The Spanish Empire

Catalog description

This writing intensive course follows a standard political chronology, starting with the unification of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon in 1469, followed by the ascension of the Habsburg kings, and ending with the death of Philip IV in 1665. The course will then examine the Spanish Empire both in Europe and abroad, paying close attention to the ways in which Spaniards, Africans, and Indigenous communities experienced and participated in the imperial project. Students will evaluate the successes and failures of the period through close studies of several major spiritual, artistic, and literary productions, and through an exploration of the connections between political, domestic, and religious policy in Iberia and in the colonies, with special attention to the use and function of the Spanish Inquisition.