INTERVIEW WITH DR TRACY BORMAN
Dr Borman is an historian, author, broadcaster and joint chief curator of Historic Royal Palaces. Her latest book is Crown & Sceptre: A New History of the British Monarchy (Hodder, 2021)
With one a dynasty in its infancy and the other a rising star born out of the Holy Roman Empire, any possible union of England and Spain in the 16th century would have been a very winding and bumpy road. Whether through a peaceful marriage alliance or military invasion and suppression, what potentially could’ve emerged would have been a superpower on a global scale never before seen, propelling Spain and England into an almost invincible position. But accord, compromise and trust would have been vital for any formal union to survive the turbulence of the 16th century.
Would unification have been forged with force or diplomacy? Would it have been possible
