Spain, Europe and the Wider World 1500-1800

by J.H. Elliott

When J. H. Elliott published Spain and Its World, 1500�1700 some twenty years ago, one of many enthusiasts declared, �For anyone interested in the history of empire, of Europe and of Spain, here is a book to keep within reach, to read, to study and to enjoy" (Times Literary Supplement). Since then Elliott has continued to explore the history of Spain and the Hispanic world with originality and insight, producing some of the most influential work in the field. In this new volume he gathers writings that reflect his recent research and thinking on politics, art, culture, and ideas in Europe and the colonial worlds between 1500 and 1800.

 

The volume includes fourteen essays, lectures, and articles of remarkable breadth and freshness, written with Elliott’s characteristic brio. It includes an unpublished lecture in honor of the late Hugh Trevor-Roper. Organized around three themes—early modern Europe, European overseas expansion, and the works and historical context of El Greco, Velázquez, Rubens, and Van Dyck—the book offers a rich survey of the themes at the heart of Elliott’s interests throughout a career distinguished by excellence and innovation.

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

352 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1990

About the author

Sir John Huxtable Elliott, FBA, was an English historian, Regius Professor Emeritus at the University of Oxford and Honorary Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford and Trinity College, Cambridge. He published under the name J.H. Elliott.

Elliott was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was an assistant lecturer at Cambridge University from 1957 to 1962 and Lecturer in History from 1962 until 1967, and was subsequently Professor of History at King's College, London between 1968 and 1973. In 1972 he was elected to the Fellowship of the British Academy. Elliott was Professor in the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey from 1973 to 1990, and was Regius Professor of Modern History, Oxford between 1990 and 1997.

He held honorary doctorates from the Autonomous University of Madrid (1983), the universities Genoa (1992), Portsmouth (1993), Barcelona (1994), Warwick (1995), Brown University (1996), Valencia (1998), Lleida (1999), Complutense University of Madrid (2003), College of William & Mary (2005), London (2007), Charles III University of Madrid (2008), Seville (2011), Alcalá (2012), and Cambridge (2013). Elliott is a Fellow of the Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford, of whose Founding Council he was also a member.

Elliott was knighted in the 1994 New Year Honours for services to history and was decorated with Commander of Isabella the Catholic in 1987, the Grand Cross of Alfonso the Wise in 1988, the Grand Cross of Isabella the Catholic in 1996, and the Creu de Sant Jordi in 1999. An eminent Hispanist, he was given the Prince of Asturias Prize in 1996 for his contributions to the Social sciences. For his outstanding contributions to the history of Spain and the Spanish Empire in the early modern period, Elliott was awarded the Balzan Prize for History, 1500–1800, in 1999.

His studies of the Iberian Peninsula and the Spanish Empire helped the understanding of the problems confronting 16th- and 17th-century Spain, and the attempts of its leaders to avert its decline. He is considered, together with Raymond Carr and Angus Mackay, a major figure in developing Spanish historiography.

Reviews

[Lauren Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot from this collection of essays. I couldn't tell you what I learned but that doesn't mean I didn't learn it. It just means that I have a brain that is older than the rest of me....

The first essay (what I remember of it) was the most interesting to me. Elliott writes of "composite monarchies" and more specifically the two different kinds--one where it is, basically, one king and one kingdom even if the pieces of the kingdom do not stay together on the map and the other where it is one king and many kingdoms--each with its own rules and customs.

The book is part of his effort at doing comparative history. With that in mind, he speaks of differences between Spanish and English colonialism, tries to analyze while Castile did not revolt and when other parts of the empire did, and other topics.

I'm going to keep the book because I have a feeling I'll want to look at it again.

[Josh Kemp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really nice prose and I found many of the subjects covered interesting. A warning, however: there is no semblance of a central thesis through these essays. The author spends far more time on comparative analysis of Spanish and English colonialism and governance than I would’ve expected, with the titular nation only fully taking center stage in the second part. The third part was the most enjoyable (focusing on art) and the chapter on El Greco was a standout. All in all a good read, but not what you want if you’re looking for a more thorough, chronological history of Spain in this period.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very, very good. This is exactly what a collection of historical essays should be. Elliott masterfully weaves together primary and secondary sources and even discusses significant historiographical debates while writing simply and straightforwardly enough to be easily comprehensible to the general reader. The book is structured intelligently, with a minor topic from one chapter picked up as the major topic in the next essay; various ideas are repeated and further develop across chapters, reinforcing them for the reader and making the text feel approachable and user-friendly. I was truly engaged throughout - even though the subject matter is something I would not have thought I'd be super interested in before starting - and I know much more than when I started, which is all you can really ask for from a non-fiction book. Highly recommended for anyone with even a moderate interest in early modern European/Atlantic history.

[Ignacio Ridruejo · Rating 3 out of 5]

El libro me ha servido de de gran ayuda para repasar algunos aspectos de la historia del imperio que conocía pero que nunca había tratado con tanto detalle. Sin embargo, el hecho de que sea una recopilación, resta uniformidad a la obra y como es lógico, esto se nota a la hora de leer. Además, me he quedado con una sensación de que la lectura abarca poco, me ha dejado con ganas de más.

Eso sí, contiene algunas reflexiones muy interesantes y se nota la vocación de objetividad por parte del autor, algo que no es poco a día de hoy. Me ha gustado especialmente la última parte en la que relata la experiencia de varios artistas en un contexto determinado del imperio.

[Silvio Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of essays. Some are more narrowly focused and scholarly, most are broader introductions to a topic. I really like Elliott's approach to history. Although the essays are all more or less centered on Spain, they treat Europe and its colonies as a whole, tracing causes and effects across the national boundaries that obsess so many historians. Mostly they're political history (interpreted broadly, anyway), but there are also some cautious comments on the interaction between politics and art.

[Arbitrista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another thoughtful, elegantly written book by John Elliott. It's a collection of essays, but has a number of real gems.