Ibero-Dutch Imperial Entanglements in the Seventeenth Century Geopolitical Shifts in Global Perspective

This book explores the entanglements among Spain, Portugal, and the Dutch Republic during the seventeenth century from a global perspective. It offers a compelling analysis of how Ibero-Dutch relations shifted from violence and conflict—during the Iberian Union (1580–1640) and the Dutch quest for independence (1579–1648)—into collaboration and coexistence in the century’s second half. The encounters between the Iberians and the Dutch in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Mediterranean regions highlight their centrality in geopolitical shifts around the globe. Challenging the paradigm of decline, the contributions gathered here demonstrate that instead, each polity embraced strategic trade-offs and reshaped imperial pursuits that ultimately allowed them to thrive as empires during the entire seventeenth century.

Chapter 1: The Iberian Monarchies of Spain and Portugal and the Dutch Republic in a Century of Change.- Chapter 2: An Artificial Island, a Restrictive Presence: Nagasaki, the Jesuits, and the Dutch Presence in Japan during the first half of the Seventeenth Century.- Chapter 3: Armada in the East: A Spanish Fleet in Singapore Waters, 1616.- Chapter 4: Concurrent Sovereignties on the Lenapewihittuck: 1615-1638.- Chapter 5: A Franciscan’s View of the Dutch Challenge to Iberia's American Empire.- Chapter 6: Commerce and Conflict: Portuguese-African-Dutch Entanglements on West Africa's Gold Coast, 1596-1700.- Chapter 7: ‘And Spain Did Not Even Come to the Rescue:’ Fueling Luso-Brazilian Resistance During the Dutch Challenge for Brazil.- Chapter 8: The Dutch West India Company and the Peace of Münster, Revisited.- Chapter 9: Conflict and Cooperation on the Rio de la Plata: Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch Merchants in the Mid-Seventeenth Century.- Chapter 10: Imitation, Continuation, and Entanglement: Dutch Policies toward Indigenous Peoples in Curaçao and the Guianas after the Loss of Dutch Brazil, 1654-1686.- Chapter 11: Spanish-Dutch Collaboration under Mariana of Austria, 1665-1675: Shifting Diplomatic and Military Alliances in Europe and the Caribbean.- Chapter 12: The Battle of Stromboli and its Aftermath: Dutch-Spanish Maritime, Financial, and Commercial Entanglements, 1675-1690.- Chapter 13: The Legacy of War: Ibero-Dutch Conflicts and the Road towards a Limited Fiscal-Military State in Portugal, 1640-1703.

Silvia Z. Mitchell is Associate Professor of History at Purdue University, USA, and post-doctoral researcher at CINTER, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain.

Erica Heinsen-Roach was Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida, USA, and is currently an independent scholar.