La Lombardia spagnola secentesca : studi di storia economica dopo Sella

This article analyses the development of historical studies on the economy of Spanish Lombardy in the 17th century, starting with the breakthrough interpretation of the period proposed by Domenico Sella at the end of the 1970s. Scholars had focused their studies mainly on manufacture, taking part in the international debate on the advent of industrialization. From the mid-1990s they shifted their attention to the relationships between «economic activities and political balance of power», especially in relation to military matters, war expenses, and Milan’s public revenue, thus offering a significant contribution to both the renewed international interest in military history and the current debate on the economic relationship between the territories belonging to the Spanish Monarchy and the Italian States.