ABSTRACT
Unlike that of the Portuguese, dispersed and peripheral, Spain’s overseas empire was in essence limited to one continent, and unlike its predecessors, based on the subjugation and Christianization of large and relatively highly developed states. Within little more than a decade the run of a continental coast from Honduras to beyond Pernambuco had been traced, and all the major West Indian islands, apart from Barbados, discovered. To these lands, and to others still unknown, Spain established her title with that admixture of guile and force that earned Machiavelli’s admiration. The Spanish sovereigns had overriding ambitions in Europe, and where, in imperial matters, royal power was most decisively exercised was in ensuring the crown’s share of the profits and in curbing the aspirations and excesses of its subjects, not in identifying and appraising new opportunities. To control, exploit and defend its overseas possessions, Spain created an imposing imperial administration.
