Spanish Milan

As one of the main European economic, political and religious centers throughout the late medieval and Renaissance period, Milan is the focus of this much-needed work on one of the crown jewels of the Spanish Empire. This study reworks the traditional narrative depicting Spanish rule as the primary factor of decadence in seventeenth-century Italy: in reality the Spanish monarchy provided new opportunities for wealth and prosperity to Milan and its elites. The city took advantage of its new important strategic and financial functions within the Spanish empire and used its extended network to maintain a primary economic and political role in Europe.