Imperial Spain in the English Imagination, 1563--1662

Early modern Englishmen had good reason to worry about Spain. With territories stretching from the heart of Europe, across the Atlantic New World to the measureless Pacific, the Spanish Empire was like nothing the world had seen. Spain's global empire enabled a might that Englishmen feared was aimed at them. This dissertation brings the impact of Spanish power to the center of early modern English history and argues that the Spanish Empire was decisive in the formation of the English empire. Early English imperial efforts were the reactions of politically and economically marginalized actors countering perceived Spanish threats. English propagandists, merchants, and courtiers sought to form a polity capable of withstanding the shocks inflicted on Europe by the Spanish Habsburg monarchy. Thus, England's empire did not form in isolation but instead arose in emulation of and competition against the dominant European model: the Spanish Empire. Broadening the chronology beyond familiar points of conflict, such as the Armada in 1588 or the Spanish Match in 1623, demonstrates how Spain played an ambiguous role in domestic discourse and reveals a persistent English cosmopolitanism. Surprisingly, some English men and women even argued that cooperation and alliance with Spain were the surest ways to secure English stability. Many English merchants and courtiers saw amity with Spain as a way to navigate political instability in Europe, while colonial promoters looked to Spanish history for inspiration in managing their enterprises. Evidence found in several distinctive types of sources underscores how Spain was used differently within English society. Cheap print and contemporary literature capture popular understandings of Spain and demonstrate that all levels of English society understood the stakes of imperial competition with Spain. Legal records from the High Court of Admiralty, a largely un-catalogued collection of manuscripts at Britain's National Archives, provide evidence of English and Spanish mutual dependence at an individual rather than state level. This study of Spain in the English imagination, covering a wide chronological period and employing innovative sources ultimately dissolves boundaries in the historiography and reintegrates British imperial and Atlantic history within domestic English political and cultural histories.