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Cambridge Studies in Early Modern History
The Old World and the New: 1492 - 1650
The impact of Europe on the newly-discovered world of America has long been a subject of historical fascination. But the impact of that discovery and conquest for the European conquering powers has traditionally received less attention. In this pioneering book J.H. Elliott set out to show how traditional European assumptions about geography, theology, history and the nature of man were challenged by the encounter with new lands and people; trading relationships around the world were affected by an influx of gold and silver imports from America; while politically, the sources of power were no longer confined to European territory. The 500th anniversary of Columbus's discovery has prompted renewed enquiry into the relationship of the Old World and the New; John Elliott's fascinating and now classic account is here reissued with a foreword addressing the significance of its insights for a new generation of readers.
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First published January 1, 1970
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About the author
J.H. Elliott
60 books83 followersSir John Huxtable Elliott, FBA, was an English historian, Regius Professor Emeritus at the University of Oxford and Honorary Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford and Trinity College, Cambridge. He published under the name J.H. Elliott.
Elliott was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was an assistant lecturer at Cambridge University from 1957 to 1962 and Lecturer in History from 1962 until 1967, and was subsequently Professor of History at King's College, London between 1968 and 1973. In 1972 he was elected to the Fellowship of the British Academy. Elliott was Professor in the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey from 1973 to 1990, and was Regius Professor of Modern History, Oxford between 1990 and 1997.
He held honorary doctorates from the Autonomous University of Madrid (1983), the universities Genoa (1992), Portsmouth (1993), Barcelona (1994), Warwick (1995), Brown University (1996), Valencia (1998), Lleida (1999), Complutense University of Madrid (2003), College of William & Mary (2005), London (2007), Charles III University of Madrid (2008), Seville (2011), Alcalá (2012), and Cambridge (2013). Elliott is a Fellow of the Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford, of whose Founding Council he was also a member.
Elliott was knighted in the 1994 New Year Honours for services to history and was decorated with Commander of Isabella the Catholic in 1987, the Grand Cross of Alfonso the Wise in 1988, the Grand Cross of Isabella the Catholic in 1996, and the Creu de Sant Jordi in 1999. An eminent Hispanist, he was given the Prince of Asturias Prize in 1996 for his contributions to the Social sciences. For his outstanding contributions to the history of Spain and the Spanish Empire in the early modern period, Elliott was awarded the Balzan Prize for History, 1500–1800, in 1999.
His studies of the Iberian Peninsula and the Spanish Empire helped the understanding of the problems confronting 16th- and 17th-century Spain, and the attempts of its leaders to avert its decline. He is considered, together with Raymond Carr and Angus Mackay, a major figure in developing Spanish historiography.
Elliott was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was an assistant lecturer at Cambridge University from 1957 to 1962 and Lecturer in History from 1962 until 1967, and was subsequently Professor of History at King's College, London between 1968 and 1973. In 1972 he was elected to the Fellowship of the British Academy. Elliott was Professor in the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey from 1973 to 1990, and was Regius Professor of Modern History, Oxford between 1990 and 1997.
He held honorary doctorates from the Autonomous University of Madrid (1983), the universities Genoa (1992), Portsmouth (1993), Barcelona (1994), Warwick (1995), Brown University (1996), Valencia (1998), Lleida (1999), Complutense University of Madrid (2003), College of William & Mary (2005), London (2007), Charles III University of Madrid (2008), Seville (2011), Alcalá (2012), and Cambridge (2013). Elliott is a Fellow of the Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford, of whose Founding Council he was also a member.
Elliott was knighted in the 1994 New Year Honours for services to history and was decorated with Commander of Isabella the Catholic in 1987, the Grand Cross of Alfonso the Wise in 1988, the Grand Cross of Isabella the Catholic in 1996, and the Creu de Sant Jordi in 1999. An eminent Hispanist, he was given the Prince of Asturias Prize in 1996 for his contributions to the Social sciences. For his outstanding contributions to the history of Spain and the Spanish Empire in the early modern period, Elliott was awarded the Balzan Prize for History, 1500–1800, in 1999.
His studies of the Iberian Peninsula and the Spanish Empire helped the understanding of the problems confronting 16th- and 17th-century Spain, and the attempts of its leaders to avert its decline. He is considered, together with Raymond Carr and Angus Mackay, a major figure in developing Spanish historiography.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 8, 2018
Pésimo libelo. El autor ni siquiera explica la razón de ser del libro, por ello pasamos las primeras páginas con desconcierto, con la confusión de no saber a dónde quiere llegar. La discusión en la que se inserta el libro, la dialéctica entre América y Europa, parte de una base errónea, ergo el resto es un escribir por escribir.
Me veo obligado a mencionar el pésimo método de este historiador, que omite definiciones y distinciones vitales si no queremos sumirnos en la oscuridad y la confusión. Mezcla constantemente nación e imperio, España y Europa... Por no hablar de que, queriendo o sin querer, introduce sin parar tópicos de la leyenda negra. Por poner un ejemplo, llega a decir que a América sólo se mandaban a delincuentes, revoltosos y facinerosos. Por si no fuera suficiente, cita de manera frecuente a hispanófobos declarados, como Raynal o Bodin, y tergiversa o malinterpreta a la Escuela de Salamanca.
Una lectura para olvidar.
Me veo obligado a mencionar el pésimo método de este historiador, que omite definiciones y distinciones vitales si no queremos sumirnos en la oscuridad y la confusión. Mezcla constantemente nación e imperio, España y Europa... Por no hablar de que, queriendo o sin querer, introduce sin parar tópicos de la leyenda negra. Por poner un ejemplo, llega a decir que a América sólo se mandaban a delincuentes, revoltosos y facinerosos. Por si no fuera suficiente, cita de manera frecuente a hispanófobos declarados, como Raynal o Bodin, y tergiversa o malinterpreta a la Escuela de Salamanca.
Una lectura para olvidar.
May 20, 2020
Here are a couple interesting tidbits :
1. Up to the 1550s the intellectual population of Europe wasn't interested in the discoveries of the New World. At that time it was not considered a significant event. The author covers this idea in more detail.
2. My favorite topic was the discussion on how difficult it was for the Europeans to adequately describe what they actually saw. In particular their experiences and descriptions were partially a product of their own expectations and cultural background. Even small details like the color of the land were difficult to describe since they didn't have a good frame of reference. Their ability to describe, draw, characterize and understand the native inhabitants were hampered by their own imaginations.
1. Up to the 1550s the intellectual population of Europe wasn't interested in the discoveries of the New World. At that time it was not considered a significant event. The author covers this idea in more detail.
2. My favorite topic was the discussion on how difficult it was for the Europeans to adequately describe what they actually saw. In particular their experiences and descriptions were partially a product of their own expectations and cultural background. Even small details like the color of the land were difficult to describe since they didn't have a good frame of reference. Their ability to describe, draw, characterize and understand the native inhabitants were hampered by their own imaginations.
March 24, 2020
What really was the effect on European history of the discovery of America by Columbus? Historian J.H. Elliott in The Old World and the New, 1492-1650 attempts to do just this. Unfortunately, by concentrating on the Spanish colonies, he leaves out France, England, and the Netherlands. But then, this is a short book can can easily be read in an evening.
The book has a nice bibliography which can help the interested reader dig up further details, though he leaves out some important sources, such as Diego de Landa.
The book has a nice bibliography which can help the interested reader dig up further details, though he leaves out some important sources, such as Diego de Landa.
July 4, 2015
A very small book--a hundred pages--it is made up of lectures. I think it suffers, not from a deficiency, but from the passage of time and the knowledge that has grown throughout. What he is saying does not read as new or different but I think that's because so many after him have done the same. In 1970, before the boom in Postcolonial Studies and social and cultural history, perhaps this book did read as something new. It's a nice entry-way into an examination of how and why a nation was influenced (or not influenced) by its colonies.
January 24, 2011
An excellent discussion of the impact of the discovery of the New World on Europe. The book is split into four parts and the discussion of the ideological and literary impact of Columbus' discovery was (to me) the most fascinating. An excellent bibliography accompanies this edition for anybody wishing to research further.
Highly academic in tone - the text is based on Elliott's lectures - but very relevant and timely in it's content.
Highly academic in tone - the text is based on Elliott's lectures - but very relevant and timely in it's content.
September 27, 2012
A book that I enjoy to browse over every now and then.
August 15, 2015
short and very readable, but the first chapter is quite weak and it sometimes could do with more interesting/better illustrations of points.
August 24, 2025
Breve y sumario repaso a los efectos que tuvo en Europa el descubrimiento de América. En lo positivo podríamos destacar la recopilación de testimonios de estudiosos de la época moderna que plasman su visión sobre el Nuevo Mundo.
Aún así a pesar de ser una e las referencias en el campo de la Edad Moderna, Elliott se pasa más de la mitad del libro alrededor de lo que según el no se puede conocer que sobre lo que podríamos tener certezas. Así mismo resulta un tanto chocante e incómodo la visión general que desprende el autor sobre el descubrimiento, no ya solo negrolegendaria, si no claramente Anti-Europea. Y es cierto que se trató de un fenómeno traumático, con sus sombras y sus atrocidades, pero en la balanza histórica no cabe duda de que el desarrollo y progreso en general son indiscutibles. Precisamente han truncado el desarrollo haca el progreso esos mismos Galeanos que están obsesionados con cambiar el pasado, mientras condenan al presente de sus países a la miseria y la ignominia. Y hablo tanto a uno como al otro lado del charco.
Aún así a pesar de ser una e las referencias en el campo de la Edad Moderna, Elliott se pasa más de la mitad del libro alrededor de lo que según el no se puede conocer que sobre lo que podríamos tener certezas. Así mismo resulta un tanto chocante e incómodo la visión general que desprende el autor sobre el descubrimiento, no ya solo negrolegendaria, si no claramente Anti-Europea. Y es cierto que se trató de un fenómeno traumático, con sus sombras y sus atrocidades, pero en la balanza histórica no cabe duda de que el desarrollo y progreso en general son indiscutibles. Precisamente han truncado el desarrollo haca el progreso esos mismos Galeanos que están obsesionados con cambiar el pasado, mientras condenan al presente de sus países a la miseria y la ignominia. Y hablo tanto a uno como al otro lado del charco.
December 23, 2025
Buen opúsculo del hispanista J. H. Elliott, el cual reúne en este pequeño volumen unas conferencias que ofreció acerca de la relación entre la Europa del Renacimiento y el Barroco y los territorios americanos; particularmente refiriéndose a España, aunque también a otras potencias.
El libro es bastante interesante aunque en ocasiones se queda a un nivel algo superficial, aventurando hipótesis más que teorías confirmadas sobre diversos temas, pero en todo momento mantiene que el contacto entre ambos mundos cambió el Nuevo (América) pero también el Viejo (Europa) de múltiples maneras, en particular sobre su visión del mundo en conjunto y también su autopercepción.
Un libro recomendable para abrir perspectivas sobre cuestiones variadas y, sobre todo, para hacerse preguntas que requerirán de mayores investigaciones para ser respondidas.
El libro es bastante interesante aunque en ocasiones se queda a un nivel algo superficial, aventurando hipótesis más que teorías confirmadas sobre diversos temas, pero en todo momento mantiene que el contacto entre ambos mundos cambió el Nuevo (América) pero también el Viejo (Europa) de múltiples maneras, en particular sobre su visión del mundo en conjunto y también su autopercepción.
Un libro recomendable para abrir perspectivas sobre cuestiones variadas y, sobre todo, para hacerse preguntas que requerirán de mayores investigaciones para ser respondidas.
October 16, 2014
Buena introducción al impacto intelectual económico y político de América en Europa, desde la incomprensión inicial del s Xvi hasta la integración en la orbita política a mediados del siglo siguiente. interesante, en particular, la discusión de América y el surgimiento del cspitalimso y de la importancia de los metales americanos para la economía y políticas españolas. Bibliografía.
August 4, 2008
kinda slow....
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews