The Black Legend in England: The Development of Anti-Spanish Sentiment, 1558-1660

by William S. Maltby

Book by Maltby, William S

Genres: History

180 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

William S. Maltby, Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Missouri-St Louis. He has written widely on the subject of Spain and the Spanish Empire in the sixteenth century and related topics.

Reviews

[Christopher Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books that, for whatever reason, booksellers try to sell for exorbitant prices. You will find it listed anywhere from $250-$2000. There are a couple of places I use to get text notifications when books I want come on the market. At one point, a few months ago, someone listed it for $25, and I immediately purchased it. The bookseller cancelled the transaction and relisted it for several hundred dollars. Kinda irked me. I sent an email, they denied it… whatever… anyway, this copy pops up for $8.06, and I grabbed it up. I doubt any of those pricey copies are ever going to sell. Anyway, it was worth $8.06, not sure I would say it was worth $25.

If you are decently knowledgeable about the Leyenda Negra, and really wish to delve in a little deeper, this book will definitely give you a greater understanding of the Spanish historical caricature formed in our American minds. The author could have done a much better job, and throughout most of the book simply states the false narrative created without explaining well the corrected narrative. After the first half of the book, he does pick up his game a bit.

The use of English primary sources is superb. By the time I finished this book I was amazed, and fully understood how even in a small Catholic school I was fed so much of the Black Legend. That was something that perplexed me when I would think back on it, as Catholics have a vested interest in rejecting the Black Legend whole-cloth. These false narratives were reinforced year after year, decade after decade, century after century. The wartime propaganda and the anti-Catholic propaganda became the accepted English history, which was naturally adopted by the United States.

This would be better read after reading “Tree of Hate” by Philip Wayne Powell. Also, concerning the Spanish Inquisition there are two books that are quintessential to having a proper understanding, one is William Thomas Walsh’s “Characters of the Inquisition” and the other is Henry Kamen’s “The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision” written in 1997 (he wrote other books on the Inquisition earlier). Kamen was head of a team that studied the original Spanish Inquisition documents after they were open to scholars in 1977. He and his team worked from 1977-1989 on their in depth study. To best understand the Conquest of Mexico and Mexican history I cannot recommend strongly enough, “Mexico a Land of Volcanoes” by Joseph H. Schlarman.

[Jose Vidal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro muy interesante sobre el nacimiento y expansión de los tópicos anti-españoles en Inglaterra durante la época isabelina y jacobina. Me parece poco justa su opinión del P. Las Casas y un poco desequilibrada sus opiniones sobre la virulencia de las opiniones anti-españolas sin ofrecer por ningún lado un referente de la existencia, o no, de un equivalente sentimiento anti-inglés en el "bando contrario" pero por lo demás hace un interesante estudio cronológico del nacimiento de una serie de ideas sin caer en las fantasías victimistas de muchos apologistas hispanos.

[Federico Julian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un buen panorama general sobre la leyenda negra, sus orígenes y motivos.

[Fonch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ladies and gentlemen is followed by another of our reviews. In this case I'm doing well on drums and it's time to say something about this book, which was read a long time ago. Of all the books that were read, this is the easiest to analyze. William S. Maltby was first heard of thanks to "Imperiofobia y Leyenda Negra" by María Elvira Roca Barea Imperiofobia y leyenda negra and, later, by the book "Cromwell contra España" by Porfirio Sanz Camañes Cromwell contra el Imperio español@actashistoria . For a while you had wanted to read this book, but unfortunately it was out of print, but a charitable soul digitized it and scanned it being available on the net for that reason it could be read. I looked at @goodreads and saw that my friend @musings_of_a_mariner (Christopher Hunt), an American Hispanist, had given it a not very high grade. This made me suspicious or suspicious because I have a lot of faith in Christopher Hunt, but this criticism agrees with my American friend whom I take the opportunity to wish a Merry Christmas (it had not yet been done).
William S. Maltby's book begins with the usual acknowledgements cited to two Hispanists who tried to put a little equity and pondering to Spanish history Garrett Mattingly Garrett Mattingly[[book:The Armada|7812047] who made a study of the Invincible Armada and, an excellent biography of Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (see the wonderful chapter that Salvador de Madariaga dedicates to Catherine of Aragon in "Women Spanish women" by Salvador de Madariaga Spanish Women ) and, Roger Bigelow Merriman Roger Bigelow Merriman and, then continues with the definition of the Black Legend and, the attempts to refute it by Francisco Quevedo y VillegasFrancisco de Quevedo , and in more contemporary times by Julián Juderías Julián Juderías who points out that it began with "The Apology" by William of Orange Apologie de Guillaume de Nassau: Prince D'Orange, Contre L'Edit de Proscription and, "Las TRelaciones " by Antonio Pérez Relaciones de Antonio Pérez secretary of state, who was of the king of... 1624 Leather Bound but, Julián de Juderías' interest is focused on refuting the Black Legend from Enlightenment France, or the Raynal Enlightenment Guillaume Thomas Francois Raynal , Marmontel Marmontel Blaise, Adolfe Benoît, composer,Favart, Charles Simon, librettist,Lourdet de Santerre, Jea , De Pauw De Pauw J. (in a certain sense there is a kind of reproach to Juderías for not having dealt with the English Black Legend, but failing this is because at that time Spain was more culturally influenced by France and Germany. My father, despite the American primacy, the compulsory language he studied in school was not English, but French. He studied it later because he wanted to, but it did not become mandatory to use English until later. Hence, Juderías refutes The French Black Legend) for a more developed study read the books of Iván Vélez Iván Vélez in the publishing house @edicionesencuentro has some specific ones on the "Black Legend" but, all of them are good even if I have only read two. That of "The Black Legend" and that of "Hernán Cortés". This is not told by William S. Maltby, but @ivanvelez_1972 tells us that one of the first attempts to refute the Black Legend was carried out by the conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada with his book "Antijovio" Antijovio (Historia) and that the term appeared in some lectures by Emilia Pardo Bazán Emilia Pardo Bazán and, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez Vicente Blasco Ibáñez before the appearance of Julián Juderías Loyot. The other authors mentioned by the American Hispanist are Sverker Arnoldsson The origins of the Spanish Black Legend who brought the black legend to Renaissance Italy and, to the rise of the Borgias and the apogee of the Catalan-Aragonese monarchy, something that the ego and the incipient nationalism of the Italian humanists could not bear or digest. He also speaks, for example, of the irruption of the Black Legend in Germany and the third denigrator of the Black Legend that he mentions is Romulo D. Carvia Rómulo D. Carbia . It is curious that William S. Maltby does not cite Philip W. Powell's "Tree of Hate: Propaganda and Prejudices Affecting United States Relations With the Hispanic World|2710441] or Lummis Tree of Hate: Propaganda and Prejudices Affecting United States Relations With the Hispanic WorldThe Spanish Explorers of the Sixteenth Century Charles Fletcher Lummis in his writings. Nor is there the "Defense of Hispanity" by Ramiro de Maeztu Defensa de la Hispanidad. But one thing can be agreed with William S. Maltby that the criticism and the Anglo-Saxon black legend weigh more than the French, Dutch or German one.
Because it is the Anglo-Saxon world that as a result of the misnamed Gloriosa of 1688 and the War of the Spanish Succession, which for me is a very clear Translatio Imperii from France to England. The Peace of Westphalia configures the current moral and religious order and explains the secularization and de-Christianization of today's society, but not the political order that France lasted less than Spain, although it tried to recover it in the eighteenth century with the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) or the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815) (I suppose this topic will be touched on tangentially when writing the review of "The French Revolution")." by Pierre Gaxotte Pierre Gaxotte ). After all, despite some of Cromwell's triumphs, England was nothing and always had to be in coalition with some power to win, and this policy continued to be carried out until the end of the Second World War (1939-1945) when it ceded its power to the United States. It is very good that Maltby mentions the atmosphere of Hispanophobia that novelists such as C.S. Forester C.S. Forester pick up in his cycle of Captain Hornblower (the same as the Queen of Africa The African Queen) https://www.goodreads.com/series/4981... . Captain Hornblower was dedicated to a wonderful film by Raoul Walsh translated here as "The Gentleman of the Seas"".
I read on a @YouTube channel in some comments that one of the villains who is initially an ally of the English was inspired by Simón Bolívar Simón Bolívar . The one I did hear that was very Hispanophobic was the Dudley Pope Dudley Pope cycle so Hispanophobic that it was provoked the wrath of @perezreverte Arturo Pérez-Reverte who threw it away. The film of the "Gentleman of the Seas" did not seem very anti-Spanish to me Philip Wayne Powell spoke of Sabatini Sabatini Rafael , Victor Hugo , Victor Hugo Dumas Alexandre Dumas . I am surprised by the other mention made by William S. Maltby. A writer that my grandfather and I love Henry Rider Haggard "Lysbeth: A Tale Of The Dutch" Lysbeth A Tale Of The Dutch . William S. Maltby says that there are two Italian historians who talk about Spain, Niccolò Machiavelli, in "The Prince" The Prince and I said that those praises of Ferdinand the Catholic seemed poisonous to me and that they should be avoided. Apart from the fact that it only dedicates a few paragraphs to Ferdinand the Catholic. The one who inspires the book is César Borgia. It should also be remembered that William S. Maltby was Julius II's "Barbarians Out" that he sought was a centralized, united Italy. William Somerset Maugham understood it much better than he did in "Then and Now" Then and Now novel that is recommended to them. I can't say anything about Guicciardini Francesco Guicciardini because I haven't read him, but I'm surprised that William S. Maltby doesn't talk about one of the few humanists who was truly pro-Hispanic and who had great love for the Catholic Monarchs Baltasar de Castiglione The Book of the Courtier . He tried to prevent Clement VII from allying himself with France in the league of Cognac and then the pope (unjustly) blamed the Sacco of 1527. On the subject of Italian Hispanophilia see "La Roma española" by Thomas James Dandelet Spanish Rome, 1500-1700. It is clear that the black legend must start small. We are not going to start with that racial and religious hatred of the Dutch, English and Germans. The beginnings are usually caricatures like those of Don Diego (see my review of "El lindo Don Diego" by Agustín de Moreto El Lindo Don Diego). The chapter dedicated to the cruelty of Spain in America seems perfect to me on the part of William S. Maltby has nothing to refute, or criticize. The only one who offers gunpowder or gasoline to the enemies of Spain is Bartolomé de las Casas Bartolomé de las Casas and, I don't think those were his objectives. His intention was most likely beneficial, although I think that Menedez Pidal Ramón Menéndez Pidal was right about his character as a megalomaniac and paranoid. All his projects were a disaster and he did not realize that all those deaths were due not to the cruelty of the Spaniards but to pathological causes, germs that he could not understand (absurd is that of the Indian Cacique Hatuey who comes to turn gold into the God of the Spaniards, why not in that of the Puritans. It distorts facts such as the attempt to assassinate Cortés in Cholula corrected by Gomara Francisco López de Gómara and, Bernal Díaz del Castillo Bernal Díaz del Castillo). In a certain sense, those who will best exploit it will be the French enlightenment, especially Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau and, later, more than the English, the indigenist communist left will use it, even though it is paid for by England. Although many have praised Ginés de Sepúlveda Ginés de Sepúlveda I think we should stay with the middle ground Francisco de Vitoria Francisco de Vitoria because in the middle is virtue and he is the father of International Law along with Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius . Then they use Zárate, Pedro Martir de Angleria Pietro Martire d'Anghiera , or the Inca Garcilaso Inca Garcilaso de la Vega . It is ok. Like the criticism of Reginaldo Gonzalo Montano and, the one of the Inquisition is also very well edited and, his criticisms of John Foxe John Foxe Fox's Book of Martyrs: A History of the Lives, Sufferings, and Deaths of the Early Christian and Protestant Martyrs and, his book of the martyrs that I am saddened that the chapter dedicated to the Inquisition in Portugal is so well valued and, Spain is a real nonsense. In the chapter of "The Tears of the Indians" The Tears of the Indians: An Historical Account of the Cruel Massacre of Twenty Million Innocent People the case of Thomas Nicholas (whose work he dedicated to Sir Francis Walsingham) should be highlighted, who tried to get England to emulate the Spanish conquest of the Indies (this topic will be discussed when talking about the book of "Don Diego Sarmiento de Acuña Conde de Gondomar"" by Fernando Bartolomé Benito Don Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, Conde de Gondomar: El Maquiavelo español . The ridicules of Hanke Lewis Hanke and, Heps believing the exaggerations and lies, of Bartolomé de las Casas. In the second chapter, it is interesting to note the criticisms of John Bradford's Spanish marriage and the criticisms of Sir. Walter Raleigh Walter Raleigh (this character will already be discussed in the book "De Don Diego Sarmiento de Gondomar. The Spanish Machiavelli" by Fernando Bartolomé Benito because this character has many reprehensible things (he was not innocent as the film of the Rock tells us).

[Augustus · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1912, a Spanish journalist named Julian Juderias coined a term "The Black Legend" to describe what he characterized as a deeply held negative view of Spanish culture by English people. From this perception, Spanish people were assumed to be cruel, immoral and religiously intolerant. Anyone who knows English history and literature will be familiar with such characterizations, and this well documented book (by an American professor at the University of Missouri) seeks to explain how it developed.

Professor Maltby traces the earliest roots to the "Brevissima Relacion de la Destruccion de las Indias", published by a Dominican friar Bartolome de Las Casas in 1551, with the first English edition released in 1583. That 16th Century tract collected stories of abuses by Spanish colonists in the New World and was repeatedly republished and cited in England as evidence that Spanish culture was fundamentally immoral. Although Maltby sympathizes with Las Casas in his advocacy on behalf of native peoples in the Americas, he suggests that the Spanish author sometimes exaggerated to make his point.

Maltby's book focuses on the time period from Queen Elizabeth's reign in the 16th Century through the end of Oliver Cromwell's Protestant Protectorate in England. During that time, England was in economic competition with Spain in the New World, and English authors lionized the heroic deeds of captains like Sir Francis Drake as they preyed on Spanish towns and fleets; the Black Legend helped legitimate acts that the Spanish viewed as English piracy.

One fundamental source of prejudice was Spain's role as a principal defender of Roman Catholicism in the century after England committed itself to Protestantism. For example, England supported Protestants in the Netherlands when they rebelled against Catholic Spain, and the cruelty of the Spanish Inquisition was magnified as an example of the intolerant Catholicism against which English Protestants were fighting. Such feelings were of course exacerbated by Francis Drake's attack on the Spanish port of Cadiz in 1587 and the attack of the Spanish Armada which followed in 1588. The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) also intensified negative feelings between Protestant and Catholic countries. Maltby explains that Englishmen didn't maintain similar prejudice against Catholic Italians because so many Englishmen on the "Grand Tour" developed an affection for Italy that had no parallel in Spain.

Although there were certainly real abuses by Spaniards that contributed to the Black Legend, Professor Maltby's point is that it was unreasonable to exaggerate those acts as a pretext for applying a broad negative prejudice against Spanish culture.

At page 135, the author notes that "no complemental Anglophobia seems to have developed in Spain". Negative feelings have a tendency, however, to be reciprocated. In 2017, the BBC World Service conducted a poll as to how the United Kingdom was viewed by other countries, and Spain had the third-worst opinion of the British (only Turkey and Pakistan had more negative views).

This book reviews more than a century of confrontations between England and Spain, showing how politics and popular literature stretched facts and stoked the flames of intolerance and prejudice. It's a good reminder that people in our own time should resist appeals to prejudice against whole populations based on the actions of a few.

[Jaimehr · Rating 4 out of 5]

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