Asiento

Timeline

1. 1662–1674Madrid · MadridAfter Portugal's independence interrupted the old asiento, Genoese merchants Domenico Grillo and Ambrosio Lomelini obtained in 1662 the monopoly contract for supplying slaves to Spanish America, agreeing to import about 24,000 slaves over seven years, and establishing a unified tax system and exclusive court, becoming the institutional template for subsequent asientos.
2. 1663–1689Cartagena de Indias · CartagenaContractors transshipped via the Dutch West India Company and English African merchants to Jamaica and Curaçao, then sent slaves into Cartagena, Portobello, and Veracruz. After 1676 the Seville merchant consulate, Barroso-Porcio, and the Dutchman Coeymans successively took over, and the asiento became a cross-imperial subcontracting network.
3. 1696–1700Madrid · MadridIn 1696 Spain regranted the asiento to the Portuguese Cacheu and Cape Verde Company, with the contract explicitly citing the 1662 terms. By 1700 the system was still operating, and on the eve of the War of the Spanish Succession it became a diplomatic bargaining chip among the powers competing for the American market.