xxviiiIdem, p. 126. In comparative terms, this differentiation of the man of business in Fluminense society preceded that of their Lisbon contemporaries. According to Jorge Pereira in Lisbon in addition to trade not being confined to one social group, the large merchants (who operated at a large scale over a long distance, as well as negotiating credit and contracts with the State) remained undifferentiated in the social corpus, which contributed to the association of their image with that of the New Christian, the low social consideration of those involved in commerce and even the lack of distinction between large-scale and retail operations. This lasted from the sixteenth to the middle of the eighteenth centuries. First, in the "first half of the sixteenth century and the 1700s (...) the language that described the different types of merchants continued to be very imprecise". Only during the Pombalino period did the term men of business come to designate a distinct group of merchants, when they were invested with a "superior social quality". This differentiation took place at two levels: in the legislative sphere and within the actual mercantile community. PEDREIRA, Jorge Miguel Viana. Os homens de neg? da pra?de Lisboa. De Pombal ao Vintismo (1755-1822). Diferencia?, reprodu? e identifica? de um grupo social. Doctoral thesis presented to the Faculty of Social and Human Science of the New University of Lisbon. Lisbon, 1995.
