Noah’s Grandson and St. James: Rewriting the Past in Eighteenth-Century Spain

ABSTRACT

In the late seventeenth century, when Spain gradually emerged from the general crisis that had afflicted the country, several members of the cultural elite became acquainted with the new sophisticated theories and methods of modern science. This newly acquired knowledge inspired these novatores (innovators) to examine Spain’s history and historiography. They intended in the first place to integrate and align Spain with European culture at large, since the religious and ideological obstacles of the past were supposedly no longer in force. Their second purpose was to establish a scientifically based historical discourse focused on the genuine achievements of Spain over the centuries and its contribution to European civilization. They were thus willing to confront the long-standing distortions arising from propaganda, either from the outside—such as the “black legend” forged by the enemies of Spain—or from inside—such as the “fake glories” forged by earlier historians. Diverse circumstances, however, limited their enlightened endeavour, and whoever was eager to resume it in the eighteenth century came up against the restrictions imposed on modern culture by Enlightened despotism.

KEYWORDS:

• Black legend
• false chronicles
• Jacobean traditions
• innovators
• Spanish Enlightenment

Notes

1. Ruiz García, “Las ciencias históricas,” 329.

2. Gómez, “Juan de Mariana.”

3. Botella, “Los novatores,” 45–48, 51–57; Ruiz García, “Las ciencias históricas,” 329–30; Sánchez Marcos, “La historiografía,” 132–33.

4. Mestre, “Crítica y apologia,” 50–51.

5. Botella, “Los novatores”, 60–63; García Hernán, “Construcción de las historias”, 168.

6. Caballero, “El mito y la historia crítica,” 57–61. Up to the present, the Basque nationalists see themselves as the descendants of Tubal; in the sixteenth century they saw themselves as the primus inter pares and “first settlers” of Iberia, and as such, as the “first Spaniards.” See Louzao, “El síndrome de Jerusalén,” 84–87.

7. Blanchard, “Américo Castro,” 6, 12, 23. After a short time, the Spanish Kingdom of the Visigoths collapsed in the early eighth century, but it left a lasting legendary and messianic impression as an independent, united, Latin and Christian kingdom with Toledo as its centre. This kingdom was the cornerstone of the medieval ideal of Reconquista, of fighting against the Muslims in order to “reconquer Spain.”

8. Pérez, Historia, 41–42; García Cárcel, “La manipulación,” 177.

9. Fernández, “Santiago Matamoros,” 150–60, 169–170.

10. For instance, the Privilege of Santiago, a document dated to the twelfth century, recounts the victory over the Muslims by a Christian king thanks to St. James’s miraculous intervention. In gratitude, the king imposed a special tax to be paid by the peasants to the benefit of Santiago’s Church. Falque, “Privilegio de los Votos,” 573–74, 577.

11. The Lead Books of Sacromonte are a series of texts written on lead leaves, found in Granada towards the end of the sixteenth century, which abundantly confirm the holy mission of St. James in Spain. García Cárcel, “La manipulación,” 177; Linares, “Leyenda,” 1–11.

12. Ruiz de Assin, “Los falsos cronicones,” 89–90.

13. Kagan, Clio and the Crown, 363. I thank my dear friend and colleague Nikolaos Gouvis for this reference.

14. Ruiz de Assín, “Los falsos cronicones,” 91; Gómez, “Juan de Mariana,” 48.

15. Kivistö, “Crime and its Punishment,” 155.

16. Mestre, “Recensión,” 314.

17. Ruiz García, “Las ciencias históricas,” 330–31.

18. After many ups and downs the study of the former would remain pending, and the consideration of the latter would keep the Spanish enlightened minds in a Hamlet-like situation, wondering whether defending their national history could go with the acknowledgement of some aspects of the European criticism: in other words, was Spanish patriotism compatible with pro-European sentiments, or should it adopt a jingoistic attitude towards Europe?

19. García Cárcel, Introduction, 26–28.

20. Ibid., 24–25.

21. G arcía Hernán, “Construcción de las historias,” 164–65.

22. Mestre, “Recensión,” 311.

23. Mestre, La Ilustración española, 31, 33.

24. Mestre, “Recensión,” 308–9; Sánchez Marcos, “La historiografía,” 137.

25. Mestre, La Ilustración española, 34.

26. See Mistre, “La historiografía,” 78. During the eighteenth century those who were drawn to Enlightenment ideas felt the need for a new, rigorous history of Spain, without myths, fables and forgeries. That notwithstanding, there were only two serious efforts in that direction: Historia literaria de España (12 vols., 1766–91), by the Franciscan friars Rafael and Pedro Rodríguez Mohedano, which extended up to the Roman Empire; and Historia crítica de España y de la cultura española (1783–1805), by the Jesuit Juan Francisco de Masdeu (1744–1817), which extended up to 1085. See Wulff, Las esencias patrias, 63–65, 76–90.

27. Mestre, “Recensión,” 312–15.

28. García Hernán, “Construcción de las historias,” 180–87; Tateishi, “Pedro Rodríguez de Campomanes,” 79.

29. Choza, Breve historia cultural, 207–8.

30. Ruiz de Assín, “Los falsos cronicones,” 92–93.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Roberto Rodríguez-Milán

Roberto Rodríguez-Milán, PhD, teaches at the Hellenic Open University of Greece. His areas of research include Spanish history and the history of Spanish nationalism (from the sixteenth century to the present), and the history of popular Spanish literature (from the nineteenth century to the present).