Recent Posts
Confronting the Heart of Darkness in New Film African ApocalypseFebruary 18 2021 - Read moreFarewell Amor: Fitting In and Back Together Again
January 17 2021 - Read morePoem: The Case of George Nkencho
January 4 2021 - Read morePoem: The 2020 Movie
December 31 2020 - Read morePoem: Our Posh Liberal Friends
December 18 2020 - Read more
Great article! reflects the pre-colonial, pre-Enlightenment sense of inferiority in England – felt acutely by those who had an awareness of global politics. As we’re on the topic of western Europe, it’s worth giving Spain a mention – In the 15th and 16th century, Spain was still very much a key player, not just in western Europe but in global politics, a super power of its time especially under Charles V, strong enough to rival the Ottoman empire – it brought together several European dynasties (via marriage), which gave it a huge amount of political power on the continent; but also the influx of wealth from the ‘New World’, (via genocide and theft) which gave it a great deal of economic power, for a time. We keep hearing about Elizabeth’s victory against the Spanish armada precisely because it was such a shock – bit like a division 3 team beating Prem League champions in the FA Cup, remembered forever in the club’s history. But interestingly, unlike England, its trade in the East never fully took off, it couldn’t shake off Portugal’s domination of those trade routes. You could argue that this was one of the reasons, among others, why the spanish empire went into decline, while English power continued to rise – a reverse in fortunes helped on by their contrasting relations with the East…even more reason to pay special attention to east-west trade in the early modern period. Fascinating stuff. Once again, a great article, look forward to reading more of your work on this topic!