Spanish Habsburgs: Monarchy, Society & Religion
The Spanish Habsburgs: Monarchy and Society
King Philip II declared bankruptcy more than three times.
16th-Century Society
16th-century society was still dominated by the aristocratic privilegiados. Although some groups were displaced from the most important political positions, they held other relevant positions. The essential privilege of the nobility was fiscal exemption. Another privileged group was the high clergy, who worked with the state indirectly through the payment of tithes.
Reform and Counter-Reformation
Charles V drafted a project involving the creation of a unified empire in one faith and under the superior political power of the Emperor and the Pope.
The Counter-Reformation
Some states adopted the new values of the Protestant Reformation and refused to obey the Pope. Charles V promoted a reorganization of Christianity, which consisted in the Council of Trent, whose sessions were interrupted several times. Via Trent, a counter-reformation was made, which was accepted by Catholics and meant to reaffirm Christianity. The Society of Jesus emerged from this environment.
Religious Minorities and the Inquisition
Charles I and Philip II continued the religious unity which had begun with the Catholic Monarchs through the cleaning of the status of the holy blood and the Inquisition. The first was directed against suspected false *conversos* (Jews, Muslims). The Inquisition was an ecclesiastical court that watched over the purity of Catholicism and persecuted any show of discrepancy with the Catholic faith. The Inquisitorial process was difficult.
The Lesser Habsburgs
With the lesser Habsburgs, Spain experienced a period of decadence. Castile suffered a major economic crisis.
The government of the Spanish monarchs of the 17th century was characterized by a set of *validos* or favorites, which was imposed on other governments like France.
Philip III
Philip III inherited from his father a great empire and a large army, but he also inherited a huge debt and two major wars: against England and the rebels of the Netherlands. The government was in the hands of the Duke of Lerma, who years later was dismissed in favor of his son, the Duke of Uceda. Finally, peace was reached with England and a truce with the Netherlands. Only at the end of his reign was Philip III involved in war (the Thirty Years’ War).
Philip IV
Philip IV’s enthronement implied political changes and the rise of a new favorite, the Count-Duke of Olivares, who sought the restoration of the monarchy at an international level. During Philip’s reign, Spain fought for hegemony in most of Europe. Spain participated at different stages of the Thirty Years’ War, which ended with the Peace of Westphalia and meant the failure of the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs. The war with France continued until the signing of the Peace of the Pyrenees.
Internal Crisis of 1640
With problems to remedy the crisis, Olivares launched reforms to increase the resources of the monarchy with a proposed Union of Arms. The Count-Duke proposed this as a system of organization to be applied to the realms of Castile. The first major clash occurred with Catalonia. Tensions between the Catalan institutions and the monarchy caused a peasant revolt. The Kingdom of Portugal had already shown their rejection of the politics that Olivares wanted to conduct, while Aragon and Andalusia wanted to become independent.