For nearly two centuries Spain was the world’s most influential nation, dominant in Europe and with authority over immense territories in America and the Pacific. Because none of this was achieved by its own economic or military resources, Henry Kamen sets out to explain how it achieved the unexpected status of world power, and examines political events and foreign policy through the reigns of each of the nation’s rulers, from Ferdinand and Isabella at the end of the fifteenth century to Philip V in the 1700s. He explores the distinctive features that made up 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. In an entirely re-written text, he also pays careful attention to recent work on art and culture, social development and the role of women, as well as considering the obsession of Spaniards with imperial failure, and their use of the concept of ‘decline’ to insist on a mythical past of greatness. The essential fragility of Spain’s resources, he explains, was the principal reason why it never succeeded in achieving success as an imperial power. This completely updated fourth edition of Henry Kamen’s authoritative, accessible survey of Spanish politics and civilisation in the Golden Age of its world experience substantially expands the coverage of themes and takes account of the latest published research.
Reassesses King Philip II's reputation as narrow-minded tyrant, describes the major events of his reign, and presents a more rounded depiction of his personality
In this completely updated edition of Henry Kamen's classic survey of the Spanish Inquisition, the author incorporates the latest research in multiple languages to offer a new-and thought-provoking-view of this fascinating period. Kamen sets the notorious Christian tribunal into the broader context of Islamic and Jewish culture in the Mediterranean, reassesses its consequences for Jewish culture, measures its impact on Spain's intellectual life, and firmly rebuts a variety of myths and exaggerations that have distorted understandings of the Inquisition. He concludes with disturbing reflections on the impact of state security organizations in our own time"--
Drawing together common features of society from a range of different contexts throughout Europe, from Italy and Spain to Poland and Russia, Early Modern European Society surveys the sweeping changes affecting Europe from the end of the fifteenth century to the early decades of the eighteenth century. Henry Kamen includes discussion on: European identities, frontiers and language leisure, work and migration religion, ritual and witchcraft the aristocracy, the bourgeoisie and the poor gender roles social discipline and absolutism.
From the late-fifteenth to the mid-eighteenth century, Spain was the most extensive empire the world had seen, stretching from Naples and the Netherlands to the Philippines. This provocative work of history attributes Spain's rise to power to the collaboration of international business interests, including Italian financiers, German technicians, and Dutch traders. At the height of its power, the Spanish Empire was a global enterprise in which non-Spaniards -- Portuguese, Basque, Aztec, Genoese, Chinese, Flemish, West African, Incan, and Neapolitan -- played an essential role. Challenging, persuasive, and unique in its thesis, Henry Kamen's Empire explores Spain's complex impact on world history with admirable clarity and intelligence.
A new edition of a seminal work—one that explores crucial changes within Europe from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century The early modern period was one of profound change in Europe. It was witness to the development of science, religious reformation, and the birth of the nation state. As Europeans explored the world—looking to Asia and the Americas for new peoples and lands—their societies grew and adapted. Eminent historian Henry Kamen explores in depth the issues that most affected those living in early modern Europe—from leisure, work, and migration to religion, gender, and discipline—and the way in which population change impacted the aristocracy, the bourgeoisie, and the poor. The third edition of this pioneering study includes new and updated material on gender, religion, and population movement. Richly illustrated, this is essential reading for all those interested in early modern European society.
For over a century Spain controlled the greatest empire the world had ever seen, and its collapse provoked, both then as it does now, a range of analyses over which there has been little agreement. In the second edition of this successful text, Henry Kamen asks: was the Golden Age of Spain in the 16th century actually an illusion? By examining some of the key issues involved, Kamen offers a balanced discussion of this fundamental question. Golden Age Spain: - Offers a concise introduction to the major themes and debates - Is now thoroughly revised and updated in the light of the latest research - Contains new chapters which cover such topics as culture and religion - Highlights key issues and questions at the start of each chapter - Includes a helpful glossary and an expanded bibliography to aid further study. Approachable and easy-to-follow, this text is essential reading for anyone with an interest in one of the most fascinating periods of Spanish history.
Between 1450 and 1750 Europe underwent tremendous political, religious and cultural change - change which laid the foundations for the Europe we know today. Henry Kamen has compiled an accessible biographical guide to Europe in this most exciting of periods - the time of the Renaissance and the Reformation, the time of da Vinci and Erasmus, Elizabeth I and Oliver Cromwell. In over a thousand entries, which cover the whole of Europe and include politics, culture, religion and science, Professor Kamen and his international contributors, all experts in their field, shed new light on the key players in this extraordinarily rich and formative period of history.
A valuable work, scholarly, readable and suggestive, which helps to place the Inquisition in the society of whose transformation it was once the creature and defender' Hugh Trevor-Roper, New Statesman.
Spain has had a long history of exiles. Since the destruction of the last Muslim territories in Granada in 1492, wave after wave of its people have been driven from the country. The Disinherited paints a vivid picture of Spain’s diverse exiles, from Muslims, Jews and Protestants to Liberals, Socialists and Communists, artists, writers and musicians. Kamen describes the ways in which many of these expelled citizens have shaped Spanish culture – or impoverished it by leaving – and enriched their adopted homes through their creative responses to exile and to encounters with new worlds, Picasso, Miró, Dali and Buñuel among them. Henry Kamen’s compelling and sympathetic account tells the story of their incalculable impact on the world.
Was the Golden Age of Spain in the sixteenth century an illusion? By introducing and examining some of the key issues and themes involved, Henry Kamen offers a balanced discussion of this question. The second edition of this book has been thoroughly revised and rewritten in the light of recent research, while new chapters have been added which cover such material as religion and culture.
An engrossing biography that attempts to fathom the motivations of an infamous sixteenth-century Spanish general Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo, the third duke of Alba (1507-82), is known to history as "the butcher of Flanders." The general who carried out Philip II's repressive policies in the Netherlands, he was responsible for the massacre of thousands of men, women, and children, considering it better to lay waste an entire country than leave it in the hands of heretics. Alba came to represent for contemporaries as well as for future generations the unacceptable face of Spanish imperialism. In this intriguing re-evaluation, Henry Kamen narrates the duke's personal history, looking beyond the conventional image to reveal motives and to explain rather than simply to condemn. Kamen examines the early years of Alba's life, his travels over the whole of Europe, and the complex military and political career that made him Spain's leading general of the imperial age. Drawing on the duke's rich and expressive surviving correspondence, Kamen explores Alba's beliefs and considers his infamous actions within the contexts of his time and of the monarchs--Emperor Charles V and King Philip II of Spain--whom he served.
Philip V, who reluctantly assumed the Spanish throne in 1700, was the first of the Bourbon dynasty which continues to rule Spain today. His 46-year reign, briefly curtailed in 1724 when he abdicated in favour of his short-lived son, Louis I, was one of the most important in the country's history. This account is the first biography of Philip V in English. Drawing on contemporary opinion and fresh archival sources, Kamen discusses Philip's character, decisions and policies. He offers a new assessment of the king's illness (which led earlier historians to view Philip as mad) and re-evaluates the role of his two wives. Kamen's account of Philip as king also provides an essential introduction to the study of early eighteenth-century Spain and the Bourbon monarchy.
In sixteenth-century Europe, culture and religious belief were so enmeshed that they informed and underpinned every act, however mundane, of every ordinary man or woman. But while the Reformation is acknowledged to have brought revolutionary change to Western society, the people of Catholic Europe have usually been regarded as little affected. Spain, in particular, is supposed to have escaped the winds of change entirely. Now, by considering the life of one small, but lively and distinctive, rural community - the Catalan village of Mediona - and the broader Mediterranean society of which it was part, Henry Kamen shows that, in fact, the Counter Reformation led to powerful changes in the daily life, belief and culture of the common people. Drawing exclusively on unpublished documents and on the wealth of books published during the period, the author looks at the popular culture of Catalan Spain, at the changes wrought by the Counter Reformation, at administrative reforms, the place of the community in religious belief, attempts to change popular festivities and celebrations, the far-reaching innovations in marriage and sexuality, the role of the Inquisition and of the Jesuits, the problem of witchcraft, and the impact of new ideas - introduced from abroad - on local language and the printed word. This pioneering study, the first of its kind on any Catholic society of the pre-industrial period, offers important new perspectives on the basis of the evidence for Catalonia, Spain's most vital and individual province. Kamen's Catalonia was a traditional society in which official dogma and morality played little part in everyday life, in which church marriage and the concept of Purgatory were little known, a society where control by the Inquisition was scorned, and extensive freedom of the press survived. By contemplating popular religion and culture from the bottom rather than the top, Henry Kamen offers new insights into an epoch normally studied and assessed only in the light of great political events, and presents a wholly original vision of culture and society in Golden Age Spain. 'Kamen's book may well come to be regarded as one of the top dozen or so works to have been written by a modern British historian in the field of Spanish history.' A. G. Dickens, University of London 'A detailed and compelling book of great originality, written by someone with an obvious passion for the culture he is studying. No reader could fail to be affected by Kamen's enthusiasm.' Anthony Pagden, King's College, Cambridge Henry Kamen is a distinguished historian and author, numbering among his books 'Imagining Spain: Historical Myth & National Identity', 'The Spanish Inqusition: A Historical Revision', and 'Philip V of Spain: The King Who Reigned Twice'.
Henry Kamen reassesses the significance and consequences of the expulsion of the Jews and also argues that there is little evidence for the alleged Jewishness of the conversos who were the Inquisitionʹs first victims. He presents a major revision of the impact of blood purity prejudices on Spanish society, revises the figures given for execution of heretics by the tribunal, and examines the amount of Spanish persecution in the context of executions in neighboring countries. He gives a completely new picture of the infamous censorship system, showing it to be much less effective than is often presented, and he investigates the role played by foreign propaganda in the creation of the diabolic image of the Inquisition. Kamen reconstructs the atmosphere of fear and oppression that typified the period, relating it to the fear generated by community tensions. He also demonstrates for the first time that the famous auto-da-fe was not a product of traditional Spanish piety but a deliberate tool of the inquisitors, invented in the sixteenth century in order to boost their political standing.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.