Beginning with the Black Death in 1348 and extending through to the demise of Habsburg rule in 1700, this second edition of Spanish Society, 1348–1700 has been expanded to provide a wide and compelling exploration of Spain’s transition from the Middle Ages to modernity.
Each chapter builds on the first edition by offering new evidence of the changes in Spain’s social structure between the fourteenth and seventeenth century. Every part of society is examined, culminating in a final section that is entirely new to the second edition and presents the changing social practices of the period, particularly in response to the growing crises facing Spain as it moved into the seventeenth century. Also new to this edition is a consideration of the social meaning of culture, specifically the presence of Hermetic themes and of magical elements in Golden Age literature and Cervantes’ Don Quijote.
Through the extensive use of case studies, historical examples and literary extracts, Spanish Society is an ideal way for students to gain direct access to this captivating period.
Contents
List of tables
Preface to the second edition
Preface to the first edition
Acknowledgements
Introduction: from medieval to early modern
PART ONE: THE GEOGRAPHY AND POLITICAL SETTING
1 The Making of Spain
PART TWO: A SOCIETY OF ORDERS
2 Those who have not: peasants and town dwellers 3 Those who have: nobility and clergy 4 On the margins of society
PART THREE: THE STRUCTURES OF EVERYDAY LIFE
5 Festivals and power: sites of inclusion and exclusion 6 From Carnival to Corpus Christi: festivals of affirmation 7 The burdens of violence: sites of conflict 8 Resisting violence: the wrath of the poor 9 The patterns of everyday life: eating and dressing 10 The patterns of everyday life: religion, honour, sexuality and popular culture
PART FOUR: CULTURE AND SOCIETY IN AN AGE OF DECLINE
11 Spain under the late Habsburgs: Society in an age of crisis I
12 Spain under the late Habsburgs: Society in an age of crisis II
Conclusion
Appendix I: Chronology of events, 1390–1700
Appendix II: Glossary of terms
Bibliography
Index
Biography
Teofilo F. Ruiz is Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. His previous publications include A King Travels: Festive Traditions in Late Medieval and Early Modern Spain (2012), Spain, 1300-1469: Centuries of Crises (2007), Medieval Europe and the World (2005) and From Heaven to Earth: The Reordering of Castilian Society, 1150–1350 (2004).
"Spanish Society combines up to date scholarship with accessible readibility for students. Teo Ruiz's use of vignettes makes of this book a handy resource while covering themes familiar to historians of Spain' s Golden Age. The topical rather than chronological lay out of Spanish Society enables instructors to craft their courses in multiple ways. Still, the intellectual depth of Spanish Society provides for stimulating classroom dialogue. As such, Ruiz's textbook has no parallel."Céline Dauverd, University of Colorado Boulder, USA
