Empire and Its Discontents: The History of Spain and Its Empire from the Middle Ages to the Modern Era

Beginning with the period of Islamic rule over large
swaths of Spain during the Middle Ages, then
covering the establishment of a global empire in
the 1500s and concluding with the last gasps of
colonialism in the twentieth century, this series will
examine key themes in the history of the Spanish
Empire, including religion and race, the development
of extractive colonial economies and the cultural
flourishing of art and literature of the “Golden Age.”

January 8: A Land of Three Faiths
This lecture offers a sweeping introduction to the
medieval history of the Iberian Peninsula, from the
advent of Islamic rule in 711 up to the fall of Granada
in 1492. We will discuss the complex dynamics of
Jewish, Muslim and Christian relations through
the centuries—forces that proved fundamental to
understanding the history as well as the cultural
production of Spain and its empire in the early
modern era.

January 15: A Global Empire (Note this is a 1 p.m.
lecture)
Spain was an unlikely candidate to forge an overseas
empire. This lecture examines the earliest phases of
expansion into the Canary Islands (1342) followed
by further dramatic episodes of conquest into North
Africa (1497-1535), into Italy (1495-1525), across
the Americas (1492-1535) and into the Pacific with
the conquest of the Philippines (1565). Here we will
look at the combination of forces and motives that
drove expansionism, with careful consideration of
the significant differences that characterized each of
these theatres.

January 22: Religion and Governance
The establishment of a global empire that ruled
over an incredible diversity of peoples (both in Spain
proper and in its overseas possessions) stimulated
a series of legal debates over the status of newly-
subject peoples and the doctrines governing the
political rights of non-Christians in a Catholic empire.
Beginning with the pogroms carried out against
Jewish communities in 1391 and addressing the
establishment of the Spanish Inquisition, the edict
expelling the Jews (1492), the forced conversion of
Muslims (1502), the debates over the juridical status
of the American Indians (1512-1551), the treatment of
Lutherans and other religiously heterodox individuals
and the ultimate expulsion of the Moriscos
(converted Muslims) (1609-1614), this lecture
explores the ways Church and State both attempted
to manage the diverse mosaic of early modern
Spanish subjects.

February 5: The Economy, Crisis and Attempts at
Reform (1535-1640)
From the moment Spanish conquistadors conquered
Peru and gained access to the region’s silver, bullion
began to flow into the royal coffers. At the same
time, this produced drastic inflationary spikes and
repeated royal bankruptcies during the 1500s.
Rural farmers in Spain abandoned their lands and
moved to cities seeking employment, resulting
in agricultural declines. Meanwhile, technocrats
proposed reforms aimed at addressing the economic
and social woes of the empire. By and large, these
reforms were stymied or unsuccessful. Soon the
age of revolt rocked the monarchy, with rebellions
erupting in Aragon (1590-91), Catalonia (1640) and
Portugal (1640), resulting in the independence of the
latter. While the Habsburg dynasty would rule Spain
for another 60 years, serious doubts had emerged
surrounding the viability of the imperial apparatus.

February 19: The Art and Literature of Spain’s
“Siglo de Oro”
During the centuries that Spain ruled a vast empire,
Spain itself as well as its overseas territories
underwent tumultuous upheaval and changes. Some
of these themes were explored by writers in literary
form, such as the novella La Celestina (1495) or in
the picaresque literature of the sixteenth century.
At the same time, artistic expression flourished,
generating a vibrant culture of innovation embodied
in the careers of figures such as El Greco, Velázquez,
Zurburán and others. Through a variety of media,
Spanish cultural production during the early modern
era wrestled with the splendor and the misery
produced by the forging of Spain’s vast empire.

March 5: New Beginnings, or the End of Empire?
This final lecture will discuss the end of the Habsburg
dynasty in Spain (1700), the War of Spanish
Succession (1700-1714) and the era of Bourbon
rule and reform, the Napoleonic invasion of Spain
and Portugal (1807-1808), the Constitution of
Cádiz (1812), the beginnings of the independence
movements in Latin America (1820s) and the
Spanish-American War (1898), which led to the
loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. A
brief epilogue will cover Spain’s African claims in
the twentieth century, including northern Morocco,
the Rif War and Franco’s launch of the Spanish Civil
War from Morocco, Spanish Sahara and Spanish
Equatorial Guinea (independent since 1976). We will
examine the aftermath of colonialism in many of
these regions.