The Kingless Capital: Naples under Spanish and Austrian Rule (1503–1734)

This chapter provides an overview of Naples during the Spanish and Austrian viceroyalties (1503–1734), delving into its political and social dimensions. It particularly scrutinises the various interpretations of the city’s political history, framed by its integration into imperial systems and the resulting power and social dynamics. The discussion highlights both the profound impact of these dynamics and the critical revisions offered by recent historiography. The analysis then shifts to the city’s socio-economic landscape, emphasising its immense demographic and urban expansion between the 16th and 17th centuries. In this context, the chapter assesses the effectiveness of social regulatory mechanisms that largely ensured the stability of viceregal rule in Naples, with the notable exception of the 1647 revolt. These mechanisms are identified as the guaranteed provision of supplies, efficient formal and informal territorial control and a pervasive and widespread social welfare system. The chapter concludes by examining the short-lived Austrian viceroyalty as a period marked by both continuities and transformations, which foreshadowed the conflicts over the relationship between sovereign authority and fragmented powers characteristic of the late Ancien Régime.