italia - History Lab

Letter signed by Cardinal Alberoni, to the Marquis of Villena, regretting his banishment from Court

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:33:11 +0000

Giulio Alberoni was an Italian cardinal, chief advisor to King Philip V of Spain, who arrived in Spain in 1711, where he developed a political career that ended in 1719 following an expulsion order by King Philip V. In the court context, Alberoni promoted a policy of economic and social reform. His actions, framed after the War of the Spanish Succession, sought to reduce the powers of the Grandes de España, abolished internal customs within the Crown (except for Navarre and the Basque provinces), stimulated trade with America by transferring the Casa de Contratación to Cadiz.

The post Letter signed by Cardinal Alberoni, to the Marquis of Villena, regretting his banishment from Court first appeared on History Lab.

List of the tercios and regiments of infantry and cavalry that make up the army in the states of Flanders

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:33:04 +0000

The Army of Flanders is considered to be the army that the Spanish Monarchy established to defend the territories of the Spanish Netherlands from 1516 until the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. After the signing of this Treaty, in addition to putting an end to the War of Succession, the Monarchy lost control of its dominions in Flanders.

The post List of the tercios and regiments of infantry and cavalry that make up the army in the states of Flanders first appeared on History Lab.

Malaespina, Alejandro

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:51 +0000

Prosecutorial allegation of the process of faith of the Court of the Inquisition of Murcia against Alejandro Malaespina, Italian sailor with service in the Hispanic Monarchy, for propositions. Head of the Malaespina Expedition, Alejandro was an outstanding sailor who commanded some of the most outstanding scientific expeditions of the 18th century. On his return in 1794 and after conspiring to overthrow Godoy, his figure gradually disappeared from the political scene, leaving only his scientific achievements as a legacy.

The post Malaespina, Alejandro first appeared on History Lab.

Hispanic ports under foreign jurisdiction at the end of the 17th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:25 +0000

During the second half of the 17th century, the Spanish crown established a series of strategies to control the actions of the foreign consuls who settled in Spanish ports at the end of the century. The actions were not only related to the activities of these posts, but also to the appointments themselves.
In addition to facilitating relations between countries and with large merchants in order to favour the economy, the consul’s objective was to watch over the interests of the king and to denounce those who did not do so. This was carried out by means of a network of confidants in all the ports of importance for this chronology, mainly in the Mediterranean.
By the end of the 17th century, nine distinct zones have been documented – seven in the Mediterranean and two in the Atlantic – in which the Hispanic Monarchy, through the government in Madrid, appointed consuls to represent these communities. This does not prevent the coexistence within each of these communities of consuls associated with each individual port. The nine designated zones were not fixed, as some consuls were in charge of several ports included in different zones, forming a much more elaborate and complex system to administer.

The post Hispanic ports under foreign jurisdiction at the end of the 17th century first appeared on History Lab.

Places supplied with pastel (dye for cloth) in Valencia, according to transactions in the city (1452-1500)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:14 +0000

During the late Middle Ages (13th-15th centuries), pastel was one of the most widely used vegetable dyes in textile production. It was used to obtain the colour blue, but it was also used in the composition of other shades. The exploitation of pastel was widespread in several European areas, but the best and most abundant crops were concentrated at least during the 14th and 15th centuries in Lombardy and Languedoc. From both regions there were export networks to the main economic centres of the continent, among which was the city of Valencia. Here the dye arrived by land or sea and was distributed to supply both local consumption and that generated by other populations in the Hispanic kingdoms. A micro-analysis of Valencian notarial sources from the period 1452-1500 has detected two hundred pastel transactions involving Italian merchants, mostly involving the Lombard crop. Through these transactions, pastel was delivered to merchants and craftsmen in the Valencian capital itself, but also to agents in other towns in the rest of the kingdom of Valencia, Aragon and Castile. All these places are shown on the attached map. This illustration is intended to highlight not only the extent to which textile production at the time often depended on supplies from abroad, but also the links that were established at the time between international trade (which allowed contact between Valencia and Italy, for example) and regional and local trade (thanks to which certain imports were channelled to the interior of the peninsula, also for example).

The post Places supplied with pastel (dye for cloth) in Valencia, according to transactions in the city (1452-1500) first appeared on History Lab.

Population distribution in Europe (1500-1750)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:13 +0000

During the European Modern Age, the distribution of population among the different countries of the continent diverged according to their size, population characteristics, demography and socio-economic system. In general terms, the urban world grew quantitatively between 1500 and 1750 in most Western countries, although with varying intensity. England was the most developed in this respect; a development, however, that was already present in some Mediterranean countries, such as Spain and Italy, and others in the north, such as Belgium and the Netherlands. Despite urban growth, the great evolution that the author identifies in relation to population is the exponential development of the non-agricultural rural world. In fact, if in 1500 there were 152 rural nuclei of this type, in 1750 they rose to 236, in contrast to the decrease in the agricultural sphere, from 612 in 1500 to 505 in the middle of the 18th century. The transformation of the rural world was, once again, uneven across the continent. While England, Germany, France, Austria/Hungary and Poland were the communities that most experienced this process, Italy and Spain experienced it with less incidence. In short, the distribution of population in modern Europe meant that the countries where the agricultural revolution developed the earliest grew at the quantitative levels that were already present in the Mediterranean areas.

The post Population distribution in Europe (1500-1750) first appeared on History Lab.

An international migration: Italians documented in notarial sources from the city of Valencia (1452-1500)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:33 +0000

From the mid-14th century until around 1500, demographic mobility throughout Europe reached very high levels in both quantitative and qualitative terms. The causes of human movements were multiple, as were the people and groups involved. In this context, the migrations that have been described as “elite” stand out, especially because they involved professionally qualified and sometimes economically solvent groups that moved even over long distances. This is the case of the economic operators of the cities and regions of central-northern Italy today, especially merchants and craftsmen, who were dispersed throughout most of the major cities of western Europe. In the Iberian Peninsula, their presence has been highlighted in centres such as Barcelona, Valencia, Mallorca, Zaragoza, Granada, Seville, Toledo, Valladolid and Lisbon. In the specific case of Valencia, micro-analyses carried out on local notarial sources from the period 1452-1500 have detected up to 734 individuals of this origin, whose regions of origin and professions are shown in the table below. Among these individuals were those who developed a prolonged residence in the city and an intense and powerful socio-economic activity. But there were also those who only stayed sporadically in Valencia and have left scarce traces in the documentation. In any case, they are all examples of international migration, whose effects on the host society (the Valencian one, in this example) were notable for the dose of cosmopolitanism and supralocal connection they brought.

The post An international migration: Italians documented in notarial sources from the city of Valencia (1452-1500) first appeared on History Lab.

Conquest and plunder

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:11 +0000

The documentary series The History of the World, “History as adventure, as drama, as destiny”, produced by the British channel BBC, shows with great realism some of the key events in world history, such as the arrival of Christopher Columbus in America, the atomic bomb or the death of Julius Caesar. Special attention has been paid to details such as clothing, city settings, etc. Specifically, chapter 5 deals with the conquest of the New World. Without doubt, the contact between the Spanish colonists and the natives of America and the repercussions of the gold plundering are depicted. Thus was born the extensive network of sea routes by which the English and Dutch controlled the world’s maritime trade in spices, furs and luxury goods such as tulips. Meanwhile, Europe was in the midst of terrible religious conflicts after the Protestant Reformation.

The post Conquest and plunder first appeared on History Lab.

Viceroyalty cities of the Hispanic monarchy in the 16th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:06 +0000

This programme deals with the foundation of viceroyal cities during the 16th century and the capacity for control and expansion by the monarchical institution in those colonies of the New World. Aspects of the position of the viceroy and his involvement in the different regions of Italy and the Indies are explained in detail. In addition, urban transformations are analysed, such as the structure of streets and water supply in the capitals of the viceroyalties, often linked to the direct action of the Spanish viceroys who had to deal with the local powers. Different examples are cited, such as the Italian viceroyalties, with Naples and Palermo as other cases in Europe, and the American viceroyalties, comparing the cases of Lima and Mexico.

The post Viceroyalty cities of the Hispanic monarchy in the 16th century first appeared on History Lab.

Aerial view Pisa Cathedral (Pisa, Italy)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:27:48 +0000

Through a set of 360° images, different emblematic monuments located in Tuscany, in particular in Pisa, can be visited. These images allow you to change the view, perspective, angle and focus capacity in order to enlarge them. They show different buildings of the town of Pisa located in the “Piazza del Duomo” such as the Tower of Pisa, the Cathedral and different panoramic views of the city from this location.

The post Aerial view Pisa Cathedral (Pisa, Italy) first appeared on History Lab.