ABSTRACT
In the long eighteenth century, the Spanish Empire came to stand for a world of unparalleled colonial brutality; murderous, stultifying, inquisitorial religious intolerance; arbitrary and misguided monarchical power that horded silver as it produced widespread poverty; and medieval scholasticism that churned out scores of ignorant, bookish priests, lawyers, and physicians. It offers satisfying account of Enlightenment that furthermore links reform to the undoing of the Spanish Empire. Albi demonstrates the depth and complexity of traditions of colonial legal pluralism in an empire that has long been seen as riddled with corruption and undermined by graft. Riots and revolts spawned by the Bourbon reforms notwithstanding, the Spanish Empire remained resilient. As Jordana Dym demonstrates, it was the crown that spearheaded the creation of public sphere in the colonies by financing and promoting the creation of newspapers. The breakdown of the Spanish Empire in the wake of Napoleon's invasion ought not to be linked to the reforms of the eighteenth century.
