People database

Origin

Seville

Place of activity

Santo Domingo

He was born in Seville, probably in 1512, to Iacopo from Florence and Antonia Gonçales from Portugal. His father had arrived in Andalusia in 1506 and entered the city's lucrative trade in collaboration with other Florentine merchants, becoming the go-to contact for many Tuscan traders active in Seville. In 1532, Iacopo sent his eldest son, Bernardo, to Florence, while Mauro continued to trade with the Americas. A few years later, to reduce the risk of seizures and confiscations, and to take advantage of opportunities in the New World, Iacopo decided to send Mauro to Santo Domingo. This seems to have been prompted by the heirs of Luigi Ricasoli wanting to send a representative to the island to conclude business begun with Galeotto Cei. Fantoni arrived in Santo Domingo between 1541 and 1542, probably spending the rest of his life in the Caribbean. In June 1543, he married Maria Giustiniani, who was from Genoa. He joined the company of Luigi da Lampugnano, Giovan Antonio Piccolomini, and Scipione Pecci to fish for pearls on the island of Cubagua. The company purchased the galleon San Andrés, commanded by Juan Sodo, and Fantoni sent four enslaved men to the Caribbean to work in the enterprise through him. Fantoni sent two of them — Alonso, aged twenty-four, and Juan Marcos, aged twenty — while Pecci assigned a black man named Francisco, aged about twenty-five, to the company. Juan Sodo chose Pedro, who was also twenty-five years old. The contract stipulated that the four men should receive a monthly wage of 1,000 maravedís, as well as food and drink.