Henry Kamen

Philip V of Spain : the king who reigned twice

Philip V, who reluctantly assumed the Spanish throne in 1700, was the first of the Bourbon dynasty which continues to rule Spain today. His 46-year reign, briefly curtailed in 1724 when he abdicated in favour of his short-lived son, Louis I, was one of the most important in the countrys history. This highly readable account is the first biography of Philip V in English. Previous writing on Philip has been largely negative, dismissing him as comic, stupid, and indolent. Henry Kamen demonstrates here, however, that the king initiated significant developments in politics, imperial policy, finance, government, and military affairs that laid the basis of the modern Spanish state. Philip also encouraged literature, the creative arts, and music in ways that brought Spanish culture closer in touch with the rest of Europe, and he dealt authoritatively with issues concerning the autonomy of the provinces of Spain and the role of the monarchy itself. Drawing on contemporary opinion and fresh archival sources, Kamen discusses Philips character, decisions, and policies. He offers a new assessment of the kings illness (which led earlier historians to view Philip as mad) and evaluates positively the role of his two wives. Kamens account of Philip as king provides an essential introduction to the study of early eighteenth-century Spain and the Bourbon monarchy.

Philip of Spain

Philip II of Spain, ruler of the most extensive empire the world had ever known, has been viewed in a harsh and negative light since his death in 1598. Identified with repression, bigotry and fanaticism by his enemies, he has been judged more by the political events of his reign than by his person. This book is published 400 years after Philips death. Placing him within that social, cultural, religious and regional context of his times, it presents a picture of his character and reign. Drawing on Philips unpublished correspondence and on many other archival sources, Henry Kamen reveals much about Philip the youth, the man, the husband, the father, the frequently troubled Christian and the king. Kamen finds that Philip was a cosmopolitan prince whose extensive experience of northern Europe broadened his cultural imagination and tastes, whose staunchly conservatives ideas were far from being illiberal and fanatical, whose religious attitudes led him to accept a practical coexistence with protestants and jews, and whose support for Las Casas and other defenders of the Indians in America helped determine government policy.

The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision.

A completely revised edition of the most comprehensive book on the subject. Ever since the 16th century, the Inquisition has been held synonymous with terror, bigotry and persecution, and distorted views of its activities persist today. Henry Kamens 1st study of the Inquisition, published in 1965, quickly became established as the best intro to 1 of the most notorious intstiutions in Western history. Now, completely revised,it is the most up-to date evaluation of the subject available.

Reviews : Peggy K. Liss, Isabel the Queen. Life and Times, New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-507356-8, 1992; x + 398 pp.; US

The quincentenary of Columbus inevitably produced a spate of biographies and Isabella of Castile was not forgotten: new lives of her have been published in Spain, France and America. Peggy Liss’s large volume is an amiable and useful contribution to the field, promising us ’a tale rich in fame and glory, tragedy and irony’. As these words suggest, her chosen idiom is a popular one, her themes are personalities and passions, her characters stride with flourishes through her pages. Although she has strayed from her own field of specialized research, she has not relin-

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But these reservations did not dim this reader’s enthusiasm for this study, which marshalls its sources to build a careful, articulated and convincing portrait of the enthusiasm and the exhaustion of a religious reformation. The work is also entertaining, peppered with insights like the use of magic for socially inappropriate lovers, the anticlerical aftermath of the Comunero revolt, the overwhelmingly feminine ownership of private religious artwork, and the perils of purgatory and indulgences

Reviews : Francisco Fajardo Spínola, Hechicerfa y brujería en Canarias en la Edad Moderna, Las Palmas, Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, ISBN 84-86127-86-6, 1992; 545 pp.; no price given

as Gindely and Pekar has been continued by Josef Polisensky, whose remarkable general study of the war has recently been published in English (1971). There could hardly be a better man than he to introduce the series to us. When completed the documents will apparently fill seven volumes. Professor Polisensky dwells on the great problems involved in selecting and editing, and points out that the Wallenstein papers in Prague alone, for example, amount to 17,000 docu-