The Defense of the Spanish Empire and the Agency of Nature

MARGARITA GASCÓN

Latin American Research Paper Series

Latin American and Iberian Institute of the University of New Mexico

Lugar: Albuquerque; Año: 2008 p. 1 - 39

The article analyzes the defense of the Spanish empire in South America and the agency of nature. Spain was the most powerful Atlantic empire of the seventeenth century in the continent, but only Caracas and Buenos Aires were located on the Atlantic rim in South America, where Portugal controlled the coast of Brazil, Patagonia was neglected, and Peruvian settlements were Pacific-oriented. The defense strategy and some natural events will both provide with new explanations for some major episodes in the evolution of this segment of the empire during the seventeenth century.