Module Guide

Imperial Spain 1476-1840

Credit Rating

There are 30 Scotcat points available for this module.

Module Pre-requisites

You may take this module if you have accumulated a minimum of 200 credits.

Module Content

The module examines:

• Relations between Castile and the other territories of the Iberian peninsula in the period indicated
• The rise of Spain, and the acquisition of a European and world empire
• The decline of Spain
• The development of Spain's distinctive ethnic, political and religious institutions

Module Aims

The main aims of the module are:

• To offer a broad historical analysis of Spain's development between the later fifteenth and the early nineteenth century centuries
• To examine the relationship between the various territories of 'Spain'
• To explore different assessments of the rise and fall of Spain as both Great Power and imperial power
• To study the historiography of the subject

Intended Learning Outcomes

• An enhanced understanding of the main features and determinants of Spain's development between the later fifteenth and the early nineteenth century centuries
• Knowledge and understanding of the nature of Spanish politics and society, and of the key developments both within Spain and in Spain's changing relationship with the world outside
• Awareness of connections between various aspects of the module

Teaching

Eleven hours of lectures, ten hours of seminars and ten hours of tutorials

Core Reading

Elliott, J. H., Imperial Spain 1469-1716 (London, 1963) [2nd ed., London, 2002]
Kamen, H., Spain 1469-1714. A Society of Conflict (London, 1983)
Kamen, H., Spain's Road to Empire. The Making of a World Power 1492-1763 (London, 2002)
Lynch, J., Spain under the Habsburgs, Vol. 1: Empire and Absolutism 1516-1598 (2nd ed., Oxford,1986)
Lynch, J., Spain under the Habsburgs, Vol. 2: Spain and America 1598-1700 (2nd ed., Oxford, 1981)
Lynch, J., Bourbon Spain 1700-1808 (Oxford, 1989)

Assessment

• One essay worth 20% of the final mark
• An oral presentation worth 15% of the final mark
• A module journal worth 15% of the final mark
• A two-hour Degree examination worth 50% of the final mark

Specimen Essay Titles

• Was early modern Spain 'institutionally racist'?
• How far was the War of the Spanish Succession a Spanish civil war?
• Explain the failure of Spain's efforts to retain its American empire after 1800