1542. Carta de António Fernandes, mercador, para Manuel Afonso, mercador.

Private letter from António Fernandes, merchant, to Manuel Afonso, merchant.

The author writes the addressee telling him he needs capital; he identifies the merchandise that doesn't sell: sweets and sugar.

The same pack includes other letters that came from Flandres at the same time, where various aspects about the local trade are discussed. Among the goods that were traded at the time, we have: olive oil, wool, wheat and swords. Some foreign exchange issues, commercial debt, the impact of scarcity or abundance of certain goods, besides other general matters, are also discussed in these documents.

This is one of the letters in the collection "Corpo Cronológico", a documental fund under the custody of the National Archive of Torre do Tombo. It is a collection composed mostly by documentation of judicial and administrative nature, from 1161 to 1696. After the earthquake of 1755 many scattered documents were incorporated in this fund. Just like the name suggests, the main criterion of organization within the Corpo Cronológico is the documents' date.