SPANISH KINGS TOO OBTAIN NEW RESOURCES, AND THEIR IMAGE CHANGES AS DOES THAT OF FRENCH KINGS
Carlos V by Bartolomé Vicente, toward 1675 / zoom |
In another painting he rides a horse.
But those resources come from the outside, not from local producers:
Origins of Spain's new revenues: Flanders and the New World
Dominating wealthy Flanders and seizing the treasures of Latin America finance 150 years of hegemony and a Golden Age of churches, theater decors, thousands of plays.
They finance the Inquisition as well, which takes off in the 16th century. Like other official neutralizations of wealth it absorbs investible funds and reinforces authority:
Tribunals appear throughout Spain and in the territories it controls. Each remunerates two or three Inquisitors, who are thoroughly trained, well-paid members of the elite, as well as notaries, lawyers, scribes, doctors, prison guards and executioners. -- The Faith of Remembrance: Marano Labyrinths by Nathan Wachtel, 2009
Victims must repent before the king or if outside Madrid, before his representatives. Then they learn whether will be burned. |
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The Inquisition at Night by Francisco Goya, 1810 / zoom
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The regime makes forcibly converted Jews or Muslims who may still retain ancestral practices the defenseless enemy. But not Protestants, whom the archaic monarchy keeps from even starting.
So Spain does not change.
Internet, photographer unknown
The facade of Saint is rebuilt in the 18th century — with 16th-century decor.
And when Spain's outside revenues give out France sucks it into its orbit as inexorably as producers in Africa sweep away archaic kingdoms when the Atlantic slave trade ends.  |
The ambassador of Spain kneels before Louis's son, the new king of Spain.
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