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Y206: Spain 1469–1556

Overseas policies and the economy: economic impact of the New World and foreign policy

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit group 2

Overview

Recall questions on the economic impact of the New World on Spanish trade and the economy, domestic trade, industry and agriculture, foreign policy: aims and threats.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What was the state of Spanish industry and internal trade?

Who and when

How did the Italian Wars develop under Charles?

Who and when

How did Charles's position as Holy Roman Emperor affect Spain?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How did the New World change Spanish trade?

    Model answer

    It created an entirely new market supplied through the monopoly port of Seville, whose merchant community and shipping grew rapidly, exporting wine, oil, cloth and tools and importing bullion, hides, dyestuffs and sugar.

  2. 2

    When did American treasure become a major part of royal income?

    Model answer

    Not in the early decades, when returns were modest; the transformation came with the silver of Potosí from 1545 and of Zacatecas from 1546, so it was Charles's later years and his successor's reign that felt the full flow.

  3. 3

    Explain how New World silver damaged as well as helped the Spanish economy.

    Model answer

    It fuelled a steady rise in prices that made Castilian goods dear and uncompetitive, allowed the crown to borrow recklessly against future cargoes, and drew capital into rents and lending rather than production, so foreign manufacturers supplied both Spain and its colonies.

  4. 4

    Why did the Mesta matter to the Castilian economy?

    Model answer

    The privileged sheep-owners' guild controlled the great migratory flocks whose wool was Castile's main export to Flanders and Italy, and the crown protected its grazing rights because it taxed the trade, at the cost of arable farming.

  5. 5

    Describe the condition of Castilian agriculture under Charles.

    Model answer

    It struggled: grazing rights and entailed estates limited land use, a price ceiling on grain discouraged production, and a rising population meant that Castile had increasingly to import grain in bad years.

  6. 6

    What was the state of Spanish industry and internal trade?

    Model answer

    Cloth at Segovia and Cuenca, silk at Toledo and Granada and iron in the north grew with colonial demand, and the fairs at Medina del Campo made Castile a centre of exchange and credit, but production stayed small-scale and could not meet demand at competitive prices.

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