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PREFACE
PREFACE
T HE present work is an attempt to give in one volume the main features of Spanish history from the standpoint of America. It should serve almost equally well for residents of both the English-speaking and the Spanish American countries, since the underlying idea has been that Americans generally are concerned with the growth of that Spanish civilization which was transmitted to the new world. One of the chief factors in American life today is that of the relations between Anglo-Saxon and Hispan
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
T HE fact that this book is in great part a summary, or selection, from one of mine, as is stated in the Preface, makes it almost a duty for me to do what would in any event be a great pleasure in the case of a work by Professor Chapman. I refer to the duty of writing a few paragraphs by way of introduction. But, at the same time, this circumstance causes a certain conflict of feelings in me, since no one, unless it be a pedant, can act so freely in self-criticism as he would if he were dealing
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CHAPTER I THE INFLUENCE OF GEOGRAPHY ON THE HISTORY OF SPAIN
CHAPTER I THE INFLUENCE OF GEOGRAPHY ON THE HISTORY OF SPAIN
T HE Iberian Peninsula, embracing the modern states of Spain and Portugal, is entirely surrounded by the waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, except for a strip in the north a little less than three hundred miles in length, which touches the southern border of France. Even at that point Spain is almost completely shut off from the rest of Europe, because of the high range of the Pyrenees Mountains. Portugal, although an independent state and set apart to a certain extent by a
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CHAPTER II THE EARLY PEOPLES, TO 206 B.C.
CHAPTER II THE EARLY PEOPLES, TO 206 B.C.
T HE Iberian Peninsula has not always had the same form which it now has, or the same plants, animals, or climate which are found there today. For example, it is said that Spain was once united by land with Africa, and also by way of Sicily, which had not yet become an island, with southern Italy, making a great lake of the western Mediterranean. The changes as a result of which the peninsula assumed its present characteristics belong to the field of geology, and need to be mentioned here only a
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CHAPTER III ROMAN SPAIN, 206 B.C.-409 A.D.
CHAPTER III ROMAN SPAIN, 206 B.C.-409 A.D.
U NDOUBTEDLY the greatest single fact in the history of Spain was the long Roman occupation, lasting more than six centuries. All that Spain is or has done in the world can be traced in greatest measure to the Latin civilization which the organizing genius of Rome was able to graft upon her. Nevertheless, the history of Spain in the Roman period does not differ in its essentials from that of the Roman world at large, wherefore it may be passed over, with only a brief indication of events and con
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CHAPTER IV VISIGOTHIC SPAIN, 409-713
CHAPTER IV VISIGOTHIC SPAIN, 409-713
T HE Roman influence in Spain did not end, even politically, in the year 409, which marked the first successful invasion of the peninsula by a Germanic people and the beginning of the Visigothic era. The Visigoths themselves did not arrive in that year, and did not establish their rule over the land until long afterward. Even then, one of the principal characteristics of the entire era was the persistence of Roman civilization. Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that the Visigoths left few perma
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CHAPTER V MOSLEM SPAIN, 711-1031
CHAPTER V MOSLEM SPAIN, 711-1031
T HE Moslem period in Spanish history is the subject of a number of popular misconceptions. The Moslems are believed to have attained to a phenomenally high stage of culture and to have lived in a luxury without parallel at that time in the world. While these views are not without truth, it is also true that the conquerors never shook themselves free from their tribal instincts, and it was not until the tenth century that their civilization was well established. Even then it was more largely thr
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CHAPTER VI CHRISTIAN SPAIN IN THE MOSLEM PERIOD, 711-1035
CHAPTER VI CHRISTIAN SPAIN IN THE MOSLEM PERIOD, 711-1035
O NE of the popular misconceptions of the Moslem period in the history of Spain is that the Christians began a holy war almost from the time of the Moslem invasion, and continued to gain in fervor and in power, step by step, until at length they took Granada in 1492. In fact religious enthusiasm and national conquest alike were fitful and spasmodic, and very little progress was made in the period of the emirs and caliphs. It has usually been held, although the matter is in dispute, that the Visi
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CHAPTER VII ERA OF THE SPANISH CRUSADES, 1031-1276
CHAPTER VII ERA OF THE SPANISH CRUSADES, 1031-1276
T HE period of a little more than two centuries after the downfall of the caliphate was marked by a complete change from that preceding it, and in like manner was quite independent of the next succeeding era. Up to this time Moslem Spain had represented by far the principal element in the peninsula. The Christian states had maintained themselves with difficulty, making occasional gains, which were not infrequently followed by equally great losses whenever the Moslem power was sufficiently united
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CHAPTER VIII SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION IN SPAIN, 1031-1276
CHAPTER VIII SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION IN SPAIN, 1031-1276
T HE principle of absolute monarchy continued to be followed in Moslem Spain, and was even accentuated, whether in the eras of the taifas , or at times of a single dominion. Indeed, this was virtually the case while the taifas were still republics, although they soon converted themselves into confessed monarchies. In furtherance of absolutism an excess of court ceremonial was introduced, and the rulers rarely allowed their faces to be seen, holding audiences, for example, from behind a curtain.
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CHAPTER IX MATERIAL AND INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS IN SPAIN, 1031-1276
CHAPTER IX MATERIAL AND INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS IN SPAIN, 1031-1276
T HE political vicissitudes of Moslem Spain could not fail to have an unfavorable effect on industry and commerce. The economic decline did not at once manifest itself and was not continuous in any event, for the periods of depression were often followed by others of great prosperity. Agriculture, industry, and the arts profited by new impulses, and trade was carried on with eastern Mediterranean lands. The Christian conquests meant an end of these commercial relations, but many of the industrie
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CHAPTER X DEVELOPMENT TOWARD NATIONAL UNITY: CASTILE, 1252-1479
CHAPTER X DEVELOPMENT TOWARD NATIONAL UNITY: CASTILE, 1252-1479
A FTER the death of Ferdinand III and of Jaime I the reconquest of Spain from the Moslems came to a virtual standstill for over two centuries. Some slight accessions of territory were obtained by Castile, but no serious effort was made to acquire the only remaining enemy stronghold, the kingdom of Granada. Conditions had changed to such an extent that Moslem Spain for the first tune in more than five centuries was of secondary and even minor importance. Castile and Aragon devoted their principal
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CHAPTER XI DEVELOPMENT TOWARD NATIONAL UNITY: ARAGON, 1276-1479
CHAPTER XI DEVELOPMENT TOWARD NATIONAL UNITY: ARAGON, 1276-1479
T HE general remarks made with respect to Castilian history in this period apply, with but few modifications, to that of the kingdom of Aragon. In Aragon the victory of monarchy over seigniorial anarchy was externally clear as early as the middle of the fourteenth century. The civil wars after that date (and there were very few until the last reign of the period) were due to the vast power of the city of Barcelona in conflict with the king, to the difference in interests of Aragon proper and Cat
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CHAPTER XII SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN SPAIN, 1252-1479
CHAPTER XII SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN SPAIN, 1252-1479
A S regards social organization this period represents merely an evolution of the factors which had already appeared in the preceding era, and its chief results were the following: the end of serfdom; the advance of the middle class and its opposition to the lords, principally through its jurisconsults and the caballeros of the towns; an increase in the privileges of the clergy; and additional landed wealth for the nobles through the donations of the kings or private conquests. The principal soc
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CHAPTER XIII THE CASTILIAN STATE, 1252-1479
CHAPTER XIII THE CASTILIAN STATE, 1252-1479
I N the relations of the seigniorial elements and the monarchy this was a critical period for the latter, deciding as a result of the virtual, though not at the time apparent, victory of the kings that Castile was to become a power in the world. For that very reason the evolution of political institutions in this era was important, for on the development of monarchy depended the conquest of America, but they were also important because the institutions which were set up in the new world had note
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CHAPTER XIV THE ARAGONESE STATE, 1276-1479
CHAPTER XIV THE ARAGONESE STATE, 1276-1479
T HE struggle of the kings against the seigniorial elements of Aragon and Valencia (in furtherance of their policy of absolutism and centralization) has already been traced up to the point where royalty gained the upper hand in the reign of Pedro IV. One result of Pedro’s victory was the reduction of the power of the Justicia , no longer a creature of the nobility (to mediate between them and the king) but a royal appointee, exercising strictly judicial powers as chief justice of the realm. Even
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CHAPTER XV ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION IN SPAIN, 1252-1479
CHAPTER XV ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION IN SPAIN, 1252-1479
A CONTINUATION in this era of the factors which had tended in the preceding period to develop material resources brought about progress in agriculture, stock-raising, mining, industry, and commerce, although it was not great enough to cause general economic prosperity. The stock-raisers, as before, received more favors than their rivals, the farmers, and it was at this time that the powerful corporation of sheepmen, the Mesta , was formed. Alfonso X granted charters to various of these corporati
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CHAPTER XVI INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS IN SPAIN, 1252-1479
CHAPTER XVI INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS IN SPAIN, 1252-1479
W ITH the advance of the Christian conquest against the Moslems the political centre had passed from the northern coast to the Castilian table-land, and thence to Andalusia, where for a time the court was set up in Seville. There was a tendency, however, to return to Castile proper, since the people of that region were the principal element in the conquest and in internal political affairs. The political preponderance of the Castilian part of the realm was so clearly established that it transfor
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CHAPTER XVII INSTITUTIONS OF OUTLYING HISPANIC STATES, 1252-1479
CHAPTER XVII INSTITUTIONS OF OUTLYING HISPANIC STATES, 1252-1479
So far as they have not already been discussed, in dealing with Castile and Aragon, the institutions of Majorca, Navarre, the Basque provinces, and Granada may be dealt with here, especially in their original aspects. B y the will of Jaime I, Majorca and the Roussillon were constituted into a kingdom apart from Aragon, but almost immediately afterward Pedro III of Aragon compelled Jaime II of Majorca to acknowledge the overlordship of the peninsula monarch. In 1349 Pedro IV of Aragon annexed Maj
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CHAPTER XVIII ERA OF THE CATHOLIC KINGS, 1479-1517
CHAPTER XVIII ERA OF THE CATHOLIC KINGS, 1479-1517
T HE joint reign of Ferdinand (1479-1516) and Isabella (1474-1504), known as “the Catholic Kings,” witnessed the substantial fulfilment of the aims of medieval Hispanic royalty, and at the same time began in striking fashion that complexity of life and action which characterizes the modern age. On the one hand the turbulent elements which had for so long stood for decentralization and disorder as opposed to national unity and internal peace were done away with or rendered powerless; on the other
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CHAPTER XIX SOCIAL REFORMS, 1479-1517
CHAPTER XIX SOCIAL REFORMS, 1479-1517
T HE most important events in Spain of a social character during the period of the Catholic Kings were the expulsion of the Jews and the conversion of the Castilian Mudéjares, with the relations of the new Inquisition to both of these elements of Spanish society. Other events of more than ordinary note were the deprivation of the nobility of some of their former prestige, the settlement of the dispute between the serfs and lords of Catalonia, the purification of the Castilian clergy, and the def
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CHAPTER XX POLITICAL REFORMS, 1479-1517
CHAPTER XX POLITICAL REFORMS, 1479-1517
I T has already been pointed out that the union of Castile and Aragon under the Catholic Kings lacked a real political or institutional basis. Both monarchs signed papers applicable to the two kingdoms and exercised personal influence, each with the other, but although Ferdinand assisted his consort in Castilian affairs, Isabella was clearly regarded as ruler in Castile, as Ferdinand was in Aragon. The latter’s will advised Charles I to maintain the separation of the kingdoms and to conduct thei
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CHAPTER XXI MATERIAL AND INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS, 1479-1517
CHAPTER XXI MATERIAL AND INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS, 1479-1517
T HE Catholic Kings attacked the economic problems of their era with much the same zeal they had displayed in social and political reforms, but without equal success, for medievalism in material affairs was more persistent than in social, political, and intellectual institutions. The same false economic ideas of the past were still operative. Especially was this manifest in the belief that legislation and state intervention in business provided a panacea for all evils, when the real needs were t
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CHAPTER XXII CHARLES I OF SPAIN, 1516-1556
CHAPTER XXII CHARLES I OF SPAIN, 1516-1556
F ROM the standpoint of European history the period of the House of Hapsburg, or Austria, covering nearly two centuries, when Spain was one of the great powers of the world, should be replete with the details of Spanish intervention in European affairs. The purposes of the present work will be served, however, by a comparatively brief treatment of this phase of Spanish history; indeed, the central idea underlying it reduces itself to this: Spain wasted her energies and expended her wealth in a f
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CHAPTER XXIII THE REIGN OF PHILIP II, 1556-1598
CHAPTER XXIII THE REIGN OF PHILIP II, 1556-1598
I N underlying essentials the reign of Philip II was a reproduction of that of Charles I. There were scattered dominions and family prestige to maintain, the enemies of the Catholic Church to combat, the dominant place of Spain in Europe to assure, the strain on Spanish resources, and, as glorious offsets to general failure in Europe, the acquisition of some European domains and the advance of the colonial conquests. Only the details varied. Philip had a more compact nation behind him than had f
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CHAPTER XXIV A CENTURY OF DECLINE, 1598-1700
CHAPTER XXIV A CENTURY OF DECLINE, 1598-1700
T HE unfortunate policies of Charles I and Philip II were continued during the seventeenth century in the reigns of Philip III, Philip IV, and Charles II, but Spain was no longer able to hold her front rank position in European affairs, especially after the buffets of fortune which fell to her lot in the reign of Philip IV. Not only that, but a decline also set in which affected Spanish civilization in all its phases. The impetus of Spain’s greatness in the sixteenth century carried her along to
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CHAPTER XXV SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS, 1516-1700
CHAPTER XXV SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS, 1516-1700
A S compared with the two preceding eras there was little in this period strikingly new in social history. In the main, society tended to become more thoroughly modern, but along lines whose origins dated farther back. The most marked novelty in Spain was the conversion of the Mudéjares of Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia, followed less than a century later by the expulsion of the Moriscos from every part of Spain. The most remarkable phase of social history of the time, however, was the subjecti
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CHAPTER XXVI POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS, 1516-1700
CHAPTER XXVI POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS, 1516-1700
T WO outstanding features marked the history of Spanish political institutions in the era of the House of Hapsburg, or Austria: the absolutism of the kings; and the development of a modern bureaucratic machinery. The Hapsburgs did not introduce absolutism into Spain, but, rather, succeeded to a system which the efforts of their predecessors, especially the Catholic Kings, had made possible. Nevertheless, it was in this period that the kings, aided by greater resources than former Spanish monarch
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CHAPTER XXVII RELIGION AND THE CHURCH, 1516-1700
CHAPTER XXVII RELIGION AND THE CHURCH, 1516-1700
P RIOR to the era of the House of Austria it is possible to deal with the ecclesiastical institutions in Spain at the same time with other manifestations of a social, political, economic, or intellectual character, but the period of Hapsburg rule was so replete with interest on the religious side and so important in that respect in its ultimate results on the Americas that this phase of Spanish life in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is deserving of separate treatment. Two ideas dominate
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CHAPTER XXVIII ECONOMIC FACTORS, 1516-1700
CHAPTER XXVIII ECONOMIC FACTORS, 1516-1700
W HILE this era was marked by a brief period of prosperity, and while there was a noteworthy advance out of medievalism in the evolution of mercantile machinery, the keynote of the times was the failure of Spain to keep pace in material welfare with her high standing in other aspects of life. Spain continued to be a raw material country, although artificial attempts were still made to create a thriving industrial development. These efforts, when they did not fail altogether, accrued to the advan
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CHAPTER XXIX THE GOLDEN AGE: EDUCATION, PHILOSOPHY, HISTORY, AND SCIENCE, 1516-1700
CHAPTER XXIX THE GOLDEN AGE: EDUCATION, PHILOSOPHY, HISTORY, AND SCIENCE, 1516-1700
T HE sixteenth and seventeenth centuries represent the highest point in the history of Spanish intellectual achievement in science, literature, and art. Two manifestations characterized the era: an abundant productivity which was as high in quality as it was great in amount; and the diffusion of Spanish learning in the other countries of the civilized world, so that for the first time (except for the transmission of Moslem culture) Christian Spain became a vital factor in European thought, where
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CHAPTER XXX THE GOLDEN AGE: LITERATURE AND ART, 1516-1700
CHAPTER XXX THE GOLDEN AGE: LITERATURE AND ART, 1516-1700
T HE general conditions affecting literature and art in the siglo de oro have already been alluded to in the preceding chapter. The influence of Humanism and the impulse of the Renaissance were more directly felt in polite literature than in didactic and scientific works. Furthermore, this type of literature was more easily understood by people at large than the more special studies, and it is not surprising that Spain’s intellectual greatness should have been appreciated by the majority of the
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CHAPTER XXXI THE EARLY BOURBONS, 1700-1759
CHAPTER XXXI THE EARLY BOURBONS, 1700-1759
T HE eighteenth century in Spain was of intense import as affecting the ultimate interests of the Americas. It was an era of regeneration, of a somewhat remarkable recovery from the decadent state which Spain had reached by the time of the reign of the last Hapsburg monarch. It was accompanied, however, by Spain’s engaging in a series of wars, due in some cases to unwise ambitions of an imperialistic character in European affairs and in others to unavoidable necessity as a result of the aggressi
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CHAPTER XXXII CHARLES III AND ENGLAND, 1759-1788
CHAPTER XXXII CHARLES III AND ENGLAND, 1759-1788
U NDER Charles III, Spain reached the highest point she has attained since the sixteenth century. In many respects the internal situation was better at this time than in the great days of the siglo de oro , but Spain’s relative authority in Europe was less, because of the striking advances which had been made by the other powers. One of them, England, was particularly dangerous, and it will be found that Spain’s foreign policy in this reign was directed primarily toward meeting the possibility o
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CHAPTER XXXIII CHARLES IV AND FRANCE, 1788-1808
CHAPTER XXXIII CHARLES IV AND FRANCE, 1788-1808
I F the reign of Charles III, despite the close union of the Bourbon crowns, had been characterized mainly in its external manifestations by the hostility of Spain to England, that of Charles IV (1788-1808) was dominated by relations with France. Unaffected for a while by the principles underlying the French Revolution, Spain was toppled from her position as a first-rate power by the Emperor Napoleon, whose designs for world power and whose methods in seeking it were not unlike those followed ov
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CHAPTER XXXIV SPANISH SOCIETY, 1700-1808
CHAPTER XXXIV SPANISH SOCIETY, 1700-1808
F UNDAMENTALLY , there was no change in the classes of Spanish society in this period as regards their legal and social standing, except in the case of the rural population of Aragon. One of the characteristic notes of the era was a certain democratic sentiment of a philanthropic kind, exhibiting itself vaguely in a desire for the well-being of mankind, and practically in the social, economic, and intellectual betterment of the masses, without any attempt being made to improve their juridical po
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CHAPTER XXXV POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS, 1700-1808
CHAPTER XXXV POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS, 1700-1808
T HE Bourbon kings aimed to complete the long evolution, dating from centuries before, toward the personal authority of the monarch in a pure absolutism. This movement had gone farther in other countries, although the current had set the other way in England. France under Louis XIV, if not the most extreme example of an absolute government, was certainly the most influential, and the phrase “I am the state!” attributed to the great French monarch, was (whether in fact uttered by him or not) symb
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CHAPTER XXXVI STATE AND CHURCH, 1700-1808
CHAPTER XXXVI STATE AND CHURCH, 1700-1808
I F the kings of the House of Austria had displayed zeal in diminishing the range of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, the Bourbon monarchs, with their accentuated ideal of absolutism, were even more insistent in that respect. The kings were assisted by elements to which they themselves were otherwise hostile, such as the Jansenists [63] and the encyclopedists, whose partisans furnished arguments for the royal authority, because they opposed the rule of the church. Nevertheless, the monarchical ideal
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CHAPTER XXXVII ECONOMIC REFORMS, 1700-1808
CHAPTER XXXVII ECONOMIC REFORMS, 1700-1808
I F a review of the political and ecclesiastical institutions of this period displays the enlightened despotism on its despotic side, a study of the economic reforms effected, or tried, reveals the benevolent or enlightened attitude of the autocratic state endeavoring to improve the lot of the people. In addition to the philanthropic aspect of these attempts, they were influenced, also: by the general current of eighteenth century thought, giving attention to economic problems; by the very evide
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CHAPTER XXXVIII INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITIES, 1700-1808
CHAPTER XXXVIII INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITIES, 1700-1808
I N intellectual expression, as well as in other phases of Spain’s national life, the eighteenth century was a period of recovery from the degradation which marked the close of the preceding era. Spain placed herself abreast of the times, but not as formerly in a leading position; among the many who distinguished themselves by their achievements there were few who attained to a European reputation, and perhaps only one, the painter Goya, may be reckoned with the immortals. On the other hand Spai
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CHAPTER XXXIX THE GROWTH OF LIBERALISM, 1808-1898
CHAPTER XXXIX THE GROWTH OF LIBERALISM, 1808-1898
W ITH the outbreak of the Spanish “War of Independence” against Napoleon the interest of Spain proper as affecting the Americas almost if not wholly ceased. Her gift to the new world was by this time complete except as regards the island dependencies of the West Indies and the Philippines in the Far East. She was still to have important relations with the Americas, such as her vain endeavor to suppress the revolutions of her colonies and her relations with the United States concerning Florida an
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CHAPTER XL THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY, 1898-1917
CHAPTER XL THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY, 1898-1917
S PANIARDS are in the habit of discussing their recent national development with reference to the year 1898, which is recognized as a turning-point in Spanish life, a change held by them to have been decidedly for the better. Nevertheless, the way had begun to be prepared with the accession of Alfonso XII to the throne; the splendid monument to that king in the Retiro at Madrid can be explained only on the ground that he symbolizes the re-establishment of good order in the peninsula, with a gove
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