The fall of the hispanic monarchy during the 17th century
- 1. Thefall of theHispanicMonarchyduringthe 17th century
- 2. Whenthe 17th centurybegan, theHispanicMonarchywastherichest and mostpowerfulempire in theworld.
- 3. Philip IIIPhilip III, succeeded his father, Philip II. He wasking of theHispanicMonarchyfrom 1598 until 1621.
- 4. The ValidosPhilip III didnotcareaboutthegovernment so he handedpowerovertheDuke of Lerma.
- 5. Fromthispointonwards, kingswouldnot rule bythemselves, insteadleavingpower in thehands of nobles, calledvalidos.
- 6. Thefirstspanish valido wastheDuke of Lerma. He tookadvantage of his position and powertoincreasehiswealth.DomesticPolicyTheDuke of Lerma moved thecapitalfrom Madrid toValladolid, hishometown, where he couldbettermanipulatetheking.He alsoexpelledthe Moriscos in 1609. 275.000 moriscos wereexpelled. Depopulationruinedmanyregions, especiallyaffectingagriculture, since moriscos were in charge of it in most of Valencia and Aragon.
- 7. ForeignPolicyTheMonarchywassuffering a economic crisisduetothe expenses of preservingtheterritories.
- 8. Thus, theDuke of Lerma convinced Philip III todevelop a pacifistforeingpolicy.
- 9. Thisledtothesigning of a peacetreatywithEnglandin 1604 and theTwelveYearsTrucewiththeUnitedProvinces in 1609.Althoughmilitary expenses decreased, more moneywasspentonmanteiningthecourt and onpensionsfor nobles. Consequently, in 1607, thekingdeclaredbankruptcyagain.
- 10. Philip IVPhilip IV, succeeded his father, Philip III. He wasking of theHispanicMonarchyfrom 1621 until 1665.
- 11. The ValidosLikehisfather, King Philip IV leftgovernmentresponsabilities in thehands of hisfavourite, the valido Count-Duke of Olivares.He was a good primer ministerwhotriedtorebuilt and strengthentheHispanicEmpire.
- 12. DomesticPolicyOlivares mainobjectiveswere:To share military expenses amongalltheterritories of theMonarchy.
- 13. Toincreasetheking’spowerbyreducingtheautonomy of theterritories.Thesereformsmetwithstrongopposition. Thiscentralistpolicycausedvariousrevolts in theHispanicMonarchy.Themostseriousuprisingstook place in Catalonia and Portugal. Therebellion in Cataloniawassuppresed in 1652, butthePortuguesedeclaredtheirindependence in 1668.
- 14. ForeignPolicyIn 1621, whenthetrucewiththeUnitedProvencescametoanend, Philip IV startedthewaragainsttheFlemishrebelsagain.
- 15. TheHispanicMonarchywasalsothe leader of theCatholicfaction in theThirtyYearsWar.Itwas a religious and politicalconflictwithaffectedmuch of Europe.Protestant nobles rebelledaginsttheHapsburg’sHolyRomanEmperor, Ferdinand II, whoasked King Philip IV forhelp.ThePeace of Westphalia(1648) endedthewar and set up boundaries and regulationsovertheHolyRomanEmpire. Religiousprovisionsweremadetoinsuretheprotestantshadthesamerights.
- 16. ThePeace of Westfalia signifiedtheloss of Spanishsupremacyin Europe as itrecognizedthenorthernProtestantsection of theNetherlands as theindependent country of Holland. WhiletheCatholicSpanishNetherlandslaterbecameBelgium.
- 17. Charles IICharles II, succeeded his father, Philip IV. He wasking of theHispanicMonarchyfrom 1665 until 1700.
- 18. Charles inheritedthethronewhen he wasonly 4 yearsold.Hismother, Maiannaof Austria, ruled as regentuntil 1675. Shewasnot a goodregent so theking’shalf-brother, Mr Juan José de Austria, ledthefirstcoupd’etat of Spanishhistory, endingthegovernments of validos.
- 19. As King Charles II wasmentally and physicallyill, when he came of age he couldnot rule. Thus, Mr. Juan José de Austria and other royal favouritesranthegovernment.
- 20. DomesticPolicy
- 21. Mr. Juan José de Austria and theother Prime Ministerstriedtoreformtheeconomythatwasbeginningtorecoveragainbytheend of thecentury.
- 22. ForeignPolicyHowever, King Louis XIV of France returnedallthelostterritoriestoSpain and signed a treatybecause Charles II had no heirs and he wantedone of hisgrandsonstobeelected as Charles II’ssuccessor.A lot of warswithEuropeancountries, especiallywith France impoverishedtheHispanicMonarchy.Bytheend of thereign, someterritorieshadbeenlost.
- 23. Charles II’sdeathmarkedtheend of theSpanishbranch of theHouse of Austria (theHapsburgdynasty).With no heirs, a warbrokeout in Spain and Europe.TheWar of theSpanishSuccessionwasbetweenthosewhowanted Philip of Bourbon, thegrandson of Louis XIV of France as successor.
- 24. And thosewhowanted Charles of Hapsburg, son of theEmperor of theHolyRomanEmpire and grandson of Philip IV of Spain, as successor.