Canon Law hindered Usery, or what the rest of us know as banking..
It did not in the XV, XVI and XVII. Luis de Molina, Martin de Azpilicueta, Juan de Mariana were the founders of modern economy. They did develop a theory of the value of money that plently justified banking. The first modern banks were created in Seville, the problem was that the monetary reserve they kept was discovered by Charles I and later by Philip II and forced them to reduce it and to bet on riskier business. That caused its bankrupcy and these banks disappeared.
By the way, where do you think the Spanish kings got the money from? Bankers. First from Spanish and German bankers, later from Genovese and Portuguese ones.
I would recommend some readings on this issue:
http://www.amazon.com/School-Salamanca-Marjorie-Grice-Hutchinson/dp/B002DZCR5G
http://www.amazon.com/Catholic-Chur...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332495125&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Cambistas-mer...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332497867&sr=1-1
And the Jesuits, well known for their central part in the inquisition, were no strangers to burning the piss out of anyone that questioned the church, including those who engaged in "heretical" discoveries.
I think you are confusing orders, the Inquisition was controled by the Dominican Order, not by the Jesuits. Their motto was more fighting the reformation through study and formation. Theirs was the Astronomical Observatory in Rome, the Academy of Sciences and, as I mentioned before, they were reputed as the best astronomers.
In the Galileo issue they found some errors in Galileo's argumentation (as the tides as a prove of heliocentrism).
Edit: I forgot to mention that Miguel Servet was burned by Calvinist Inquisition (he discovered blood circulation) while Galileo was condemned by Catholic Inquisition to live reclussion... it was commuted and he was allowed to live in the villa of a Cardinal in the coast near Rome. He published the most important part of his work while he was there.
Of course they weren't the richest cities in Spain anymore, but let's not take all their credit away (AHhahaha, puns...)
We cannot take away their history but they were not economic centers (those were Seville, Medina del Campo, Madrid or Cadiz), they were not cultural centers (those were Salamanca and Alcalá de Henares)... they only kept their history and their monuments.
At any rate, it can be agreed that the Al-Hambra decree was severely detrimental to Spain in the long term.
Not so much as it is usually pointed. As I mentioned they were not the richest people, of course they were skilled workers. But in the case of the Moorish population they were a threat as they cooperated with Berberian pirates and slavers. Did you know that most of the Mediterranean coastline was not populated. There were only a few, strongly fortified populations (in Santa Pola, Zahara de los Atunes and some other populations you can still see that the old town is behind fortifications), capable of fending off pirates. The moorish were known to cooperate with them, facilitating their attacks. After they were relocated (first) and expelled from Spain (later) the security in the coast improved and new settlements appeared.
Right, so we should find a POD in which they can be enforced. One with stronger central power perhaps, which can be done by removing the crazy power of the Catholic church perhaps...?
No, we need a POD in which the Spanish ruling dinasty does not feel that they have to be at war with everybody else in Europe and that they can use any resources at their reach to do it.
The opinion of the catholic church was much more... modern.
Please read: the works of Francisco de Vitoria (esp. "De indis", you will see that the Catholic Church considered inmoral forced conversions of amerindians and anybody else) (maybe it is more accessible to you
http://www.amazon.com/The-Controver...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332500443&sr=1-1), the works of Francisco de Suarez (that were burned in England because he defended that nobody could claim to rule by the grace of God as the English king did) or...
And who were in charge of the Hapsburg Kings yo? Charles V became a friggen monk after he relinquished power in 1556... If that doesn't tell you how much power the Church held, I dunno what does.
A friggen monk? He secluded himself in an small villa in Estremadura with an attached monastery, because he felt tired and ill. His health was not good even for a man of the era. He had travelled a lot, battled and suffered. Anyway, when he was in Yuste he was brough live oysters to eat, for instance.
It is very tiring discussing with someone whose knowledge of history is limited to stereotypes, topics and nothing else.