How do we prevent the situation wherein Spain is represented as the memetic villain of Europe, particularly among Anglophone communities?
Spanish world dominance.
Weaker colonial empire. If the Incas could hold out perhaps?
Unification early with Portugal? Then you don't have the old alliance.
How do we prevent the situation wherein Spain is represented as the memetic villain of Europe, particularly among Anglophone communities?
Spain became the "boogeyman" not because she was the most powerful country in Europe in the 16th century, but because she was the most powerful country in Europe AND was fanatically pushing the agenda of the Roman Catholic Church, including savage persecutions of Protestant "heretics' wherever her power held sway. And she continued doing this for quite a long time.
Have Spain stay under the Trastamaras. Then you can have Castile and Aragon stay in splendid isolation from the affairs of the HRE and England for a while longer since they'll be busy with their colonial empire and the Ottomans.
I assume Spain still forms though. So Ferdinand would still fight in Italy wouldn't he?Oh, are you predicting exactly what I'm doing for my TL?That would also have to prevent the weakening of the Spanish economy as they don't have to deal with constant wars.
No, but I'm reading a book on imperial Spain and I'm on the section where it talks about Charles V and the inefficiencies that come with managing the entire Habsburg empire.Oh, are you predicting exactly what I'm doing for my TL?That would also have to prevent the weakening of the Spanish economy as they don't have to deal with constant wars.
Maybe have Spain get its inquisition when the other powers were doing it? That way they dont get mocked for being to lenient and then seen as backwards?
You mean like Portugal, who got rid of it in 1821? Is there a Portuguese Black Legend I haven't heard about?
No, wilcoxchar is looking in the right direction. Mind that the Black Legend started not that much as anti-Spanish as anti-Hapsburg.