Bailey Wallys Diffie

Bailey Wallys Diffie (June 27, 1902 – January 12, 1983) was an American historian and teacher of Latin American and Iberian history who focused on Portuguese maritime and colonial history.

Biography Diffie was born on June 27, 1902, in Detroit, Texas, in the Red River Country. He was the son of a small town lawyer and grew up on a farm. He soon learned Spanish, having studied both Spanish and history at Texas Christian University. He graduated from Southeastern Teachers College in Durant, Oklahoma, in 1923. An early interest in East Asia turned to the Iberian World after taking a Summer course with Edward Everett Dale in 1924. Having sailed to Europe as an apprentice seaman, he returned to TCU and completed an M.A. in 1926. In August 1927 he began to study at the University of Madrid, having spent three years in Spain and France; he received a doctoral degree from Madrid in 1929.

Published works New Governments in Europe (1934) Latin-American Civilization: Colonial Period (1945) A History of Colonial Brazil: Fifteen Hundred to Seventeen Ninety-Two (1947) Prelude to Empire: Portugal Overseas Before Henry the Navigator (1963) Foundations of the Portuguese Empire 1415-1580 (1977) History of Colonial Brazil, 1500-1792 (1987)