By Christopher Storrs

Christopher Storrs provides a clean new appraisal of the explanations for the survival of Spain and its ecu and abroad empire below the final Spanish Habsburg, Carlos II (1665-1700). Hitherto it's been principally assumed that during the ''Age of Louis XIV'' Spain collapsed as an army, naval and imperial strength, and basically retained its empire simply because states which had hitherto antagonistic Spanish hegemony got here to Carlos's reduction. even if, this view heavily underestimates the efforts of Carlos II and his ministers to elevate males to struggle in Spain's numerous armies--above all in Flanders, Lombardy, and Catalonia--and to make sure that Spain persevered to have galleons within the Atlantic and galleys within the Mediterranean. those commitments have been pricey, in order that the financial pressures on Carlos' topics to fund the empire persevered to be massive. now not strangely, those calls for additional to the political tensions in a reign during which the succession challenge already generated problems. in addition they positioned strain on an administrative constitution which printed a few weaknesses yet which additionally proved its worthy in time of desire. the load of empire used to be nonetheless principally carried in Spain by way of Castile (assisted by way of the silver of the Indies), yet Spain's skill to hold onto empire used to be additionally helped by means of a better integration of centre and outer edge, and via the contribution of the non-Castilian territories, particularly Aragon in Spain and Naples in Spanish Italy. This publication appreciably revises our figuring out of the final a long time of Habsburg Spain. As Storrs demonstrates, it was once a kingdom and society extra truly dedicated to the retention of empire - and extra profitable in attaining this--than historians have hitherto stated.