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Spain History - House of Habsburg - (1517 - 1700)
In 1517, Juana's son Carlos I, arrived from Flanders and proceeded immediately
to lock her away until her death in 1555. By marriage and inheritance King Carlos I
of Spain (also to be known as Emperor Charles V as from 1519), possessed not
only Spain as a co-ruler with his mad mother, but also the states of Netherlands,
Austria, some parts of Germany, half of Italy, parts of France and the Spanish
Colonies in the Americas.. His reign is marked by wars and internal
strife,
including massive spending and the near constant bankruptcy of his Empire. The
Castilian nobles resented the influx of Flemish outsiders and rebelled only to
be defeated in battle in 1521 at Villalar. At the same time he had overcome
another threat in Valencia from a leader who claimed to be the illegitimate
grandson of Fernando. During his long reign he only spent some sixteen year in
Spain due to constant wars or friction in his various possessions. He made more
enemies when he decided to sack Rome in 1527 and England ended their
mutual non-aggression pact the same year. In the north of Europe he suffered
the spreading influence of Martin Luther and Protestantism whilst to the east and
south he was constantly defending against warring Ottoman Turks.
The popularity of Carlos 1 with his Spanish subjects began to improve with his
fight as defender of the Catholic faith and then improved even more with his
marriage to Isabel the daughter of the King of Portugal. He insisted on
learning to speak and write in Castilian. In 1535 he organized a massive fleet
which successfully attacked Tunis releasing thousands of Christian slaves and
bringing more popularity. On the death of the last in line of the
Sforza family he inherited the Kingdom of Milan in 1535. During his
many absenteeism Spain was administered by
the very capable and loyal Francisco de los Cobos who the king had appointed
as Secretary of Finance. Although Carlos won a great battle against the
Protestants at Muhlburg in 1547 it took another five years for his forces
to retreat forever from the invaded German soil.
The Spanish in the vast majority were not interested in Protestantism but there
was one small sect that appeared called "Illuminists" lead by a woman. One of
her followers, a Basque by the name of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was later to
write a great book named "Spiritual Exercises" which was to become the creed
of the military-style Order of the Jesuits founded in 1534 and
officially recognized by the Pope in 1540. The "Humanists Movement" made some
brief inroads into Spanish literature and architecture during the reign of
Carlos I but his successor was quick to suffocate the intrusion. Having failed
in nearly all of the many things that he had attempted in his life Carlos gave up the throne
in 1556 in favour of his son Felipe II. Having lived a full and indulgent life
(he was a member of the elite Order of the Golden Fleece composed of European
aristocrats who held glutinous and lengthily banquets), he retired quietly to
the Yuste Monastery in Estremadura. He left the stage leaving his Empire split between the Spanish and
the Austrians having already made a present of the Low Countries and Spain to
his son. He had ruled Spain for 40 years but he had only be officially King of Castile
for nine months and died in 1558 at the age of fifty-eight.
Felipe II built to the north of Madrid the world famous El Escorial Palace with
its 134 kilometres of corridors, over 2,500 windows, 1,200 doors, 86 staircases
and 15 cloisters. Juan Bautista and Juan de Herrera as the architects reflected
in their creation exactly the character of their time of which the King
emphasized. Many versions exist as to the reason for its creation and shape but
there is little doubt that the Spanish victory of Saint Quentin in 1557 was the
cause. Completed in 1584 it reflected Felipe's deep and somber religious feelings.
In the vast building his royal quarters are extremely small and modest, the view
from his room look directly to the altar in the main church.
His reign in 1556 commenced in league with the French and in conflict with Pope.
However, the Habsburg policy was always to encircle France when possible with his
allies and when his wife died giving birth to his son Carlos, his father had
then married him in 1554 to the Catholic Mary Tudor of England at Winchester Cathedral.
This proved a childless marriage and when Mary died both England and Spain was
pleased that there union was broken regardless of Felipe's persistent pursuit
of the hand of Queen Elizabeth I. With the previous loss of Austria by inheritance
to his brother Ferdinand he suddenly made an unexpected move by marrying Elizabeth
of Valois, the 14 year old daughter of the King of France. By making this union he
immediately placed Spain as an enemy of England.
Meanwhile, back in Spain he
found not only that the royal coffer was empty but it was also owing large sums to the
banks. The crown's income (a fifth), from all the imported American treasure was
insufficient to meet his needs so he raised the taxes and sold off his father's
collection of jewels. Carlos saw himself as the champion of the Catholic religion
and all his efforts went in stimulating the faith and removing any threat
to Spain or any of its possessions, especially in the newly
conquered Americas. It is at this time that the
Spanish Empire gained their title of the "Black Legend" reflecting
their cruel
oppression on cultures outside their own narrow vision. However, some
historians protest that this title is unjustified as the rule of the Spanish was
no worse than any history of other Empire builders. This legend had persisted
through Anglo-Saxon history and even today it is still used as a profitable
scapegoat through media such as films and books.
King Felipe II was an unsmiling person who trusted extremely few and disliked
powerful personalities but at the same time he earned the love of most of his
Castellan subjects by his devotion and his sincere preoccupation for their general
morale and well being. Most of the time he buried himself in royal paperwork and
avoided attending court, also he avoided as much as he could strong personalities
such as the Duke of Alba and his half-brother Don Juan of Austria. This
charismatic brother was to prove a great leader in various campaigns for the
sake of the kingdom and Felipe made sure he was kept busy and presented no threat
to his throne. In private Felipe was a cultured man and liked music, playing
chess, and gathered the largest private library of 14,000 books. He worshiped
his second wife Elizabeth until her early tragic death going on later to marry
Anna of Austria in the hope of producing an heir for the throne. It
was in Felipe II reign and his successor Carlos II the the painter Diego
Velázquez da Silva (1541-1614) painted some of his famous works.
In contrast to
the above his hate of heretics was intense so he revitalized of the Inquisition
and at the beginning of his rule he showed his position to all concerned by
staging a impressive "auto de fe" at Valladolid where a number of heretics were
burned. It is to be remembered that the Inquisition was used as a useful tool to
rid the ruler also of the power of the church. One of the principal reasons for
the capital of Spain being moved from Toledo to Madrid in Felipe's reign was to
escape the ever-powerful church barons. The Archbishop of Toledo was himself
incarcerated under religious scrutiny in the dungeons for 18 years until his
death. Another problem emerged from the south when the Moriscos in Granada
revolted against new restrictions to their faith in 1567 and the open abuse
of local power by the priests. An army was sent south under the leadership of
Don Juan of Austria which resulted in some 60,000 subjects losing their lives
before the rebels were finally beaten. In 1571 the same General, now twenty-four
years old, defeated the powerful fleet of the Ottomans at Lepanto in Greece. At
this battle was the later to be famous Miguel de Cervantes.
In 1581 the United Provinces of the Low Countries (with the exception of Belgium),
declared their Independence under the leadership of William of Orange. In 1592
William was assassinated and then the Provinces entered into a pact with England.
Felipe ordered the seizure of English ships so Queen Elizabeth ordered Sir
Francis Drake to "singe the beard of the Spanish king" in 1587 by successfully
attacking the Spanish fleet anchored at Cadiz. When the Spanish learnt of the
execution of the Catholic Queen of Scots, Felipe commenced his plans for
"The Great Armada". Offshore to La Coruña at the beginning of this huge fleet's
departure a sudden storm damaged one third of the ships. It was in July of 1588
that some 130 ships and 29,000 men finally sailed off to the English Channel.
After they had been beaten and harried by the fleet of England they eventually
arrived home with a loss of 63 ships and 9,000 men. Felipe planned two more
such Armadas in 1596 and 1597 but each time the storms at sea defeated his
purpose.
In the main Felipe's decisions proved costly, politically dangerous and
humiliating to Spain. By his first marriage the King had forcibly annexed the Kingdom of Portugal which was to
present him with constant problems as the Portuguese were generally not pleased
with the attitude and the different style of administration by their Spanish cousins.
In 1565 he nominated Willem of Orange to govern royal interests in
the Netherlands but Willem promptly championed the cause of
Protestantism which caused a war in 1567 between the two. The
conflict eventually ends with the Union of Utrecht in 1579 which
binds the northern counties together to drive out the Spanish. In
1580 Spain invaded their neighbour Portugal and after winning the
battle of Alcantara he places the country and its possessions under
Spanish rule for the next 60 years. The failure of the famous "Great Armada" against England in 1588 typified the King's
lack of success in most everything. His heir and son Dom Carlos was physically
malformed and considered as being of questionable sanity. His offending public
behavior soon forced his father to forcibly confine him which subsequently resulted in an
early and suspicious death. It is this same Dom Carlos who is questionably made
into a hero in the opera by Verdi.
With the many demands on the thrones finances Spain swung from one crisis to
another trying to meet payments without sufficient funds. The disdain by the noble
classes for being associated with trade had moved business into the hands of
foreign merchants whilst the middle class and the poor were being bled by taxes
and the church. Agriculture was being smothered by the aristocratic land owners
who preferred the less tiresome rearing of sheep for the wool trade. The spoils
from the Americas which still arrived in Seville and regardless of romantic
stories they only very occasionally fell into the hands of pirates - it is
calculated from old records that 95 per cent of all vessels arrived safely.
However, as fast as it arrived it was sold to pay the burdening debts. A
Spaniard with ambition in the 1600s was left with only a choice between the
church, royal service, or go to sea. To be poor was considered no dishonour
but it was to soil one's hands with work as it was publicly associated to
being a poor Moriscos (converted Moors to Christianity). The ever increasing
numbers of poor became an honourable burden to the many monasteries that prided
themselves on their own generous charity to the needy. This unbalanced and
unhealthy society was to create an even poorer Spain for the immediate future.
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