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The large cities of the Kingdom of Spain |
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Naples
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Naples
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| Naples is one of the oldest cities of Italy. At the centre of a very populated region since Antiquity, it is endowed with an incomparable strategic position that has always been the cause of envy. Thus it alternates between periods of autonomy and those of foreign domination, which do not however prevent it from developing nor to affirming its own particularities. In 1442, it is annexed to the Crown of Spain by the Catholic Kings and remains under their control until the beginning of the 18th century. |
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During
this period, it will undergo an astonishing development, by indirectly
profiting from the gold of America which flows into Spain. Indeed, as
this country imports all the products that it does not manufacture, an
intense commercial circuit is created in the Mediterranean joining Seville
to Naples, Genoa and the north of Europe. However the Spanish authorities attempt to slow down the growth of this gigantic city which is causing them concern, while preserving the “ reserve ” of riches that interests them and from which they directly benefit. Besides, it is often said that in the 16th and 17th centuries, Spain paid the major part of its wars thanks to Naples and when the duc de Guise marches on southern Italy, he has the firm intention of stripping the Spanish monarchy of so beautiful a Kingdom, from where she draws her foremost might. |
| Indeed,
at the end of the 16th century, Naples, with 200 000 inhabitants, is the
most populated city in the Mediterranean and even in Europe. It is in
fact the centre of a Kingdom where social disparities are enormous. A magnetic attraction for all peasants who live in the surrounding countryside, they rush to the city, attracted by the opportunities for work offered by the Neapolitan industries. The silk and wool factories, in particular, are famous in all Italy and beyond. Naples produces, for its high society and for export, the most beautiful luxury articles of the time: ruffles, laces, fancies, braids, silks and fine fabrics. Many other industries develop there, as labour is so abundant. Thus, the blackest misery cohabits with the most ostentatious wealth. The Barons of yesterday and the upstarts of today, Genoese bankers and the Spanish occupiers, common people seeking their fortune and notorious bandits make this city the most frenetic and crazy in Europe. |
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| Therefore
it is no surprise that in this context, a man such as Don Juan, and a
seducer as much as an adventurer, finds himself at home and appreciates
his surroundings. It is certainly the reason why Tirso
de Molina, chooses the Kingdom of Naples, at the opening of
the plot in his play El
Burlador de Sevilla; such is the similarity between the
two cities that Don Juan himself remarks to Duke Octavio : You have left Naples, and one can only leave a place as marvellous, my friend, to go to Seville. Octavio answers : If you had said this in Naples and not here, I believe that I would have laughed, but at this hour I must agree with you. When in turn, the Italian authors of the Commedia dell'Arte take up the story of Don Juan, they keep this Neapolitan debut but they feature more the part of the population constituted by the common people. This is why the valet becomes increasingly important, and why his dialect and popular ungainliness become part of the character. The comparison between Naples and Spain still exists, but is found in the street and not in the palaces and it emphasises the quality of food rather than the beauty of the women. |
