Under consideration are three volumes of competent, if lackluster essays on various aspects of Spanish history, few of which have much relation to the Latin American field. The first volume, that on the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, begins with a tired essay by Quintín Aldea in which a search for “universal concepts” about the Renaissance becomes a simple review of the literature (“Límites y valoración del tránsito de la edad media a la moderna,” I, 1-36). Of interest, however, are the analyses of the views of Américo Castro, José Ortega y Gasset, and Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz. Ortega and, to a certain extent, Sánchez-Albornoz concluded that Spain had no Renaissance, but rather a prolonged medieval period. Sánchez-Albornoz’ views have significance for the interpretation of the colonial period in Hispano-America, inasmuch as he believes that the discovery of the New World affirmed the traditional values of Spanish medieval society and initiated the last period of the epic Middle Ages. The result was the implantation in the Indies of basically medieval institutions, a rebirth of medieval Spain in a new setting.
The most suggestive article in all three tomes is, to my mind, Antonio Rumeu de Armas’ essay on problems derived from culture contact, “Los problemas derivados del contacto de razas en los albores del renacimiento” (I, 61-103). Rumeu here traces the idea and, in particular, the status of the infidel in Spanish law from the Middle Ages until 1500, dealing with such topics as the slavery of the infidel, holy war against infidels, and missionary activity—all of these very clear antecedents to New World experience. Of special interest is the discussion concerning the impact of various papal bulls on missionary activity, first in Africa and later in the New World (e.g., Regimini gregis, 1476, and the Inter caetera bulls of 1493). The final section stresses the fight for the freedom of the American Indian. The discussion is narrow and legalistic, and strangely enough the author does not cite the work of Lewis Hanke. Nevertheless, the article is valuable in that it makes clear to what a significant degree contact between Spaniards and natives in the New World was anticipated and influenced by prior experience in Spain and in Africa. A final article of interest in Vol. I is that by Felipe Ruiz Martín on the population of Spain in the sixteenth century (“La población española al comienzo de los tiempos modernos,” I, 190-202), which establishes an annual growth rate of 6.76 for the Spanish population between 1530 and 1591.
The articles in the second volume are devoted to Spanish-French relationships from Roman times through the eighteenth century. A long essay by Ruiz Martín on Spanish finances during the reign of Philip II (“Las finanzas españolas durante el reinado de Felipe II,” II, 109-173) contains some notes on the role of the Casa de Contratación. However, the most interesting article of the set is Marcelin Defourneaux’s on France and freedom of the Indies trade (“La France et la liberté du commerce des Indes,” II, 187-203) during the eighteenth century. He cites measures of Charles III to regulate trade between Spain and the Indies and points out that France was hurt by restrictive measures which favored Spanish products to the detriment of certain foreign goods. Defourneaux concludes that restrictive measures heightened the interests of criollos in economic freedom, which in turn became one of the essential factors in the independence movement. An article by Miguel Batllori (“Las relaciones culturales hispano-francesas en el siglo XVIII,” II, 205-249) provides a good summary of research on French influence on the Spanish Enlightenment, covering all of the enlightened disciplines.
The final volume, on Castilian society in the lower Middle Ages, is of least relevance to Latin Americanists. A great deal of space is devoted to Salvador de Moxó’s study of the transformation of the nobility of Castile in the latter medieval period (“De la nobleza vieja a la nobleza nueva,” III, 1-210). He describes the circumstances favoring the inundation of the old Castilian nobility by new families, resulting in an entirely new hierarchy by the end of the fourteenth century. Some of these circumstances were the weakness of feudal eontractualism in Spain (the duties of the nobles were imperfectly institutionalized) and—partly a result of the foregoing—the extremely accentuated politicization of the nobles. The volume also includes two social studies of late medieval towns: Julio Valdeón Barque, “Una ciudad castellana en la segunda mitad del siglo XIV: el ejemplo de Murcia” (II, 211-254) and Nicolás Cabrillana Ciezar, “Salamanca en el siglo XV: nobles y campesinos” (III, 255-295).
