Roots of Empire

Forests and State Power in Early Modern Spain, C.1500-1750
Erscheinungsjahr 2015
ISBN: 978-90-04-26136-5
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 4, 268 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 567 g

Reihe: Brill's Series in the History of the Environment

Roots of Empire is the first monograph to connect forest management and state-building in the early modern Spanish global monarchy. The Spanish crown's control over valuable sources of shipbuilding timber in Spain, Latin America, and the Philippines was critical for developing and sustaining its maritime empire. This book examines Spain's forest management policies from the sixteenth century through the middle of the eighteenth century, connecting the global imperial level with local lived experiences in forest communities impacted by this manifestation of expanded state power. As home to the early modern world's most extensive forestry bureaucracy, Spain met serious political, technological, and financial limitations while still managing to address most of its timber needs without upending the social balance.

Zielgruppe

Anyone interested in the history of Spain and its empire, environmental history, forest history, state formation, and comparative early modern studies.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wing, John T

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Umweltgeschichte & Umweltarchäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements ix

List of Maps, Figures, and Tables xiii

Introducing Spanish State Forestry 1

The Widow’s Oak and the Spanish State in the Valley of Carriedo 1

The Politics of Wood Shortage Fears in the Early Modern World 19

Spanish Forest Landscapes from Prehistory to the Reconquest 29

Plan of the Work 38

1 A New State Forestry for the First Global Age 44

Crown and Forests, Redefined 44

Spanish Forest Landscapes from the Reconquest to the Habsburgs 47

Medieval Forest Regulations and Naval Power in the Reign of Carlos I (1516–1556) 54

A New Era of Naval Strategy in the Reign of Felipe II (1556–1598) 65

Forests and the Collection of Geographic Knowledge 70

The Enterprise of England: Recovery and Response 76

2 Forests of the Ultramar 85

Colonial Forest Territoriality in the Sixteenth Century 85

Geographic Knowledge Channels Across the Atlantic 87

Spanish Shipbuilding in the Old and New Worlds 91

Regulating Colonial Forest Use in the Sixteenth Century 96

Naval Forestry and Imperial Rivalries 116

3 The Struggle to Stay Afloat in the Seventeenth Century 120

Transition and Persistence in Spanish Forests under the Later Habsburgs 120

State Forestry in Times of Peace and Global Conflict in the Early 1600s 122

To a New Generation of Forest Inspectors: Barros’s Letter to Riva Herrera 127

The Formation of Forest Superintendent Dynasties 130

The Waning of Spanish Imperial Might 138

Toribio Perez de Bustamante’s Instrucción of 1650 141

Colonial Forest Territoriality in the Seventeenth Century 145

Habsburg State Forestry in an Era of Naval Decline 156

4 Bottoming Out and Revival under the First Bourbon, 1700–1746 165

Expansion of State Forestry in the Reign of Felipe V (1700–1746) 165

Voices for Reform from the North Coast 168

Patino’s Tenure and the Reestablishment of the Almirantazgo 174

Forest Reconnaissance in the Naval Departments of Ferrol, Cartagena, and Cadiz 178

The Forest Inspections of Juan Valdes y Castro in Segura and Catalonia 183

Colonial Forest Territoriality in the Eighteenth Century 193

Accomplishments of Felipe V’s Reign 201

5 The Triumph of State Forestry: 1748–1754 203

Ensenada’s Push for Peace and Naval Revival, 1743–1748 203

Spain’s Naval Forest Conservation Ordinance of January 31, 1748 206

Other Forest Legislation, 1748–1751 215

Resistance to the New Legislation 219

Forest Inspection Reports after 1748 222

Other Reforms and Ensenada’s Fall from Power, 1749–1754 232

Accomplishments of Fernando VI’s Reign (1746–1759) 236

General Conclusion 240

Bibliography 247

Index 263

Über Autor(innen)

John T. Wing, Ph.D. (2009), University of Minnesota, is Assistant Professor of History at the College of Staten Island, The City University of New York. He has published articles on Spanish forest history in Environmental History and the Journal of Early Modern History.