Cosmologies of conquest

The Renaissance foundations of modern international thought

Bibliographic Data

ID6449231
AuthorsJens Bartelson (0000-0002-8633-9798, Lund University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume51
Issue2
Pages179-195
Publication date2023-12-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReview of International Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0260-2105 • E-ISSN: 1469-9044
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0260210523000694
OpenAlexW4389885096
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited10

This paper seeks to reconstruct the worldview informing Iberian overseas expansion during the long sixteenth century, arguing that this worldview was more indebted to Renaissance cosmology than to a recognisably modern scientific worldview. The paper describes how this cosmology provided the intellectual resources necessary to justify overseas expansion to those who doubted its viability and legitimacy, and how the same cosmological beliefs were invoked to make sense of the New World and the people found there, if only to facilitate and justify the subjection of the latter to European rule. This story constitutes an important yet often neglected part of the prehistory of modern international thought insofar as it exposes its Iberian origins and Renaissance foundations and the role played by pre-modern ideas in the making of a modern international system

Ancient history · Art history · CONQUEST · Cosmology · Epistemology · Legitimacy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · The Renaissance · Historical Studies on Spain · History · History, Culture, and Diplomacy · Latin American history and culture · Law · Philosophy

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