Decline of Hispanic Hegemony: 17th Century Spain
The Decline of Hispanic Hegemony: 17th Century Spain
The Reign of Philip III (1598-1621)
Philip III ascended to the throne in 1598 after the death of his father, Philip II. The new king delegated power to a favorite, the Duke of Lerma. Lerma’s objectives were to conclude the numerous wars inherited from his predecessor and to solve the serious economic situation of the monarchy.
Pacifist Foreign Policy:
- Peace with England was signed in 1604.
- The Truce of Twelve Years was signed with the United Provinces in 1609.
Despite these efforts, economic problems increased due to unresolved issues in the estates of the realm, the maintenance of the court, and the payment of pensions to nobles. In 1607, the king declared bankruptcy.
Domestic Policy:
- Expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609.
The Reign of Philip IV (1621-1665)
Philip IV came to power in 1621 and chose the Duke of Olivares as his favorite.
Foreign Policy:
War resumed between the Spanish and the Dutch, which also implied involvement in the Thirty Years’ War that erupted in the Holy Roman Empire in 1618. Hispanic troops had considerable success, including a victory at the Battle of Nördlingen in 1635.
Olivares’ Domestic Policy Reform:
Olivares aimed to:
- Share military spending among all the kingdoms of the monarchy.
- Strengthen the power of the king.
The Crisis of Philip IV’s Reign
Olivares’ policies caused several uprisings, the most important of which were those of Catalonia and Portugal. The Catalan rebellion was put down in 1652. The Portuguese, however, expelled the representatives of Philip IV and declared independence.
Foreign wars became more complicated with the involvement of Cardinal Richelieu, the favorite of King Louis XIII of France. France declared war on the Spanish monarchy in 1635. The Thirty Years’ War ended in 1648 with the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia, which recognized the independence of the United Provinces.
The Reign of Charles II (1665-1700)
Charles II ascended to the throne in 1665 at the age of four. His mother ruled as regent until 1675. Charles had physical and mental problems and was sterile, which created a succession problem.
French Hegemony
Louis XIV of France acceded to the throne in 1643. Until 1661, his favorite, Cardinal Mazarin, ruled. France became the leading power in Europe. Louis’s foreign policy was directed at increasing the power of his country by expanding the frontiers of France and forming a colonial empire.
Absolutist Monarchy:
- The king held all the power.
- Policy was centralized.
- Religious dissent was suppressed.
- The nobility was controlled.
- The court became the center of administration.
The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)
The Thirty Years’ War began when the Bohemians rebelled in 1618 against the Catholic King Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor. Ferdinand asked for help from the Duke of Bavaria. The United Provinces, England, Denmark, and Sweden decided to help the Bohemians. In 1635, France, a Catholic country, allied with the Protestants.
The Reapers’ War (1640-1652)
The absolutist monarchy and the feudal system upon which it relied provoked a series of peasant revolts throughout Europe in the seventeenth century. In Catalonia, unrest was exacerbated by the presence of Castilian troops during the wars between France and Spain, part of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). Castilian and Italian troops who had come to Catalonia to fight the French in Roussillon caused great damage to the countryside, acting at times as an army of occupation.
Another catalyst was the crisis in political relations between the Catalan institutions (the Generalitat and the Consell de Cent) and the monarchy, mainly because of the monarchy’s claims to collect taxes to fund its wars. The Count-Duke of Olivares, prime minister and favorite of Philip IV of Spain (and III of Aragon), proposed a program in 1626 aimed at ensuring that all kingdoms of the Spanish monarchy contributed equally, both in men and money. This program, called the Union of Arms, undermined the Catalan constitutional regime and dragged Catalonia into Spain’s foreign wars.
In 1638, Pau Claris, canon of La Seu d’Urgell and known for his struggle against non-Catalan bishops who often cooperated with the Crown, was elected president of the Church by the ecclesiastical arm. Francesc de Tamarit was elected by the military arm, and Josep Miquel Quintana by the popular arm. Around 1639, these causes merged, and a natural identification and solidarity developed with the farmers’ attitude of distrust of political authorities, gradually becoming the political doctrine and ideology of the rising popular revolt. However, the Catalan aristocracy and the increasingly important urban bourgeoisie maintained more moderate political attitudes towards the monarchy.
That same year, the fall of Opoul and Salses to the French, and the fact that they were not governed by Catalan authorities (who, it seems, surrendered due to bribery), accentuated the tension between the court and the Principality. Although the Roussillon campaign ended with the subsequent recovery of Salses on January 28, 1640, the king, fearful of new attacks from France, ordered the mercenary army to remain in the country. This led to serious incidents in rural areas and small towns such as Sant Esteve de Palautordera, Riudarenes, Santa Coloma de Farners, and Palafrugell.
The Reapers’ War was a conflict that affected much of the Principality of Catalonia between 1640 and 1652. Its most lasting effect was the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 between Spain and France, which resulted in the loss of the County of Roussillon, the County of Conflent, and part of Cerdanya to France.