Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Spanish bureaucracy reached absolutely silly proportions.

posted by LockeProposal on HistoryAnecdotes

The empire ballooned, but the Spanish mind closed in on itself. Religious fervor hardened into ceremony; the vast bureaucracy stifled ambition; a rigidly hierarchical society replicated itself in all its colonies.

To take only the humblest example of the iron bureaucracy that rued men’s lives in the empire: In Panama or Havana, poor men needed state-approved licenses simply to beg on the streets.

Source:

Talty, Stephan. “The Tomb at the Escorial.” Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan’s Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws’ Bloody Reign. New York: Crown Publishing Group (NY), 2007. 30. Print.

>The empire ballooned, but the Spanish mind closed in on itself. Religious fervor hardened into ceremony; the vast bureaucracy stifled ambition; a rigidly hierarchical society replicated itself in all its colonies. >To take only the humblest example of the iron bureaucracy that rued men’s lives in the empire: In Panama or Havana, poor men needed state-approved licenses simply to beg on the streets. __________________________________________ **Source:** Talty, Stephan. “The Tomb at the Escorial.” *Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan’s Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws’ Bloody Reign*. New York: Crown Publishing Group (NY), 2007. 30. Print.

2 comments

[–] E-werd 3 points (+3|-0)

poor men needed state-approved licenses simply to beg on the streets.

No problems here, officer, I'm a certified beggar.

Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Spanish bureaucracy reached absolutely silly proportions.

2 comments

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