoleonic Wars, the COU escorted the Portuguese royal family to Brazil. Since then, the COU bothered to maintain its colonial possessions and recover from the blow that was the end of its trade and investments in Europe.

<p style="font-weight:normal;"> COU's   European possessions would also suffer in the war. Zenith was taken by France in 1812. Crete was surrounded by the French fleet and Cyprus was blockaded. Riga was taken by Sweden in 1810.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">With the end of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna, the European powers tried to restore the previous status quo. Zenith and Cadiz returned to COU's control, but Riga was delivered to Russia, Ceuta to Spain and Sur and Aqaba to the Turks.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Never recovered from the consequences of the "Great Plan", the COU continued to strongly resist its decline. Its last major intervention would be with the Brazilian War of Independence (1821-1823), supporting the Brazilians in the invasion of Portugal. In 1824, the COU sold Lagos to the USA.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Despite having managed to maintain its colonial domains and regain some influence in the European trade, the COU had to make commercial concessions to the Brazilian government in exchange for financial aid. COU gave the Brazilian government several concessions in its colonies, as well as influence over the COU's policy. In 1835, the COU was definitely dissolved in by the Brazilian government, which took control of all its colonies, troops, possessions and business.

Legacy
<p style="font-weight:normal;">The Overseas Trading Company had lasting impact on world's history. It was the first incarnation of the Brazilian colonial expansion. In its expansion, it exported products, culture and the Brazilian-Portuguese language. It played a key role in the expansion of the Portuguese language in the world and boost the Brazilian economy during the colonial period. Some historians also agree that the COU was instrumental in keeping the Brazilian civil and economic rights guaranteed by the Holy Charter of Rights, as being rich and powerful entity, it had an influence on the Portuguese policy to ensure its maintenance.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">It also influenced the Brazilian second colonial expansion. The COU's nationalization by the Brazilian government in 1835 gave to the only 14 years old nation an established colonial empire right after the stunning victory in the Great Latin American War (1829-1835).

Products
<p style="font-weight:normal;"> Between the late 16th and the 19th centuries, the COU (as many other Brazilian merchants) marketed many products, mainly:

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">from North Africa: gold, wheat, horses, barley and oats;

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">from West Africa: gold, ivory, chili, dyes, fabrics and leathers;

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">from East Africa: amber, ceramic, copper, ivory, gold, furs, pearls, iron, fabric, dyes and sandalwood;

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">from the Arabian Peninsula and the Turkish Empire: rice, gems, pearls, horses, salt, iron, incense, musk and dates;

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">from India and Ceylon: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ivory, pepper, cardamom, saffron, muslin, dyes and gems;

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">from the Baltic Sea: wheat, copper, amber, barley, oats, honey, wood, hemp, tar, wax, leather, resin, herring and beer;

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">from East Asia: cinnamon, cloves, pepper, aloes, camphor, sandalwood, gems, jade, metals, cotton, porcelain, ceramics and silk;

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">from Crete, Cyprus and Corsica: wine and olive oil;

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">from North America: corn, wheat, coal, iron, wood, rum and beaver, fox and bear fur;

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">from Spanish America: gold, silver, Hispaniola amber, feathers and llama, alpaca and vicuna wool;

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">from the Arctic: blubber, polar bear and arctic fox fur, narwhal horns and fish;

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">from the Free Cities: wine, beer, fish, rye, starkvatska (Patagonian whiskey), wheat, oats, seal fur, whale oil, sheep, alpaca and guanaco wool, butter and cheese;

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">and from Brazil: Brazil wood, leather, cotton, feathers, rum, cachaça, cinnamon stick, cloves, guarana, indigo, vanilla, pepper, ginger, erva-mate, lumber, propeline and cotton fabrics, ollancelus, ceramics, dyes, amethysts, jewels, iron and newflorentine steel artifacts, ships, swords, cannons, fish, dried fruits, liqueurs, sertão wine, sweets and various manufactured goods.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">Among the products there were six unique Brazilian products with great commercial value:

Propeline
<p style="font-weight:normal;"> <p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">Propeline (Propelinum) is a fabric made ​​from Sertão flax, whose scientific nomenclature is Propelinum brasiliensis . Despite its name, it is not one of the many species of flax. Reminiscent of prehistory, it is the last species of the genus Propelinum (Latin: prope, false, and Linum, flax). Different from the varieties of real flax, it is adapted to of the Northeastern Sertão   semi-arid climate  and soil from the banks of the São Francisco River. It was cultivated by the Koreni tribe for the production of hammocks, ropes and cabins. Its cultivation by Brazilian settlers began in the 1530s after contact with the Koreni. The Sertão flax fibers are more pliable, thin, elastic and resistant to the linen, they are also easier to dye and the finest varieties are brighter, similar to satin. As it don' t   warm up  easily under sunlight, ​​propeline became greatly appreciated by the Brazilians as their main fabric. <p style="font-weight:normal;"> <p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">By the early 16th century, propeline vestments spread to all social classes of the colony, and the varieties of higher quality (fine propeline) became symbol of distinction between the colonial elites. Its fiber, the more hardy varieties (wild propeline), was also used for the production of hammocks, ropes, ship sails, paper and bags, feeding various economic activities. The Sertão flax seeds were used in the food, paint and  fuel oil  production.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">From the 17th century, Brazil began to export large quantities of fine propeline to Europe, further contributing to the negative balance that European countries had in their relations with Brazil. The propeline became a symbol of distinction not only in Europe but also in the Muslim world, India and China. Even today propeline is an important textile raw material, grown mainly in the Northeastern Sertão.

Newflorentine Steel
<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">Newflorentine steel is an alloy (steel) of high quality developed in New Florence in the mid-16th century. Made from iron-vanadium and manganese (mined in northern Bahia) using the Montês Process, created in 1551, the newflorentine steel was more durable and resistant to corrosion than any then existing steel, it had a percentage of carbon on average 0.9% and few impurities. It was also brighter and harder. The secret of its manufacturing was kept in secret by a few newflorentine families until the 19th century. These families knew that could only be produced from iron extracted from certain mines in Bahia. Today, it is known that such iron formed a natural alloy with Vanadium, whose effect on alloy steel was only discovered in the 20th century. Also manganese, used in the newflorentine steelmaking process, it would only be discovered in the Old World in 1774 by the Swedish Johan Gottlieb Gahn.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">Used in the production of cutlery, knives, swords, nautical instruments, guns, cannons and many other materials, it was one of the most valued export products produced in New Florence. It was sought worldwide. Brazilians intensively used the newflorentine steel in their trade with China, the Chinese valued quite the alloy and tried unsuccesfuly for centuries to copy its composition.

Ollancelus
<p style="font-weight:normal;"> <p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">Ollancelus is a type of pottery developed in the late 16th century in Heraclion. Like other valued Brazilian materials, its composition was kept in secret for centuries by a few families. Considered a type of stoneware or porcelain, is known for its matte finish and produced in a variety of different colors, of which the most common is pale blue, and relief decoration applied. It Became a valued product in Europe, Turkey, India and China.

Sertão Wine
<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">Sertão Wine is a variety of wine created in Brazil between the late 16th and early 17th century.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">Although there were a grape production in the Northeastern Sertão since 1530, wine production has never favored. The grown species, the weather, the strong sun, all disfavored wine production in the region. That situation only changed with the emergence of  the Chevron, Marina and Coral   varieties  sometime between the 1550s and the 1580s. Its is unknown their origins, but there are theories that they have arisen from artificial selection or mutation. These varieties became well adapted to the Sertão climate and allowed the emergence of an important wine culture in the region. <p style="font-weight:normal;"> <p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">The Sertão wine are divided in mainly three varieties, which have become well appreciated by winemakers from the 1640s:

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">Each of these varieties are divided into dozens of other different varieties.
 * The scarlet variety, known primarily as a Blood Wine, is the most famous, characterized by its blood-like red color and strong flavor.
 * The white variety, known primarily as a Franciscan, is characterized by clear and shimmering yellow color, reminiscent of the silver.
 * The red variety, known primarily as Garanhuns, is similar to European red wines.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">Even today the wine production is an important activity in the Northeastern Sertão, from the semi-handmade wines to large mechanized production. Brazil is a large consumer (approx. 32 liters per capita per year) and wine producer (seventh in 2015), which in addition to the Sertão wine, also produces more temperate climate wines in the South. The Sertão wine is the non-European wine most consumed by Europeans, and known for longer.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">Although countries such as Angola, Indonesia and India produces wines of Sertão style, Brazil has treaties with 189 countries that only the wine registered by IVS and coming from Brazil can be labeled as "Sertão Wine", although the varieties  produced in other countries as   may be labeled as "sertão type", for example.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">A UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Sertão wine is regulated by the Sertão Wine Institute (Portuguese: Instituto de Vinho do Sertão, or IVS), which is an official body belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture and is a key institution in promoting the Sertão wine industry and knowledge.

Military Force
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