Chapter XC: Act 8: Parliament 1. repeated in Act 99. Parliament 7 (16)

"Charles received the news of his election to the imperial
throne with the joy that was natural to a young and aspiring
mind. But his elevation was far from affording the same
satisfaction to his Spanish subjects, who foresaw that their
blood and their treasures would be lavished in the support of
German politics." With great difficulty he obtained from the
Cortes money sufficient to enable him to proceed to Germany in
a suitable style. Having accomplished this, he sailed from
Corunna in May, 1520, leaving his old preceptor, now Cardinal
Adrian, of Utrecht, to be Regent during his absence. "As soon
as it was understood that, although the Cortes had voted him a
free gift, they had not obtained the redress of any grievance,
the indignation of the people became general and
uncontrollable. The citizens of Toledo took arms, attacked the
citadel, and compelled the governor to surrender. Having, in
the next place, established a democratical form of government,
composed of deputies from the several parishes of the city,
they levied troops, and appointed for their commander Don Juan
de Padilla, son of the Commendator of Castile, a young man of
an ambitious and daring spirit, and a great favourite with the
populace. Segovia, Burgos, Zamora, and several other cities,
followed the example of Toledo." Segovia was besieged by
Fonseca, commander-in-chief in Castile, who, previously,
destroyed a great part of the town of Medino del Campo by
fire, because its citizens refused to deliver to him a train
of artillery. Valladolid now rose in revolt, notwithstanding
the presence of the Regent in the city, and forced him to
disavow the proceedings of Fonseca.

_J. Bigland,
History of Spain,
volume 1, chapter 12._

"In July [1520], deputies from the principal Castilian cities
met in Avila; and having formed an association called the
Santa Junta, or Holy League, proceeded to deliberate
concerning the proper methods of redressing the grievances of
the nation. The Junta declared the authority of Adrian
illegal, on the ground of his being a foreigner, and required
him to resign it; while Padilla, by a sudden march, seized the
person of Joanna at Tordesillas. The unfortunate queen
displayed an interval of reason, during which she authorised
Padilla to do all that was necessary for the safety of the
kingdom; but she soon relapsed into her former imbecility, and
could not be persuaded to sign any more papers.
{2986}
The Junta nevertheless carried on all their deliberations in
her name; and Padilla, marching with a considerable army to
Valladolid, seized the seals and public archives, and formally
deposed Adrian. Charles now issued from Germany circular
letters addressed to the Castilian cities, making great
concessions, which, however, were not deemed satisfactory by
the Junta; who, conscious of their power, proceeded to draw up
a remonstrance, containing a long list of grievances. …
Charles having refused to receive the remonstrance which was
forwarded to him in Germany, the Junta proceeded to levy open
war against him and the nobles; for the latter, who had at
first sided with the Junta, finding their own privileges
threatened as well as those of the King, began now to support
the royal authority. The army of the Junta, which numbered
about 20,000 men, was chiefly composed of mechanics and
persons unacquainted with the use of arms; Padilla was set
aside, and the command given to Don Pedro de Giron, a rash and
inexperienced young nobleman." From this time the insurrection
failed rapidly. In December, the royalists recovered
Tordesillas and the person of Queen Joanna; and in April,
1521, Padilla was defeated, taken prisoner and executed, near
Villalar. "This defeat proved the ruin of the Junta.
Valladolid and most of the other confederated towns now
submitted, but Toledo, animated by the grief and courage of
Padilla's widow, still held out." Even after the surrender of
the city, "Dona Maria retired to the citadel and held it four
months longer; but on the 10th February 1522, she was
compelled to surrender, and escaped in disguise to Portugal;
after which tranquillity was re-established in Castile."

_T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 2, chapter 3 (volume 1)._

"The insurrection was a failure; and the blow which crushed
the insurgents on the plains of Villalar deprived them [the
Spaniards at large] for ever of the few liberties which they
had been permitted to retain. They were excluded from all
share in the government, and were henceforth summoned to the
cortes only to swear allegiance to the heir apparent, or to
furnish subsidies for their master. … The nobles, who had
stood by their master in the struggle, fared no better. … They
gradually sunk into the unsubstantial though glittering
pageant of a court. Meanwhile the government of Castile,
assuming the powers of both making the laws and enforcing
their execution, became in its essential attributes nearly as
absolute as that of Turkey."

_W. H. Prescott,
History of the Reign of Philip II.,
book 6, chapter 1._

ALSO IN:
_W. Robertson,
History of the Reign of Charles V.,
book 3 (volume 2)._

SPAIN: A. D. 1519-1524.
The conquest of Mexico.

See MEXICO: A. D. 1519, to 1524.

SPAIN: A. D. 1523.
The conspiracy of Charles V. with the Constable of
Bourbon against France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1520-1523.

SPAIN: A. D. 1523-1527.
Double-dealings of Pope Clement VII. with Charles.
The imperial revenge.
Capture and sack of Rome.

See ITALY: A. D. 1523-1527; and 1527.

SPAIN: A. D. 1524.
Disputes with Portugal in the division of the New World.
The voyage of Magellan and the Congress of Badajos.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1519-1524.

SPAIN: A. D. 1526.
The Treaty of Madrid.
Perfidy of Francis I.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1525-1526.

SPAIN: A. D. 1526.
Compulsory and nominal Conversion of the Moors,
or Moriscoes, completed.

See MOORS: A. D. 1492-1609.

SPAIN: A. D. 1528-1542.
The expeditions of Narvaez and Hernando de Soto in Florida.

See FLORIDA: A. D. 1528-1542.

SPAIN: A. D. 1531-1541.
Pizarro's conquest of Peru.

See PERU: A. D. 1528-1531, to 1533-1548.

SPAIN: A. D. 1535.
Conquest and vassalage of Tunis.

See BARBARY STATES: A. D. 1516-1535.

SPAIN: A. D. 1536-1544.
Renewed war between Charles V. and Francis I.
Treaty of Crespy.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1532-1547.

SPAIN: A. D. 1541.
Disastrous expedition of Charles V. against Algiers.

See BARBARY STATES: A. D. 1541.

SPAIN: A. D. 1556.
Abdication of Charles.
Accession of Philip II.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1555.

SPAIN: A. D. 1556-1559.
War with France and the Pope.
Successes in Italy and northwestern France.
Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1547-1559.

SPAIN: A. D. 1559-1563.
Early measures of Philip II.
His stupid and stifling despotism.
His attempt to shut knowledge out of the kingdom.
His destruction of commerce and industry.
His choice of Madrid for a capital.
His building of the Escorial.

"In the beginning of his reign he [Philip II.] issued a most
extraordinary decree. … That document is a signal revelation
of the policy which Philip adopted as the very soul of his
Government. Determined to stop by all imaginable means the
infiltration into Spain of the doctrines of the religious
reformation which agitated Europe, it seems that he planned to
isolate her intellect from that of the rest of the world. …
For this purpose he ordered that none of his subjects, without
any exception whatever, should leave the Kingdom 'to learn, or
to teach, or to read anything,' or even 'reside' in any of the
universities, colleges or schools established in foreign
parts. To those who were thus engaged he prescribed that they
should return home within four months. Any ecclesiastic
violating this decree was to be denationalized and lose all
his temporalities; any layman was to be punished with the
confiscation of his property and perpetual exile. Thus a sort
of Chinese legislation and policy was adopted for Spain. There
was to be on her frontiers a line of custom-houses through
which the thought of man could not pass without examination.
No Spaniard was to receive or to communicate one idea without
the leave of Philip. … In 1560, the Cortes of Castile had
their second meeting under the reign of Philip. … The Cortes
presented to Philip one hundred and eleven petitions. … To
those petitions which aimed at something practicable and
judicious he gave some of his usual evasive answers, but he
granted very readily those which were absurd. For instance, he
promulgated sumptuary ordinances which were ridiculous, and
which could not possibly have any salutary effects. He also
published decrees which were restrictive of commerce, and
prohibited the exportation of gold, silver, grains, cattle and
other products of the soil, or of the manufacturing industry
of the country. …
{2987}
In the meantime, the financial condition of the Kingdom was
rapidly growing worse, and the deficit resulting from the
inequality of expenditure and revenue was assuming the most
alarming proportions. All the ordinary and extraordinary means
and resources had been exhausted. … Yet, on an average, Philip
received annually from his American Dominions alone more than
1,200,000 ducats—which was at least equivalent to $6,000,000
at the present epoch. The Council of Finances, or Hacienda,
after consulting with Philip, could not devise anything else,
to get out of difficulty, than to resort again to the sale of
titles of nobility, the sale of vassals and other Royal
property, the alienation of certain rights, and the concession
of privileges. … It is difficult to give an idea of the
wretched administration which had been introduced in Spain,
and of those abuses which, like venomous leeches, preyed upon
her vitals. Suffice it to say that in Castile, for instance,
according to a census made in 1541, there was a population of
near 800,000 souls, and that out of every eight men there was
one who was noble and exempt from taxation, thereby increasing
the weight of the burden on the shoulders of the rest; and as
if this evil was not already unbearable, Philip was selling
profusely letters patent of nobility. … In these conjunctures
[1560], Philip, who had shown, on all occasions, that he
preferred residing in Madrid, … determined to make that city
the permanent seat of the Court and of the Supreme Government,
and therefore the capital of the Monarchy. That barren and
insalubrious locality presented but one advantage, if it be
one of much value, that of being a central point. … Reason and
common sense condemned it from the beginning. … Shortly after
having selected Madrid as his capital, Philip had laid [1563]
with his own bands, in the vicinity of that city, the first
stone of the foundations of the Escorial, that eighth marvel
of the world, as it is called by the Spaniards."

_C. Gayarré,
Philip II. of Spain,
chapter 4._

"The common tradition that Philip built the Escorial in
pursuance of a vow which he made at the time of the great
battle of St. Quentin, the 10th of August, 1557, has been
rejected by modern critics. … But a recently discovered
document leaves little doubt that such a vow was actually
made. However this may have been, it is certain that the king
designed to commemorate the event by this structure, as is
intimated by its dedication to St. Lawrence, the martyr on
whose day the victory was gained. The name given to the place
was 'El Sitio de San Lorenzo el Real.' But the monastery was
better known from the hamlet near which it stood—El Escurial,
or El Escorial—which latter soon became the orthography
generally adopted by the Castilians. … The erection of a
religious house on a magnificent scale, that would proclaim to
the world his devotion to the Faith, was the predominant idea
in the mind of Philip. It was, moreover, a part of his scheme
to combine in the plan a palace for himself. … The site which,
after careful examination, he selected for the building, was
among the mountains of the Guadarrama, on the borders of New
Castile, about eight leagues northwest of Madrid. … In 1584,
the masonry of the Escorial was completed. Twenty-one years
had elapsed since the first stone of the monastery was laid.
This certainly must be regarded as a short period for the
erection of so stupendous a pile. … Probably no single edifice
ever contained such an amount and variety of inestimable
treasures as the Escorial,—so many paintings and sculptures by
the greatest masters,—so many articles of exquisite
workmanship, composed of the most precious materials." It was
despoiled by the French in 1808, and in 1837 the finest works
of art surviving were removed to Madrid. "The Escorial ceased
to be a royal residence. Tenantless and unprotected, it was
left to the fury of the blasts which swept down the hills of
the Guadarrama."

_W. H. Prescott,
History of the Reign of Philip II.,
book 6, chapter 2 (volume 3)._

SPAIN: A. D. 1560.
Disastrous expedition against Tripoli.

See BARBARY STATES: A. D. 1543-1560.

SPAIN: A. D. 1563-1564.
Repulse of the Moors from Oran and Mazarquiver.
Capture of Penon de Velez.

See BARBARY STATES: A. D. 1563-1565.

SPAIN: A. D. 1565.
The massacre of French Huguenots in Florida
and occupation of the country.

See FLORIDA: A. D. 1565; and 1567-1568.

SPAIN: A. D. 1566-1571.
Edict against the Moriscoes.
Their rebellion and its suppression.

See MOORS: A. D. 1492-1609.

SPAIN: A. D. 1568-1610.
The Revolt o the Netherlands.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1568-1572, and after.

SPAIN: A. D. 1570-1571.
The Holy League with Venice and the Pope against the Turks.
Great battle and Victory of Lepanto.

See TURKS: A. D. 1566-1571.

SPAIN: . D. 1572.
Rejoicing of Philip at the news of the
Massacre of St. Bartholomew's day.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1572 (AUGUST-OCTOBER).

SPAIN: A. D. 1572-1573.
Capture of Tunis by Don John of Austria, and its recovery,
with Goletta, by the Turks.

See TURKS: A. D. 1572-1573.

SPAIN: A. D. 1572-1580.
Piratical warfare of England.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1572-1580.

SPAIN: A. D. 1580.
The crown of Portugal claimed by Philip II.
and secured by force.

See PORTUGAL: A. D. 1579-1580.

SPAIN: A. D. 1585.
Secret alliance with the Catholic League of France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1576-1585.

SPAIN: A. D. 1587-1588.
The expedition of the Armada, against England.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1587-1588; and 1588.

SPAIN: A. D. 1590.
Aid rendered to the Catholic League in France.
Parma's deliverance of Paris.
Philip's ambition to wear the French crown.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1590.

SPAIN: A. D. 1595-1598.
War with France.
The Peace of Vervins.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1593-1598.

SPAIN: A. D. 1596.
Capture and plundering of Cadiz by the English and Dutch.

"In the beginning of 1596, Philip won an important triumph by
the capture of Calais. But this awoke the alarm of England and
of the Hollanders as much as of the French. A joint expedition
was equipped against Spain in which the English took the lead.
Lord Admiral Howard sailed with a fleet of 150 vessels against
Cadiz, and the Earl of Essex commanded the land forces. On
June 21 the Spanish ships which assembled for the defence of
the town were entirely defeated. Essex was the first to leap
on shore, and the English troops easily took the city.
{2988}
The clemency of the English soldiers contrasted favourably
with the terrible barbarities of the Spaniards in the
Netherlands. 'The mercy and the clemency that had been showed
here,' wrote Lord Howard, 'will be spoken of throughout the
world.' No man or woman was needlessly injured; but Cadiz was
sacked, and the shipping in its harbour destroyed. Essex
wished to follow up this exploit by a further attack upon
Spain; but Howard, who had accomplished the task for which he
had been sent, insisted on returning home."

_M. Creighton,
The Age of Elizabeth,
book 7, chapter 3._

"The results of this expedition were considerable, for the
king's navy was crippled, a great city was destroyed, and some
millions of plunder had been obtained. But the permanent
possession of Cadiz, which, in such case, Essex hoped to
exchange for Calais, and the destruction of the fleet at the
Azores—possible achievements both, and unwisely neglected
—would have been far more profitable, at least to England."

_J. L. Motley,
History of the United Netherlands,
chapter 32 (volume 3)._

SPAIN: A. D. 1598.
Accession of Philip III.

SPAIN: A. D. 1598-1700.
The first century of decline and decay.

"Spain became united and consolidated under the Catholic kings
[Ferdinand and Isabella]; it became a cosmopolitan empire
under Charles; and in Philip, austere, bigoted, and
commanding, its height of glory was reached. Thenceforth the
Austrian supremacy in the peninsula—the star of the House of
Habsburg—declined, until a whiff of diplomacy was sufficient
to extinguish its lights in the person of the childless and
imbecile Charles II. Three reigns—Philip III. (1598-1621),
Philip IV. (1621-1665), and Charles II. (1665-1700)—fill this
century of national decline, full as it is of crowned idiocy,
hypochondria, and madness, the result of incestuous marriages,
or natural weakness. The splendid and prosperous Spanish
empire under the emperor and his son—its vast conquests,
discoveries and foreign wars,—becomes transformed into a
bauble for the caprice of favorites, under their successors. …
Amid its immeasurable wealth, Spain was bankrupt. The gold,
and silver, and precious stones of the West, emptied
themselves into a land the poorest and most debt-laden in
Europe, the most spiritually ignorant despite the countless
churches, the most notorious for its dissolute nobility, its
worthless officials, its ignoble family relations, its
horrible moral aberrations pervading all grades of the
population; and all in vain. The mighty fancy, the
enthusiastic loyalty, the fervid faith of the richly endowed
Spaniard were not counter-balanced by humbler but more
practical virtues, —love of industry, of agriculture, of
manufactures. The Castilians hated the doings of citizens and
peasants; the taint of the Arab and the Jew was on the
profession of money-getting. Thousands left their ploughs and
went to the Indies, found places in the police, or bought
themselves titles of nobility, which forthwith rendered all
work dishonorable. The land grew into a literal infatuation
with miracles, relics, cloisters, fraternities, pious
foundations of every description. The church was omnipotent.
Nobody cultivated the soil. Hundreds of thousands lived in the
convents. Begging soup at the monastery gates,—such is a type
of the famishing Spain of the 17th century. In economic,
political, physical, moral, and intellectual aspects, a decay
pervaded the peninsula under the later Habsburgers, such as no
civilized nation has ever undergone. The population declined
from 10,000,000 under Charles V. (Charles I. of Spain) to
6,000,000 under Charles II. The people had vanished from
hundreds of places in New Castile, Old Castile, Toledo,
Estremadura, and Andalusia. One might travel miles in the
lovely regions of the South, without seeing a solitary
cultivated field or dwelling. Seville was almost depopulated.
Pecuniary distress at the end of the 17th century reached an
unexampled height; the soldiers wandered through the cities
begging; nearly all the great fortresses from Barcelona to
Cadiz were ruinous; the king's servants ran away because they
were neither paid nor fed; more than once there was no money
to supply the royal table; the ministers were besieged by high
officials and officers seeking to extort their pay long due;
couriers charged with communications of the highest importance
lingered on the road for lack of means to continue their
journey. Finance was reduced to tricks of low deceit and
robbery. … The idiocy of the system of taxation was
unparalleled. Even in 1594 the cortes complained that the
merchant, out of every 1,000 ducats capital, had to pay 300
ducats in taxes; that no tenant-farmer could maintain himself,
however low his rent might be; and that the taxes exceeded the
income of numerous estates. Bad as the system was under Philip
II., it became worse under his Austrian successors. The tax
upon the sale of food, for instance, increased from ten to
fourteen per cent, Looms were most productive when they were
absolutely silent. Almost the entire household arrangements of
a Spanish family were the products of foreign industries. In
the beginning of the 17th century, five-sixths of the domestic
and nine-tenths of the foreign trade were in the hands of
aliens. In Castile, alone, there were 160,000 foreigners, who
had gained complete possession of the industrial and
manufacturing interests. 'We cannot clothe ourselves without
them, for we have neither linen nor cloth; we cannot write
without them, for we have no paper,' complains a Spaniard.
Hence, the enormous masses of gold and silver annually
transmitted from the colonies passed through Spain into
French, English, Italian, and Dutch pockets. Not a real, it is
said, of the 35,000,000 of ducats which Spain received from
the colonies in 1595, was found in Castile the following year.
In this indescribable retrogression, but one interest in any
way prospered—the Church. The more agriculture, industry,
trade declined, the more exclusively did the Catholic clergy
monopolize all economic and intellectual life."

_J. A. Harrison,
Spain,
chapter 23._

ALSO IN:
_R. Watson,
History of the Reign of Philip III._

_J. Dunlop,
Memoirs of Spain, during the Reigns
of Philip IV. and Charles II._

SPAIN: A. D. 1609.
Final expulsion of the Moriscoes.
The resulting ruin of the nation, materially and morally.

See MOORS: A. D. 1492-1609.

SPAIN: A. D. 1619.
Alliance with the Emperor Ferdinand
against Frederick of Bohemia.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1618-1620.

SPAIN: A. D. 1621.
Accession of Philip IV.

SPAIN: A. D. 1621.
Renewal of war in the Netherlands.
End of the truce.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1621-1633.

{2989}

SPAIN: A. D. 1624-1626.
Hostile policy of Richelieu.
The Valtelline War in Northern Italy.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1624-1626.

SPAIN: A. D. 1627-1631.
War with France in Northern Italy over the
succession to the duchy of Mantua.

See ITALY: A. D. 1627-1631.

SPAIN: A. D. 1635.
New hostile alliances of France.
Declaration of war.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1634-1639.

SPAIN: A. D. 1635-1636.
The Cardinal Infant in the Netherlands.
His invasion of France.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1635-1638.

SPAIN: A. D. 1635-1642.
The war with France and Savoy in Northern Italy.

See ITALY: A. D. 1635-1659.

SPAIN: A. D. 1637-1640.
The war on the French frontier.
Siege and battle of Fontarabia.
French invasion of Roussillon.
Causes of disaffection in Catalonia.

In 1637, a Spanish army, 12,000 strong, crossed the Pyrenees
under the command of the Duke of Medina del Rio-Seco, Admiral
of Castile. "He took St Jean-de-Luz without difficulty, and
was advancing to the siege of Bayonne, when the old Duke
d'Epernon, governor of Guienne, … threw himself into it. There
was little time for preparations; but the Spanish commander,
on being told he would find Bayonne destitute of defence,
replied that could not be said of any place which contained
the Duke d'Epernon. He accordingly refrained from laying siege
to Bayonne; and all his other enterprises having failed from
the vigilant activity of Epernon, he abandoned St Jean-de-Luz,
with some other posts in its neighbourhood, and the seat of
war was speedily transferred from Guienne to Languedoc:
Olivarez, in forming his plans against that province, had
expected a revolt among its numerous and often rebellious
inhabitants. … The hopes, however, entertained by Olivarez …
proved utterly fallacious." The Spanish army, under
Serbellone, invested Leucate, the first fortress reached on
entering Languedoc from Roussillon, and besieged it for a
month; but was attacked at the end of that time by the Duke de
Halluin, son of the late Mareschal Schomberg, and driven from
its works, with the loss of all its artillery, and 3,000 men.
"In the following season [1638] the French, in their turn,
attempted the invasion of Spain, but with as little success as
the Spaniards had obtained in Guienne or Languedoc. … An army,
amounting to not less than 15,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry,
under the orders of the Prince of Condé, the father of the
great Condé, and a devoted retainer of Richelieu, crossed the
frontier, took Irun, and laid siege to Fontarabia, which is
situated on a peninsula, jutting into the river Bidassoa. A
formidable French fleet was, at the same time, stationed on
the coast of Guipuscoa, to co-operate with this army," and,
after failing in one attack, it succeeded in destroying the
Spanish ships sent to the succor of Fontarabia. "Fontarabia
being considered as the key to Spain, on the entrance to the
kingdom from Bayonne, its natural strength had been greatly
improved by fortifications." Its garrison held out stoutly
until the arrival of a relieving army of 13,000, led by the
Admiral of Castile. Nearly a month elapsed before the latter
ventured to attack the besieging force; but when he did,
"while the Spaniards lost only 200 men, the French were
totally defeated, and precipitately driven forth from their
intrenchments. Many of them were killed in the attack, and a
still greater number were drowned in attempting to pass the
Bidassoa. Those who escaped fled with precipitation to
Bayonne. … But Spain was hardly relieved from the alarm of the
invasion of Navarre when she was threatened with a new danger,
on the side of Roussillon. The Prince of Condé … was again
entrusted with a military expedition against the Spanish
frontiers. … The small county of Roussillon, which had
hitherto belonged to Spain as an appendage of Catalonia, lies
on the French side of the higher Pyrenees; but a lower range
of mountains, called the Courbieres, branching off from them,
and extending within a league of the Mediterranean shore,
divides Roussillon from Languedoc. At the extremity of these
hills, and about a league from the sea, stood the fortress of
Salsas [or Salces], which was considered as the key of Spain
on the dangerous side of Roussillon and Catalonia." Salsas was
invested by the French, 1639, and taken after a siege of forty
days. But Olivarez, the Spanish minister, adopted measures for
the recovery of the important fortress, so energetic, so
peremptory, and so unmeasured in the exactions they made upon
the people of Catalonia, that Salsas was retaken in January,
1640. "The long campaign in the vicinity of Balsas, though it
proved ultimately prosperous to the Spanish arms, fostered in
the bosom of the kingdom the seeds of rebellion. Those
arbitrary measures which Olivarez enjoined to his Generals,
may have gained Salsas, but they lost Catalonia. The frequent
intercourse which took place between the Catalans and French
soldiery, added fuel to those flames nearly ready to burst
forth, and, shortly afterwards, excited the fatal insurrection
at Barcelona."

_J. Dunlop,
Memoirs of Spain during the Reigns of
Philip IV. and Charles II.,
volume 1, chapter 4._

ALSO IN:
_T. Wright,
History of France,
volume 1, chapter 17._

SPAIN: A. D. 1639-1700.
War with the piratical Buccaneers.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1639-1700.

SPAIN: A. D. 1640.
Revolution in Portugal
That country resumes its independence.

See PORTUGAL: A. D. 1637-1668.

SPAIN: A. D. 1640-1642.
Revolt of Catalonia and Portugal, with the aid of France.
French conquest of Roussillon.

After their defeat of Condé at Salces, Olivarez ordered the
Castilian troops to take up their winter quarters in
Catalonia; and, "commanding the Catalonians to raise and equip
6,000 soldiers for the wars of Italy, he assigned them their
proportion of the expenses of the state, enjoining the states
to raise it, by a decree of the king. Had the Castillian
troops remained tranquil and orderly, overawing the
Catalonians by their presence and their discipline, without
enraging them by their excesses and their insolence, perhaps
Olivarez might have carried through his bold design, and
annihilated, one by one, the destructive privileges of the
various provinces. But, on the contrary, they committed every
sort of violence and injustice. … The Catalonians, stirred up
to vengeance, sought retribution in chance combats, lost their
dread of the Castillian troops by frequent contests with them,
and were excited almost to frenzy by their violence and
rapine. In the mean time, the states of Catalonia refused to
obey the royal decree, and sent two deputies to remonstrate
with the king and his minister.
{2990}
These messengers unfortunately executed their commission in an
insolent and menacing tone; and Olivarez, of a haughty and
inflexible character, caused them instantly to be arrested.
These tidings reached Barcelona at the moment when some fresh
outrage, committed by the Castillian soldiers, had excited
popular indignation to the highest pitch; and a general
insurrection was the immediate consequence. The viceroy was
slain upon the spot, and a negotiation was instantly entered
into with France in order to procure support in rebellion. The
courage of Olivarez did not fail even under this fresh
misfortune: all the disposable troops in Spain were instantly
directed upon Catalonia; and all the other provinces, but more
especially Portugal, were ordered to arm for the suppression
of the revolt. Turbulent subjects and interested allies are
always sure to take advantage of the moment of difficulty. The
Portuguese, hating, with even more bitter animosity than the
Catalonians, the yoke of Castille, oppressed by Vasconcellos,
who ruled them under the vice-queen, duchess of Mantua, and
called upon to aid in suppressing an insurrection to which
they looked with pleasure and hope, now instantly threw off
the rule of Spain. A conspiracy burst forth, which had been
preparing under the knowledge and advice of Richelieu for more
than three years; and the duke of Braganza, a prince of no
great abilities, was proclaimed king. … In the mean time the
marquis de los Velez had taken the command of the army sent
against the Catalonian rebels; and a willing instrument of the
minister's vengeance, he exercised the most barbarous
cruelties as he marched on into the refractory province. The
town of Tortosa was taken and sacked by his soldiers, and the
people subjected to every sort of violence. Fire, massacre,
and desolation marked his progress; but, instead of inspiring
crouching terror, and trembling self-abandonment, his conduct
roused up lion-like revenge. Hurrying on the negotiations with
France, the Catalonians accepted any terms which Richelieu
chose to offer, declared themselves subject to the French
crown, and pronounced the authority of Spain at an end for
ever in Catalonia. A small corps of French troops was
immediately thrown forward from Roussillon, and advanced to
Taragona under the command of D'Espenan, a general who had
shown great skill and courage at Salces. The Catalonians, with
the usual bravado of their nation, had represented their army
as a thousand-fold stronger, both in numbers and discipline,
than it really was; and the French officers were in
consequence lamentably disappointed when they saw the militia
which was to support them, and still more disappointed when
they beheld that militia in face of an enemy. As a last
resource against the large Spanish force under Los Velez,
D'Espenan threw himself into Taragona, in opposition to the
advice of Besançon, who was employed, on the part of France,
in organizing the Catalonians. Here he was almost immediately
besieged; and, being destitute both of provisions and
ammunition, was soon forced to sign a capitulation, whereby he
agreed to evacuate the territory of Spain with all the troops
which had entered Catalonia from France. This convention he
executed, notwithstanding all remonstrances and petitions on
the part of the Catalonians; and, retreating at once from
Taragona to the French frontier, he abandoned the field to the
enemy. Had Olivarez now seized the favourable moment, …. it is
probable—it is more than probable—that Catalonia would at once
have been pacified, and that her dangerous privileges would in
part have been sacrificed to the desire and necessity of
peace. … But the count-duke sought revenge as much as
advantage. … Continued severity only produced a continuance of
resistance: the Catalonians sustained themselves till the
French forces returned in greater numbers, and with more
experienced commanders: the tide of success turned against the
Castillians; and Los Velez was recalled to give place to
Leganez. … In various engagements … the Spanish armies were
defeated by the French: the Catalonians themselves became
better soldiers under the severe discipline of necessity; and
though the Spanish fleet defeated the French off Taragona, and
saved that city from the enterprises of La Mothe, the general
result of the campaign was decidedly unfavourable to Spain. At
the same time, the French were making progress in Roussillon;
and in the year 1642 the king himself prepared to invade that
small territory, with the evident intention of dissevering it
from the Spanish crown. Several minor places having been
taken, siege was laid to Perpignan: the people of the country
were not at all unwilling to pass under the dominion of
France; and another serious misfortune threatened the ministry
of Olivarez. At this time was concerted the conspiracy of Cinq
Mars … and the count-duke eagerly entered into the views of
the French malecontents, and promised them every assistance
they demanded.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1641-1642.

The failure of the conspiracy, the arrest and execution of
some of the conspirators, and the fall of Perpignan, came
rapidly, one upon the other, showing the fortune of Richelieu
still triumphing over all the best laid schemes of his
adversaries."

_G. P. R. James,
Eminent Foreign Statesmen,
volume 2: Olivarez._

SPAIN: A. D. 1643.
Invasion of France from the Netherlands.
Defeat at Rocroi.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1642-1643.

SPAIN: A. D, 1644-1646.
The war in Catalonia.
Sieges of Lerida.

In 1644, Philip IV., "under the prudent and sagacious counsels
of Don Louis de Haro, was directing his principal efforts to
the recovery of Catalonia. … Don Philip de Sylva, an officer
of experience and determination, was put at the head of the
Castilian troops, and immediately advanced to the siege of the
strong town of Lerida, the king himself being nominally in
command of the army. The French troops in Catalonia were at
that time commanded by La Mothe Houdancourt, who no sooner
heard of the advance of the Spanish troops towards Lerida than
he marched with great rapidity to the relief of that place;"
but approached the enemy with so much carelessness that he was
attacked by Sylva and totally defeated, with a loss of 3,000
men and 12 guns. He then, for a diversion, laid siege to
Tarragona, and lost 3,000 more of his men, without
accomplishing the reduction of the place; being forced, in the
end, to retreat to Barcelona, while Lerida was surrendered to
the Spaniards. "La Mothe having been recalled and imprisoned,
… the Count de Harcourt was withdrawn from Savoy, and put at
the head of fresh forces, for the purpose of repairing the
disasters of the former general."
{2991}
Harcourt began operations (April, 1645) by laying siege to the
strong fortress of Rosas, or Roses, which commanded the
principal entrance to Catalonia from Roussillon. The fortress
surrendered the following month, and "the Count de Harcourt, …
after capturing some places of minor import, passed the Segre,
encountered the army of Cantelmo in the neighbourhood of
Llorens, and, gaining a complete victory, made himself master
of Balaguer." After these successes, the Count de Harcourt was
called away from Catalonia for a time, to act against the
insurgents at Barcelona, but returned in 1646 and undertook
the siege of Lerida. He was now opposed by the Marquis de
Leganez, whom he had successfully encountered in Ita]y, and
whom he was foolishly disposed to regard with contempt. While
he pressed his siege in careless security, Leganez surprised
him, in a night attack, and drove him in utter rout from his
lines. "This signal disaster caused the Count de Harcourt to
be recalled; and in order to recover all that had been lost in
Catalonia, the Prince de Condé was appointed to command in
that province, while a considerable part of the army of
Flanders was ordered to proceed towards the frontiers of Spain
to serve once more under his command." But Condé, too, was to
pay the penalty for despising his enemy. He reopened the siege
of Lerida with ostentatious gaiety, marching into the trenches
with music of violins, on the 14th of May. In little more than
a month he marched out again, without music, abandoning the
siege, having lost many men and obtained no sign of success.

_G. P. R. James,
Life and Times of Louis XIV.,
volume 1, chapter 3._

SPAIN: A. D. 1645-1646.
French successes in Flanders.
Loss of Dunkirk.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1645-1646.

SPAIN: A. D. 1647-1648.
Campaign against France in the Netherlands.
The defeat at Lens.

See NETHERLANDS (SPANISH PROVINCES): A. D. 1647-1648.

SPAIN: A. D. 1647-1654.
The revolt of Masaniello at Naples and its termination.
Attempts of the Duke of Guise and the French.

See ITALY: A. D. 1646-1654.

SPAIN: A. D. 1648.
Conclusion of Peace with the United Provinces.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1646-1648.

SPAIN: A. D. 1648-1652.
Subjugation of Catalonia.

"During the four years which [in France] had been filled with
the troubles of the Fronde, Spain endeavored, and with
success, to reconquer the province which had abandoned her. In
1650, Mazarin had recognized the peril of Catalonia, and had
endeavored to send assistance in war and money. It was
possible, however, to do but little. In 1651 the Spanish
besieged Barcelona. After Marchin's desertion they hoped to
capture it at once, but it was defended with the courage and
constancy of the Catalonian people. La Mothe Houdancourt was
again put in command of the province. He had been unsuccessful
there when France was strong, and it could hardly have been
expected that he could rescue it when France was weak. He
succeeded, however, in forcing his way into Barcelona, and
defended the city with as much success as could, perhaps, have
been anticipated from the scanty means at his command. The
inhabitants endured, with constancy, the danger and want
caused by the siege, rather than surrender themselves to
Spain. Some French ships sailed for the rescue of the place,
but they acquitted themselves with little valor. Provisions
were sent into the town, but the commander claimed he was not
in condition for a conflict with the Spanish fleet, and he
retreated. Endeavors were made, both by the French troops and
those of the Catalonians, to raise the siege, but without
success. In October [1652], after a siege of fifteen months,
Barcelona surrendered. Roses was captured soon after. Leucate
was betrayed to Spain by its governor for 40,000 crowns. He
intended to enlist under Orleans, but learning the king had
reentered Paris, he made his peace, by agreeing to betray no
more. The Spanish granted an amnesty to the people of
Catalonia. The whole province fell into their hands, and
became again a part of the kingdom of Spain. The loss of
Catalonia was chiefly due to the turbulence and disloyalty of
Condé. Had it not been for the groundless rebellion which he
excited in the autumn of 1651, and which absorbed the energies
of the French armies during the next year, Catalonia might
have been saved for France and have remained a part of that
kingdom. … It was a national misfortune that Catalonia was
lost. This great and important province would have been a
valuable accession to France. Its brave and hardy population
would have become loyal and industrious Frenchmen, and have
added to the wealth and power of that kingdom. For the
Catalonians it was still more unfortunate that their lot
should thus have been determined. They were not closely
related to the people of Aragon or Castile. They were now left
to share in the slow decay of the Spanish kingdom, instead of
having an opportunity for development in intelligence and
prosperity as members of a great and progressive nation."

_J. B. Perkins,
France under Mazarin,
chapter 15 (volume 2)._

SPAIN: A. D. 1650-1651.
Alliance with the New Fronde in France.
Defeat at Rethel.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1650-1651.

SPAIN: A. D. 1652.
Campaign on the Flemish frontier.
Invasion of France.
Recovery of Gravelines and Dunkirk.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1652.

SPAIN: A. D. 1657-1658.
War with England in alliance with France.
Loss of Dunkirk and Gravelines.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1655-1658;
and ENGLAND: A. D. 1655-1658.

SPAIN: A. D. 1659.
The Treaty of the Pyrenees.
Territorial cessions to France.
Marriage of the Infanta to Louis XIV.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1659-1661.

SPAIN: A. D. 1665.
Accession of Charles II.

SPAIN: A. D. 1667.
Conquests of Louis XIV. in the Netherlands.
The War of the Queen's Rights.

See NETHERLANDS (SPANISH PROVINCES): A. D. 1667.

SPAIN: A. D. 1668.
Towns in Flanders ceded to Louis XIV.
Triple alliance and the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.

See NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND): A. D. 1668.

SPAIN: A. D. 1668.
Peace with Portugal.
Recognition of its independence.

See PORTUGAL: A. D. 1637-1668.

SPAIN: A. D. 1673-1679.
The War of the Coalition to resist Louis XIV.

See NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND): A. D. 1672-1674, and 1674-1678;
also, NIMEGUEN, PEACE OF.

SPAIN: A. D. 1686.
The League of Augsburg.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1686.

{2992}

SPAIN: A. D. 1690-1696.
The War of the League of Augsburg or the Grand Alliance
against Louis XIV.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1689-1690, to 1695-1696.

SPAIN: A. D. 1697.
The Peace of Ryswick.
French conquests restored.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1697.

SPAIN: A. D. 1698-1700.-
The question of the Succession.
The Treaties of Partition.
The will of Charles ll.

As the 17th century approached its close, the king of Spain,
Charles II., was nearing the grave. "His days had been few and
evil. He had been unfortunate in all his wars, in every part
of his internal administration, and in all his domestic
relations. … He was childless; and his constitution was so
completely shattered that, at little more than thirty years of
age, he had given up all hopes of posterity. His mind was even
more distempered than his body. … His sufferings were
aggravated by the thought that his own dissolution might not
improbably be followed by the dissolution of his empire.
Several princes laid claim to the succession. The King's
eldest sister had married Lewis XIV. The Dauphin would,
therefore, in the common course of inheritance, have succeeded
to the crown. But the Infanta had, at the time of her
espousals, solemnly renounced, in her own name, and in that of
her posterity, all claim to the succession.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1659-1661.

This renunciation had been confirmed in due form by the
Cortes. A younger sister of the King had been the first wife
of Leopold, Emperor of Germany. She too had at her marriage
renounced her claims to the Spanish crown, but the Cortes had
not sanctioned the renunciation, and it was therefore
considered as invalid by the Spanish jurists. The fruit of
this marriage was a daughter, who had espoused the Elector of
Bavaria. The Electoral Prince of Bavaria inherited her claim
to the throne of Spain. The Emperor Leopold was son of a
daughter of Philip III., and was therefore first cousin to
Charles. No renunciation whatever had been exacted from his
mother at the time of her marriage. The question was certainly
very complicated. That claim which, according to the ordinary
rules of inheritance, was the strongest, had been barred by a
contract executed in the most binding form. The claim of the
Electoral Prince of Bavaria was weaker. But so also was the
contract which bound him not to prosecute his claim. The only
party against whom no instrument of renunciation could be
produced was the party who, in respect of blood, had the
weakest claim of all. As it was clear that great alarm would
be excited throughout Europe if either the Emperor or the
Dauphin should become King of Spain, each of those Princes
offered to waive his pretensions in favour of his second son;
the Emperor in favour of the Archduke Charles, the Dauphin in
favour of Philip, Duke of Anjou. Soon after the Peace of
Ryswick, William III. and Lewis XIV. determined to settle the
question of the succession without consulting either Charles
or the Emperor. France, England, and Holland, became parties
to a treaty [called the First Partition Treaty] by which it
was stipulated that the Electoral Prince of Bavaria should
succeed to Spain, the Indies, and the Netherlands. The
Imperial family were to be bought off with the Milanese, and
the Dauphin was to have the Two Sicilies. The great object of
the King of Spain and of all his counsellors was to avert the
dismemberment of the monarchy. In the hope of attaining this
end, Charles determined to name a successor. A will was
accordingly framed by which the crown was bequeathed to the
Bavarian Prince. Unhappily, this will had scarcely been signed
when the Prince died. The question was again unsettled, and
presented greater difficulties than before. A new Treaty of
Partition was concluded between France, England, and Holland.
It was agreed that Spain, the Indies, and the Netherlands,
should descend to the Archduke Charles. In return for this
great concession made by the Bourbons to a rival house, it was
agreed that France should have the Milanese, or an equivalent
in a more commodious situation. The equivalent in view was the
province of Lorraine. Arbuthnot, some years later, ridiculed
the Partition Treaty with exquisite humour and ingenuity.
Everybody must remember his description of the paroxysm of
rage into which poor old Lord Strutt fell, on hearing that his
runaway servant, Nick Frog, his clothier, John Bull, and his
old enemy, Lewis Baboon, had come with quadrants, poles, and
inkhorns, to survey his estate, and to draw his will for him.
… When the intelligence of the second Partition Treaty arrived
at Madrid, it roused to momentary energy the languishing ruler
of a languishing state. The Spanish ambassador at the court of
London was directed to remonstrate with the government of
William; and his remonstrances were so insolent that he was
commanded to leave England. Charles retaliated by dismissing
the English and Dutch ambassadors. The French King, though the
chief author of the Partition Treaty, succeeded in turning the
whole wrath of Charles and of the Spanish people from himself,
and in directing it against the two maritime powers. Those
powers had now no agent at Madrid. Their perfidious ally was
at liberty to carry on his intrigues unchecked; and he fully
availed himself of this advantage." He availed himself of the
advantage so successfully, in fact, that when the Spanish king
died, November 3, 1700, he was found to have left a will,
bequeathing the whole Spanish monarchy to Philip, Duke of
Anjou, second son of the Dauphin of France. "Lewis acted as
the English ministers might have guessed that he would act.
With scarcely the show of hesitation, he broke through all the
obligations of the Partition Treaty, and accepted for his
grandson the splendid legacy of Charles. The new sovereign
hastened to take possession of his dominions."

_Lord Macaulay,
Mahon's War of the Succession (Essays)._

ALSO IN:
_H. Martin,
History of France: Age of Louis XIV,
(translated by M. L. Booth),
volume 2, chapter 4._

_J. W. Gerard,
The Peace of Utrecht,
chapters 6-10._

_J. Dunlop,
Memoirs of Spain, 1621-1700,
volume 2, chapter 9._

_W. Coxe,
Memoirs of the Bourbon Kings of Spain,
volume 1, introduction, section 3._

SPAIN: A. D. 1700.
Accession of Philip V.

{2993}

SPAIN: A. D. 1701-1702.
The Bourbon succession, and the European League against it.

"Louis XIV. having … resolved to accede to the will, Philip of
Anjou was proclaimed King by the Spaniards, and made his solemn
entry into Madrid on the 14th of April 1701. Most of the
European powers, such as the States of Italy, Sweden, England,
Holland, and the kingdoms of the North, acknowledged Philip
V.; the King of Portugal and the Duke of Savoy even concluded
treaties of alliance with him. Moreover, the situation of
political affairs in Germany, Hungary, and the North was such
that it would have been easy for Louis XIV., with prudent
management, to preserve the Spanish crown on the head of his
grandson; but he seemed, as if on purpose, to do everything to
raise all Europe against him. It was alleged that he aimed at
the chimerical project of universal monarchy, and the reunion
of France with Spain. Instead of trying to do away this
supposition, he gave it additional force, by issuing
letters-patent in favour of Philip, at the moment when he was
departing for Spain, to the effect of preserving his rights to
the throne of France. The Dutch dreaded nothing so much as to
see the French making encroachments on the Spanish
Netherlands, which they regarded as their natural barrier
against France; the preservation of which appeared to be
equally interesting to England. It would have been prudent in
Louis XIV. to give these maritime powers some security on this
point, who, since the elevation of William, Prince of Orange,
to the crown of Great Britain, held as it were in their hands
the balance of Europe. Without being swayed by this
consideration, he obtained authority from the Council of
Madrid to introduce a French army into the Spanish
Netherlands; and on this occasion the Dutch troops, who were
quartered in various places of the Netherlands, according to a
stipulation with the late King of Spain, were disarmed. This
circumstance became a powerful motive for King William to
rouse the States-General against France. He found some
difficulty, however, in drawing over the British Parliament to
his views, as a great majority in that House were averse to
mingle in the quarrels of the Continent; but the death of
James II. altered the minds and inclinations of the English.
Louis XIV. having formally acknowledged the son of that prince
as King of Great Britain, the English Parliament had no longer
any hesitation in joining the Dutch and the other enemies of
France. A new and powerful league [the Second Grand Alliance]
was formed against Louis. The Emperor, England, the United
Provinces, the Empire, the Kings of Portugal and Prussia, and
the Duke of Savoy, all joined it in succession. The allies
engaged to restore to Austria the Spanish Netherlands, the
duchy of Milan, the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, with the
ports of Tuscany; and never to permit the union of France with
Spain."

_C. W. Koch,
The Revolutions of Europe, period 7._

ALSO IN:
_Lord Macaulay,
History of England,
chapter 25 (volume 5)._

_J. H. Burton,
History of the Reign of Queen Anne,
chapter 5 (volume 1)._

_W. Coxe,
Memoirs of Marlborough,
chapter 9 (volume 1)._

_W. Coxe,
Memoirs of the Bourbon Kings of Spain,
chapters 1-7._

See, also, ENGLAND: A. D. 1701-1702.

SPAIN: A. D. 1702.
The War of the Succession: Cadiz defended.
The treasure fleet lost in Vigo Bay.

The first approach to Spain of the War of the
Succession—already raging for months in Northern Italy and the
Spanish Netherlands—was in the form of an expedition against
Cadiz, undertaken in the autumn of 1702 by the English and
Dutch. "King William was the first to plan this expedition
against Cadiz and after his decease the project was resumed.
But had King William lived he would certainly not have
selected as chief the Duke of Ormond, a princely nobleman,
endowed with many amiable qualities, but destitute of the
skill and the energy which a great enterprise requires. Under
him Sir Henry Bellasys commanded the English and General Spaar
a contingent of Dutch troops, amounting together to 14,000
men. Admiral Sir George Rooke had the direction of the fleet.
Their proceedings have been related at full length in another
history [Lord Mahon's (Earl Stanhope's) 'War of the Succession
in Spain']—how the troops were set on shore near Cadiz in the
first days of September—how even before they landed angry
dissensions had sprung up between the Dutch and the English,
the landsmen and the seamen—and how these dissensions which
Ormond wanted the energy to control proved fatal, to the
enterprise. No discipline was kept, no spirit was displayed.
Week after week was lost. … Finally at the close of the month
it was discovered that nothing could be done, and a council of
war decided that the troops should reembark. … On their
return, and off the coast of Portugal, an opportunity arose to
recover in some part their lost fame. The Spanish galleons
from America, laden with treasure and making their yearly
voyage at this time, were bound by their laws of trade to
unload at Cadiz, but in apprehension of the English fleet they
had put into Vigo Bay. There Ormond determined to pursue them.
On the 22nd of October he neared that narrow inlet which winds
amidst the high Gallician mountains. The Spaniards, assisted
by some French frigates, which were the escort of the
galleons, had expected an attack and made the best
preparations in their power. They durst not disembark the
treasure without an express order from Madrid—and what order
from Madrid ever yet came in due time?—but they had called the
neighbouring peasantry to arms; they had manned their forts;
they had anchored their ships in line within the harbour; and
they had drawn a heavy boom across its mouth. None of these
means availed them. The English seamen broke through the boom;
Ormond at the head of 2,000 soldiers scaled the forts; and the
ships were all either taken or destroyed. The greater part of
the treasure was thrown overboard by direction of the French
and Spanish chiefs; but there remained enough to yield a large
amount of booty to the victors."

_Earl Stanhope,
History of England: Reign of Queen Anne,
chapter 2._

ALSO IN:
_Colonel A. Parnell,
War of the Succession in Spain,
chapters 3-4._

For the campaigns of the War of the Succession in other
quarters.

See ITALY: A. D. 1701-1713;
NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1702-1704, and after;
GERMANY: A. D. 1702, and after.

SPAIN: A. D. 1703-1704.
The War of the Succession: Charles III. claims the kingdom.
The English take Gibraltar.