Iberian World Empires and the Globalization of Europe 14151668 (Palgrave Studies in Comparative Global History)

This open access book analyses Iberian expansion by using knowledge accumulated in recent years to test some of the most important theories regarding Europe's economic development. Adopting a comparative perspective, it considers the impact of early globalization on Iberian and Western European institutions, social development and political economies. In spite of globalization's minor importance from the commercial perspective before 1750, this book finds its impact decisive for institutional development, political economies, and processes of state-building in Iberia and Europe. The book engages current historiographies and revindicates the need to take the concept of composite monarchies as a point of departure in order to understand the period's economic and social developments, analysing the institutions and societies resulting from contact with Iberian peoples in America and Asia. The outcome is a study that nuances and contests an excessively-negative yet prevalent image of the Iberian societies, explores the difficult relationship between empires and globalization and opens paths for comparisons to other imperial formations. Acknowledgements 8 Introduction 18 Contents 10 List of Maps 15 List of Graphs 16 List of Tables 17 Part I 22 Chapter 1: Global Context and the Rise of Europe: Iberia and the Atlantic 25 Global Links and International Exchanges in Europe and the Iberian Peninsula 25 The Global Forces and the Portuguese Atlantic Expansion 25 Towards a European Poly-nuclear Recovery 30 European Recovery and Property Rights 30 The Iberian Peninsula 33 Institutions, Political Economies, and Regional Forces 35 Social Conflicts and Political Regimes 42 Aristocratic Lineages, Local Oligarchies, and Conflict 42 Isabella and Fernando: From Crisis to War and Expansion 47 Bargaining Power 47 Foreign Wars for Domestic Peace 51 Portugal: The Bases for a Precocious and Enduring Political Stability 55 Iberian State Formation in European Perspective 57 Comunidades and Germanías 57 Western Monarchies. The Iberian Kingdoms in Comparative European Perspective 62 Chapter 2: Iberian Overseas Expansion and European Trade Networks 70 Sailing the Atlantic, Conquering America 70 Challenges and Tools 71 Political Control, Bargaining, Resistance, and Environmental Failures 79 The Portuguese Empire and Asia: Bargaining, Diversity, and Limits 86 Overseas Trade and European Economies, 1492–1580 92 Silver and the Price Revolution 92 Markets and Trade Networks 96 Iberia in the Global Economy: Lowering Transaction Costs 103 An Export Economy? 103 A Semi-periphery of Europe? Domestic Trade and Institutional Improvements 107 Chapter 3: Domestic Expansion in the Iberian Kingdoms 117 A Technological Crossroad 118 Local Institutions, Regional Ecosystems, and Land Property Rights 121 Economic Expansion in a Pre-industrial Society 136 Growth and Development 137 The Advantages of Peasant Economies and Increasing Productivity 142 The Final Test: Industrial Development and Regional Urban Systems 151 Patterns of Economic Growth, Market, and Institutions 156 Conclusions Part I 162 The Iberian Grounds of the Early Modern Globalization of Europe 162 Part II 170 Chapter 4: The Empires of a Composite Monarchy, 1521–1598: Problem or Solution? 171 Why Castile? 172 The Problems of a European Composite Monarchy 172 Castile, a Nervus Belli 178 A Conflictive Pact 190 The Challenges of a Dynamic Society 190 Absolutism As a Threat to the Dominant Coalition 193 A Crucial do ut des 195 Global Forces and the Mobilization of Resources 202 Silver and the Circulation of Elites Within the Empire 203 Mobilization of Resources and the Limits of the System 208 The Empire As a Solution in Portugal 214 Peninsular Trends 220 Chapter 5: The Crystallization of a Political Economy, c. 1580–1630 226 Iberian Stereotypes and Cultural Beliefs in European Perspective 227 Formal Institutions 230 Family and Social Networks 241 Transaction Costs, Rent-Seeking, and Allocation of Resources: A Qualitative Approach 250 Conclusions Part II 272 State Building and Institutions 272 Part III 283 Chapter 6: Global Forces and European Competition 284 Religion As a Factor: Western European Patterns of Development 285 Globalizing Agents 297 Informal Globalizing Networks 297 European Integration 302 Habsburg Wars, American Silver, and the European Trends 307 The Gradual Shift to the North 312 1600: The Problems of Europe 312 The Peninsular Interior by 1590–1600: The Limits of a More Rigid Economy 315 Long-Term Changes 315 The End of Century Crisis in Castile 319 The Advantages of the Enemies 324 Chapter 7: The Luso-Spanish Composite Global Empire, 1598–1640 335 The Iberian Complex in a Global Perspective 335 Two Empires and One World 335 The Problem of Information 339 Social Networks and Informal Institutions in a Cross-Border Perspective 341 ‘Perverting’ ‘Perverted’ Institutions? 345 Justice, Enforcement, and Distance 345 Dominant Coalitions, Patronage, Rent-Seeking, Corruption, Fraud, and Contraband 349 Corrosive Globalization 354 Globalization and Regional Economies 354 Problems of Regulation and Internal Conflicts 357 World War, Money, and Men 360 Mars and Mercury on a World Scale 362 Global Wars and the Relevance of the Imperial Periphery 376 Cash for the King on a Global Scale 376 But Not Only Cash: The Real Burden of the War 383 Chapter 8: Ruptures, Resilient Empires, and Small Divergences 389 Olivares’ Challenge to the Imperial Elites 389 Reformism 390 Fiscalism and Upheavals 393 Castile: Change and Continuity 397 Reshaping the Conflictive Pact at the Core of the Empire 397 Patrimonial Management, the Economic Resilience of Elites, and Property Rights 401 A Balance 404 Ruptures and Continuities: A Decadent Empire? 408 Ruptures in the European Peripheral Kingdoms: Portugal and Catalonia 408 The Portuguese Rupture: Globalization Against the Composite Empire 408 The Catalan Crisis or the Problem of a Composite Monarchy 415 The Renewal of the American Colonial Pact 420 A Renovated and Difficult Agreement 420 Ecosystems, Globalization, and Plenty Versus Formal Institutions 425 Regional Recession and New Growth Patterns in Iberia, c. 1600–1668 430 Big Trends, Big Numbers: Recession in the Empire’s Core 430 Crisis and Adaptation in the Peninsula’s Periphery 435 A New Pattern of Growth 441 Conclusions Part III 447 Organizing and Paying for Global Empire, 1598–1668 447 Epilogue 455 References 462 Index 510 "This open access book analyses Iberian expansion by using knowledge accumulated in recent years to test some of the most important theories regarding Europe's economic development. Adopting a comparative perspective, it considers the impact of early globalization on Iberian and Western European institutions, social development and political economies. In spite of globalization's minor importance from the commercial perspective before 1750, this book finds its impact decisive for institutional development, political economies, and processes of state-building in Iberia and Europe. The book engages current historiographies and revindicates the need to take the concept of composite monarchies as a point of departure in order to understand the period's economic and social developments, analysing the institutions and societies resulting from contact with Iberian peoples in America and Asia. The outcome is a study that nuances and contests an excessively-negative yet prevalent image of the Iberian societies, explores the difficult relationship between empires and globalization and opens paths for comparisons to other imperial formations."-- Provided by publisher Front Matter ....Pages i-xxvi Front Matter ....Pages 1-3 Global Context and the Rise of Europe: Iberia and the Atlantic (Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla)....Pages 5-49 Iberian Overseas Expansion and European Trade Networks (Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla)....Pages 51-97 Domestic Expansion in the Iberian Kingdoms (Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla)....Pages 99-143 Back Matter ....Pages 145-152 Front Matter ....Pages 153-153 The Empires of a Composite Monarchy, 1521–1598: Problem or Solution? (Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla)....Pages 155-209 The Crystallization of a Political Economy, c. 1580–1630 (Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla)....Pages 211-256 Back Matter ....Pages 257-267 Front Matter ....Pages 269-269 Global Forces and European Competition (Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla)....Pages 271-321 The Luso-Spanish Composite Global Empire, 1598–1640 (Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla)....Pages 323-376 Ruptures, Resilient Empires, and Small Divergences (Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla)....Pages 377-434 Back Matter ....Pages 435-442 Back Matter ....Pages 443-520