Roots of Empire is the first monograph to connect forest management and state-building in the early modern Spanish global monarchy. The Spanish crown's control over valuable sources of shipbuilding timber in Spain, Latin America, and the Philippines was critical for developing and sustaining its maritime empire. This book examines Spain's forest management policies from the sixteenth century through the middle of the eighteenth century, connecting the global imperial level with local lived experiences in forest communities impacted by this manifestation of expanded state power. As home to the early modern world's most extensive forestry bureaucracy, Spain met serious political, technological, and financial limitations while still managing to address most of its timber needs without upending the social balance.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements ix List of Maps, Figures, and Tables xiii Introducing Spanish State Forestry 1 The Widow’s Oak and the Spanish State in the Valley of Carriedo 1 The Politics of Wood Shortage Fears in the Early Modern World 19 Spanish Forest Landscapes from Prehistory to the Reconquest 29 Plan of the Work 38 1 A New State Forestry for the First Global Age 44 Crown and Forests, Redefined 44 Spanish Forest Landscapes from the Reconquest to the Habsburgs 47 Medieval Forest Regulations and Naval Power in the Reign of Carlos I (1516–1556) 54 A New Era of Naval Strategy in the Reign of Felipe II (1556–1598) 65 Forests and the Collection of Geographic Knowledge 70 The Enterprise of England: Recovery and Response 76 2 Forests of the Ultramar 85 Colonial Forest Territoriality in the Sixteenth Century 85 Geographic Knowledge Channels Across the Atlantic 87 Spanish Shipbuilding in the Old and New Worlds 91 Regulating Colonial Forest Use in the Sixteenth Century 96 Naval Forestry and Imperial Rivalries 116 3 The Struggle to Stay Afloat in the Seventeenth Century 120 Transition and Persistence in Spanish Forests under the Later Habsburgs 120 State Forestry in Times of Peace and Global Conflict in the Early 1600s 122 To a New Generation of Forest Inspectors: Barros’s Letter to Riva Herrera 127 The Formation of Forest Superintendent Dynasties 130 The Waning of Spanish Imperial Might 138 Toribio Perez de Bustamante’s Instrucción of 1650 141 Colonial Forest Territoriality in the Seventeenth Century 145 Habsburg State Forestry in an Era of Naval Decline 156 4 Bottoming Out and Revival under the First Bourbon, 1700–1746 165 Expansion of State Forestry in the Reign of Felipe V (1700–1746) 165 Voices for Reform from the North Coast 168 Patino’s Tenure and the Reestablishment of the Almirantazgo 174 Forest Reconnaissance in the Naval Departments of Ferrol, Cartagena, and Cadiz 178 The Forest Inspections of Juan Valdes y Castro in Segura and Catalonia 183 Colonial Forest Territoriality in the Eighteenth Century 193 Accomplishments of Felipe V’s Reign 201 5 The Triumph of State Forestry: 1748–1754 203 Ensenada’s Push for Peace and Naval Revival, 1743–1748 203 Spain’s Naval Forest Conservation Ordinance of January 31, 1748 206 Other Forest Legislation, 1748–1751 215 Resistance to the New Legislation 219 Forest Inspection Reports after 1748 222 Other Reforms and Ensenada’s Fall from Power, 1749–1754 232 Accomplishments of Fernando VI’s Reign (1746–1759) 236 General Conclusion 240 Bibliography 247 Index 263