2. The Beginning of the End
• The decline of the Spanish Empire in the late 16th and early
17th centuries was directly related to a series of bad economic
policies made by Charles V and Philip II.
• By overstretching their resources, the monarchs mired Spain in
tremendous debt as they attempted to crush Protestant
uprisings and Ottoman incursions into the Mediterranean.
• This economic crisis was compounded by the inflation caused
by the massive influx of New World silver and gold.
• Ultimately, Spain saw few positive, long-term gains as a result of
their global domination.
• Spain's standard of living remained one of the lowest in
Western Europe both during and after the height of the
empire.
3. The Empire on Which The Sun Set
• Faced with wars against England, France and the Netherlands,
each led by capable leaders, the bankrupted empire found itself
competing against strong adversaries.
• Continuing piracy against its shipping in the Atlantic and the
costly colonial enterprises forced Spain to renegotiate its debts
in 1596.
• The crown attempted to reduce its exposure to the different
conflicts, first signing the Treaty of Vervins with France in 1598,
recognizing Henry IV as king of France, and restoring many of
the stipulations of the previous Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis.
• The Kingdom of England, suffering from a series of repulses at
sea and from an endless guerrilla war by Catholics in Ireland,
who were supported by Spain, agreed to the Treaty of London,
1604, following the accession of the more tractable Stuart King
James I.
4. “god is not spanish”
• The plague devastated Castilian lands between 1596 and 1602, causing the
deaths of some 600,000 people.
• A great number of Castilians went to America or died in battle. In 1609, the
great majority of the Morisco population of Spain was expelled.
• It is estimated that Castile lost about 25% of its population between 1600 and
1623. Such a dramatic drop in the population meant the basis for the Crown's
revenues was dangerously weakened in a time when it was engaged in
continuous conflict in Europe.
• Peace with England and France gave Spain an opportunity to focus her energies
on restoring her rule to the Dutch provinces.
• The Dutch, led by Maurice of Nassau, the son of William the Silent and perhaps
the greatest strategist of his time, had succeeded in taking a number of border
cities since 1590, including the fortress of Breda.
• Following the peace with England, the new Spanish commander Ambrogio
Spinola, a general with the ability to match Maurice, pressed hard against the
Dutch and was prevented from conquering the Netherlands only by Spain's
latest bankruptcy in 1607.
• In 1609, the Twelve Years' Truce was signed between Spain and the United
Provinces.
5. Glory to the End
• Traditionally, historians mark the Battle of Rocroi in 1643 as the end of Spanish
dominance in Europe, but the war was not finished.
• Supported by the French, the Catalans, Neapolitans, and Portuguese rose up in revolt
against the Spanish in the 1640s.
• With the Spanish Netherlands caught between the tightening grip of French and
Dutch forces after the Battle of Lens in 1648, the Spanish made peace with the Dutch
and recognized the independent United Provinces in the Peace of Westphalia that
ended both the Eighty Years' War and the Thirty Years' War.
• The final decades of the 17th century saw utter decay and stagnation in Spain, while
the rest of Western Europe went through exciting changes in government and society.
• The Glorious Revolution in England and the reign of the Sun King in France, Spain
remained adrift.
• The weakness and lack of interest of Philip III and Philip IV contributed to Spain's
decay.
• He was therefore childless, and in his final will he left his throne to the Bourbon
prince Philip of Anjou, rather than to a fellow Habsburg, albeit from Austria.
• This resulted in the War of the Spanish Succession.
