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Christians, Civilised and Spanish: Multiple Identities in Sixteenth-Century Spain1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2009

M. J. Rodríguez-Salgado
M. J. Rodríguez-Salgado
Affiliation:
The Institute of Historical Research, London
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Extract

In January 1556 Charles V renounced his rights to the Iberian kingdoms and passed them on to his son, Philip, who at once assumed the title of King of Spain. To his surprise and consternation, the English council refused to endorse it and pertly reminded him that the Kingdom of Spain did not exist. While the title had long been used, and almost every language had an equivalent for Spain and Spanish, the truth was that legally there was no such entity. Philip II's will reflected this judicial reality. He was, ‘by the grace of God, king of Castile, Leon, Aragon, the Two Sicilies, Jerusalem, Portugal, Navarre, Granada, Toledo, Valencia, Galicia, Mallorca, Seville, Sardinia, Cordoba, Corsica, Murcia, Jaen, Algarve, Gibraltar, the Canary Islands, the Eastern and Western Indies, the islands and terra firma of the Ocean Sea; archduke of Austria; duke of Burgundy, Bravant and Milan; count of Habsburg, Flanders, Tirol, Barcelona; Lord of Biscay, Molina etc.’. This lengthy litany partly explains why he and all his contemporaries habitually resorted to the title King of Spain as convenient short-hand. As we will see, however, there was more to it than simple utility. The terms were used because they were broadly understood and accepted. But it will be apparent at once that the concept of a specific Spanish identity in the sixteenth century is likely to be particularly problematic since Spain did not exist.

Type
Identities and Empires
Information
Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , Volume 8 , December 1998 , pp. 233 - 251
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1998

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References

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70 An argument could be made that other major ‘national’ identies are similarly collective constructs.

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