1 - The Spanish conquest and settlement of America

Summary

THE SPANISH CONQUEST AND SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA

Charles Julian Bishko, ‘The Iberian background of Latin American history: Recent progress and continuing problems’, HAHR, 36 (1956), 50–80, is an admirable introduction to the essential bibliographical tools and identifies the areas in which more research is needed, as well as those in which valuable work has been done. The Indice histérico espanol (Barcelona, 1953–), which may be regarded as a sequel to Benito Sanchez Alonso’s indispensable Fuentes de la historia espanola e hispanoamericana, 3 vols., 3rd ed. (Madrid, 1952), with the additional advantage of including brief comments on the books and articles which it lists, has unfortunately shown signs of flagging in recent years.

There is now a good selection of general books on the Iberian peninsula in the later Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, although Spain is much better served in this respect than Portugal. The classic work of Roger B. Merriman, The Rise of the Spanish Empire in the Old World and the New, 4 vols. (New York, 1918–34, reprinted 1962) is still useful, particularly for political and institutional history, but has at many points been superseded by more recent work. It is weakest in the areas of economic and social history, where it should be supplemented by Jaime Vicens Vives, An Economic History of Spain (Princeton, N.J., 1969), and vols. 2 and 3 of Historia social y económica de Españay América (Barcelona, 1957), a collaborative enterprise edited by Vicens Vives. A more recent work is V. Vazquez de Prada, Historia económica y social de España, vol. 3 (Los siglos XVI y XVII) (Madrid, 1978).