Reaction to ‘Decay, Defeat or Renascent Empire?’

Extract

In my review of Dr van Veen's work, I stated that his lack of archival and other primary sources was ‘inexplicable’. This was a polite way of pointing out what was to me the obvious. If one wants to construct an original thesis that the Portuguese Habsburg kings turned to other investments that they felt would yield greater profit than the Estado da India, the possible proof of tfiat thesis is in the archives in Simancas. By the same token, if one wants to examine the profit and losses in Portuguese Asia, the place to look is the Historical Archives of Goa and the Overseas Archives in Lisbon. There is no substitute for working in the archives and using the very rich published primary literature on the subjects of van Veen's work. His avoidance of these sources and complete lack of any archival work in Spain, Portugal, or India is well, inexplicable.