The Habsburg Dynasty The dynasty of the Austrias

The Habsburg Dynasty

The dynasty of the “Austrias” has this name because the family of the Habsburg had its origin in Austria. Carlos I’s father (Felipe el Hermoso) belonged to that dynasty.

Carlos I of Spain and V of the HRE (1516 -1556) • He was born in Flanders. • He inherited all Spain’s and Holy Roman Empire (HRE) territories. • When he first arrived in Spain, he hardly spoke the Spanish language. • He put many foreign nobles in the most important government positions. • He spent lots of Castilian money in wars and in his candidacy for election as HRE.

Carlos´inheritance

European territories

Carlos V Empire

Carlos V – titles. • Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire • King of Spain • King of Naples • King of Sicily • Archduke of Austria • Lord of the Low Countries

Carlos V • The government of such a big empire was not easy: many different territories, with their own laws and institutions demanded a big effort to maintain. • Carlos V did not have absolute power. • He governed using councils like the Catholic monarchs before him. • His revenues came from taxes from Castilla and precious metals from America. • BUT he spent a lot of money on expensive wars to preserve territories and influence.

The council system of government KING Ministerial Councils Advisory Councils Military orders Inquisition Crusades Taxes Council of War Council of State Territorial Councils Castilla Aragón Carlos did not have absolute power. He needed the approval from the Cortes of each state. Italy Portugal There was no one capital city – the court moved around. The Indies

Problems at home - Revolt of the Comuneros (1520 – 1521) • The comunidades were the representative local communities during the early Middle Ages. • Carlos angered both Castilian urban groups (taxes) and some Castilian nobles (important positions in government). • The revolt started in Toledo and spread to other cities, with the support of the nobles in the beginning. • They were fighting for the right of the towns and local districts to control their own affairs and choose their own Cortes representatives.

Problems at home - Revolt of the Comuneros (1520 – 1521) • As the middle and lower classes became more prominent the revolt became a fight for economic and social reforms: • The urban upper classes and rural hidalgos (low nobility) deserted. • An agreement with the nobles allowed Carlos to defeat the revolt in 1521. • Changes in the government were introduced afterwards. “Execution of the Comuneros of Castilla”, a painting by Antonio Gisbert Pérez (1860). Oil on canvas.

Problems at home – Revolt of the Germanías • The "Germania" was a militia brotherhood of lower-class volunteers to help protect the Valencian coast against Muslim pirates. • After an outbreak of the plague interpreted as punishment for impiety, they started a bloody riot against Morisco peasants. • When officials tried to intercede, the Germania took over the whole city: the artisans wanted access to government office and the peasants wanted better rental conditions. • Finally an army led by the nobles had to fight and crush the rebels. “The peace of the Germanias”, a painting by Marcelino de Unceta (19 th century).

A general pattern of troubles • This revolts in Castile and Valencia are just a part of the general pattern of social, political, and economic unrest among the middle and lower classes in Europe during the transition from the middle Ages into the sixteenth century. irmandade rising in Galicia revolts of Bohemia Cataluña and Mallorca revolts upheavals in Switzerland social risings in the Low Countries

Problems abroad Carlos fought against foreign powers to defend his authority & the Catholic religion: • He defeated the French, his main rival in 1525 (Battle of Pavia). The king of France, Francisco I, was captured and imprisoned in Madrid (Torre de los Lujanes – Plaza de la Villa). • He fought the Turks (1529 -1541) who were invading from the east. They besieged Vienna but it didn’t fall. • He confronted the German princes who supported Luther & Protestantism (Battle of Mühlberg, 1547). • He continued his fight against the Moors of North Africa & defended his territory in Italy.

Abdication • Charles finally abdicated from his Spanish Empire in January 1556 and gave it to his son Philip. However, the German territories were given to his brother Ferdinand. • He retired to the monastery of Yuste in Extremadura where he died on 21 September 1558. “I speak Latin with God, Italian with the musicians, Spanish with the troops, German with the servants, French with the ladies and English with my horse”.

Felipe II (1556 -1598) • CONTROVERSY: • To foreign and Protestant writers he was the demon of Counter. Reformation iniquity, the brutal instigator of the Inquisition. • To Spaniards, the great ruler who guided the empire at the height of its power, the sword arm of Catholicism, defender of the faith and unity of Europe.

Felipe II (1556 -1598) and the organization of the empire • Carlos’ empire was divided. • Felipe inherited territories from Spanish crown, since the German area was let to his uncle Fernando. Later, Felipe obtained the Portuguese crown. • Spain (Madrid/Escorial) was the centre of his monarchy. • He made possible the complete hispanization of the dynasty and the kingdom.

Felipe II • Whereas Carlos V had been a military and cavalier king, devoted to battle, Felipe was a bureaucratic ruler. • He did not personally lead his armies. • He refused to delegate central authority and served as the first clerk of the imperial bureaucracy.

Felipe II Cateau-Cambresis • After the major Spanish victory at St. Quentin in France in 1557, the peace of Cateau-Cambrésis was sigend (1559). • It meant the end of the Hispano. French wars. • It was a "Catholic" peace, between the two major Catholic powers and enable them to concentrate their energies on internal and religious unity against… Protestants

Felipe II the Turkish • For 15 years the center of attention for Felipe was not Western Europe but the Turkish menace in the Mediterranean. • In 1570, the Turks launched a major expedition of conquest against the Venetian-held island of Cyprus. • The Pope helped organize a Holy League bringing together the navies of the Spanish crown, Genoa, and Venice.

The battle of Lepanto • The largest engagement in the history of naval warfare to that time. • Carlos V's bastard D. Juan de Austria, won a smashing victory. More than one-third of the Turkish fleet was destroyed. • Miguel de Cervantes was there and he was injured in his left arm.

Problems and more problems • The English and rebel Dutch navies in the North Atlantic were a menace to the sea route to Flanders and communications with the Indies. • French military activity on the Catalan border. • Fear of rebellion and heresy in Catalonia. • The great Morisco rebellion in the Alpujarra mountains around Granada.

The Low Countries • After the Protestant revolt in the Low Countries in 1566 Felipe decided that he could no longer trust the affairs of that area to semi-autonomous local administration. • He dispatched a Hispano-Italian army of occupation under his leading military commander, the III Duke of Alba. • During six years, the "Council of Troubles" (also called the Council of Blood) in Brussels executed more than 1000 rebels and heretics, exceeding the peninsular Inquisition in its harshness.

Felipe II king of Portugal • In 1578 young king Sebastian of Portugal died without descendants. • His uncle, the elderly Cardinal Henry, succeeded him as King, but Henry also had no descendants. • Felipe marched into Portugal and defeated another candidate. • Philip II of Spain was crowned king of Portugal in 1581.

The Empire of Philip II

Spain and England • In 1554 Felipe married Mary, queen of England. • The marriage treaty excluded Philip from the throne if Mary dies childless. • In 1558 Mary died without an heir. Mary • Her succesor, Queen Elizabeth had always a bad relation with Spain: she stole Spanish gold (piracy, Sir Francis Drake…) and she supported the Dutch rebels in the Netherlands. . . • Felipe planned to invade England. Elizabeth

The Spanish Armada (Armada Invencible) • Year 1588. The fleet reached Calais to pick up an army from the Netherlands and to ferry it across the Channel against England. But the army had not arrived. • During the night, the anchored fleet was attacked and the Armada escaped into the North Sea. • A huge storm surprised both navies but Spanish one was almost destroyed (while English, with a shorter way back home, didn’t loose any ship). • Of the 130 vessels which sailed from Spain, only 67 came back.

Felipe II – other interesting facts… • Madrid became the state capital in 1561. • There was a famous case of conspiracy, espionage and treason: the case of Antonio Pérez (secretary of the king) in 1590. • His heir Don Carlos was probably schizophrenic. His life was complicated and he was cruel and heartless. He died in strange circumstances.

The Black Legend • The term Black Legend refers to a centuries-old view of Spain and its people as particularly cruel and greedy. • It is based in real facts… • Hunger for gold in America. • Expansion and conquests (wars). • Religious wars, repression against the protestants (remember the term “Council of Blood”!). • Spanish Inquisition (it’s glorious moment was the reign of Felipe II). • …but The Spaniards were not crueler and greedier than other people. However, the era of Spanish domination brought the enmity and jealousy of most of Western Europe.

Felipe III (1598 -1621) • He didn’t have the skills and sense of responsibility of his father. • He didn’t continue the aggressive policies of Felipe II: • He signed the Treaty of London (1604) with England. • He agreed with the Netherlands the Twelve Years' Truce. (This didn’t avoid a new bankruptcy). • From the beginning he left government to a personal favorite (valido), the duke of Lerma.

Felipe III – expulsion of the Moriscos. Previously… the Catholic Monarchs declared the expulsion or conversion of the Muslims of Granada (result= moriscos). Charles I extended the norm to the rest of the kingdom. Philip II banned their customs and their clothes causing the revolt of the Alpujarras. • Many Moriscos spoke Arabic and practised Islam in private. People thought that they helped the Muslim pirates. • They tended to be hard-working and prosperous, provoking jealousy. • Anti-Morisco laws created social tensions and problems. • Instead of looking for solutions, the King decided to expel them (1609).

Felipe III: the Duke of Lerma • He was above all interested in prestige and fortune. • He established his control over the aristocracy and became the wealthiest man in Spain. • The system of Councils was maintained, but there was a growing tendency to appoint subcommittees to deal with special problems. This caused a division in administrative organization (=loss of control).

Felipe IV (1621 -1665) • Felipe IV succeeded his father in 1621 when only sixteen years old. • He was more frivolous and didn’t care about his obligations. He was young, inexperienced, and not well educated. He loved the formula of having a valido: The Count-Duke of Olivares

The Count-Duke of Olivares • Olivares was well trained and was a man of great vigor and energy. • He was not after personal gain, however, but sought the vindication of the Spanish empire. He wanted to strengthen the Spanish empire and lead it to victory over its many foes. • However, the Empire started to decline (and the economy, too): • Too big. • Too dispersed. • Few money to continue (winning) wars.

XVII century decline: Economy During the Habsburgs: • Carlos I & Felipe II: 1557, 1576, 1596; • Felipe III: 1607; • Felipe IV: 1627, 1647, 1652, 1662; • Carlos II: 1666

Political crisis of 1640 • Rebellion in Portugal that led to its independence. • Revolt in Cataluña with a serious attempt of independence.

The Thirty Years' War • The Thirty Years' War was a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history, and one of the longest. • Initially a war between Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmenting Holy Roman Empire, it gradually developed into a more general conflict involving most of the great powers of Europe.

Westfalia, 1648 • It ended with the Peace of Westfalia (1648). This peace treaty had different regulations for each country involved. Spanish Monarchy had a series of defeats, so in the treaty… … it had to recognize the independence of the United Provinces (Netherlands) and allow them to trade with America.

Carlos II (1665 -1700): the end of the dynasty • Decades of endogamy had a consequence: Carlos II had lots of physical and mental problems. • Charles II married twice but had no children and it’s believed that he was impotent. • In his thirties he was so often ill that everybody thought he would die young and without a heir. • Different nobles claimed the throne and when Carlos died in 1700 the War of Spanish Succession broke out. • The result of the war was the change of dynasty (from Habsburg to Bourbon).