Spain, 1469-1714: A Society of Conflict

by Henry Kamen

In this classic text Henry Kamen shows how Spain achieved world power in the sixteenth, seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries by examining crucial political events and foreign policy during the reigns of each of the nation’s rulers, from Ferdinand and Isabella at the end of the fifteenth century to Philip V at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Kamen also explores the essential factors that distinguished the Spanish experience, from the gold and silver of the New World to the role of the Inquisition and the fate of the Muslim and Jewish minorities. He identifies the essential fragility of Spain’s material resources as the main reason why it never succeeded in achieving success as an imperial power. He also examines the origins of the eternal obsession of Spaniards with their own failings and alleged ‘decline’, arguing that the perception of ‘decline’ distorts what really happened in their history.. For undergraduate courses in Spanish history and Early Modern Europe.

Genres: History, Spain, Spanish History, Nonfiction, Politics, European History

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Henry Kamen is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society in London and an emeritus professor of the Higher Council for Scientific Research in Barcelona.

Reviews

[Arbitrista · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting synthesis of the period, Kamen's work is a not so subtle attack on many of the interpretations of John H. Elliott's seminal Imperial Spain. I'm not sure I'm persuaded by some of his conclusions (in part because he so rarely explicitly defends them), but this is nonetheless a very worthwhile book. His chief argument is that Spain's decline was not a decline at all, because "Spain never rose." From the beginning it lacked the resources to sustain an imperial role, and was dependent on the resources and talents of its dynastic satellite kingdoms. Given how long Spain supported Spain's position as a great power through endless wars, I have to question this assertion. Spain's economy was clearly much weaker in 1660 than 1560 - which certainly points to some sort of declare, and it was precisely in the period that Kamen says Spain became an imperial power than the burden was placed so heavily on Castile. Still, an interesting book.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is revisionist in that, according to Kamen, Spain was neither wealthy or powerful compared to other European states and that their rulers were not as single-handedly powerful as they have been portrayed. He makes a pretty good case for the economic argument drawing a picture of a monarchy deep in debt. They never got as much back from their dominions as they spent in trying to tame them. He says that, until later, the amount of gold that came into the country was just not enough and was mostly sent out of the country (paying debts, purchasing the things that their economy didn't create, buying food). Kamen believes that it wasn't until they had been forced to shed all of their satellites (the Hapsburg lands)that they started to find balance and a measure of prosperity. An interesting argument and one that I'll have to do more reading to confirm or contradict it.

[Antigone · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are numerous acts more difficult in this world than reading the work of a historian with an axe to grind. However, when I'm in the midst of such, I find it hard to think of a single one.

[JoséMaría BlancoWhite · Rating 5 out of 5]

El libro abarca un largo periodo de la historia de España (2 siglos y medio) en sólo un poco más de 400 páginas: insuficientes. El suceder de acontecimientos es muy rápido. No lleva a la marasma, pero pierde en profundidad, en un mínimo de profundidad. El genio del autor está en no hacer de este resumen histórico un continuo citar nombres, fechas y lugares, consigue aportar, sin embargo, los datos precisos para hilvanar una linea argumental. Concedido lo dicho, se echa mucho de menos algo más de profundidad en muchas afirmaciones. Quedan frases secas, cortantes, que precisarían quizás tan solo una línea explicativa, una frase o dos. Sí, quizás se hubiera extendido en 100 páginas más la obra, pero es que así la narración lo acusa bastante.

¡Como se puede dejar sin describir mínimamente las figuras de Isabel y Fernando, de Carlos I, de Felipe II, de tantas y tantas otras figuras históricas! Es que ni una frase sobre sus personas. Cierto que no es un ensayo, que es historia pura y dura, pero me parece que el autor aplicó aquí el mínimo de esfuerzo y quiso cumplir simplemente el expediente.

Por tanto como primer contacto con este largo periodo de casi 300 años, el libro es recomendable y -a pesar de lo dicho- muy entrenido. Pero a quien ya haya leido algo sobre historia de España, especialmente de este periodo que abarca el libro, le será totalmente ocioso. Lamentablemente habrá muchos “hijos de la LOGSE” en España a los que ni les suenen los nombres de los grandes personajes de nuestra historia. Para ellos, pues. Y bienvenidos a vuestro país, que ya era hora.