Phillip II 1556 - 1598 Flashcards
Describe Phillips upbringing?
Born in 1527, he was groomed to succeed the Spanish by Charles, whom he received many letters from.
Brought up an educated in Spain unlike Charles
Learnt Maths, Greek, Architecture and History but there were no other attempts at teaching him foreign languages - a grave fallback for the heir to a multilingual empire
Avid collector of religious books, nature and music.
In what ways was Phillip prepared to be king?
- Recieved letters from Charles while he was away
- Attended Royal councils from the age of 12
- Regent in 1543 until 1548 where Charles would often ask Phillip for political advice and started to visit other parts of his empire
- Charles abdicated in Brussels in 1555 and Phillip became king.
What advice did Charles give Phillip upon abdication?
Serve God
Support the inquisition and eradicate heresy
pay attention to finance
ensure justice
ensure advisers don’t become too powerful
to hold onto all territories he had inherited.
Where did phillip like to govern from?
Preferred to stay in place rather than travel round with secretaries, establishing a permanent capital in Madrid - hardly leaving Spain.
How did Phillip like to interact with his officials?
Liked to write to his officials while his father met them face to face - all important papers were meant to come to him for consideration and signature often commenting on them.
What were the issues with Phillip’s style of governing?
The amount of letters his style produced meant he had to read up to 400 documents a day meaning he offered from exhaustion and giving up on his work.
In theory Phillip was the only person in Spain who had complete knowledge on a decision that had to be made.
Lack of time and energy often meant he also risked bad decisions or to issue contradictory decisions
How long did it take for Phillip to commmunicate with different parts of his empire?
With no delays it could take ~2weeks to Brussels or Milan. ~2 months to mexico, and this was with no delays from Phillip’s leadership style.
What did poor communication across the Empire mean in terms of decision making?
TMT the circumstances in which the decisions was made may have changed. It was often impossible to reverse the decisions and many councilors were forced to make their own decisions. Many described it as ‘administrative chaos’
Why was Phillip very private in his work?
He thought he could only do the best for people by paying personal attention to each matter exacerbated by his reluctancy to fully trust anyone and his father’s advice cemented this.
What showed that Phillip didn’t want advisers to have too much power?
He showed on the death of one of his councilors he believed to have too much power.
How decisive was Phillip?
Often portrayed as indecisive with an inability to make decisions. He only acted decisively on rare occasions such as during the buildup to him becoming the King of Portugal.
why was Phillip indecisive and his governing technique slow?
He thought he could only do the best for his people by giving personal attention to each issue - exacerbated by his inability to trust anyone fully following his fathers advice.
Provide evidence of Phillip’s untrusting nature?
Phillip showed on the death of one of his councilors he believed had too much power.
How often was phillip indecisive?
He was indecisive in almost every matter, bar a few occasions such as the buildup to him becoming the king of Portugal
How did Phillip improve adminstration of the government?
Phillip tried to increase the quantity and quality of information he received to base his decisions on. In 1861, he moved all government offices to Madrid, centralizing his system. A special depository for government papers was created, so there could be more easily called upon when needed.
How did Phillip alter the council of state members (Conciliar system)?
Non - castillians were being replaced by castillians, building resentment within the empire. The new members consisted mostly of two rival families and their supporters - the prince of Eboli and the Duke of Alba. This allowed Phillip to usually hear two opposing views.
How were the regional councils reorganised to be more effective?
- they would now meet regularly at a fixed time on fixed days
- Five new councils created ( Council of Italy and a council of Portugal)
- Each had a secretary and dealt with legislative and judicial matters that would report to Phillip on a daily basis.
What was a drawback of the way Phillip reorganised the regional councils?
Because the reports and orders went directly through Phillip, the information he received was often manufactured or inaccurate - > this became a bigger problem following 1559 as he didn’t leave the Iberian peninsula from then, so he could not tell if he was being told the truth.
What caused the government structure to change after 1585?
As the king grew older he became less efficient - particularly as he fell ill in 1585, meaning a system of Juntas were set up/
What were Juntas?
Comprised of minsiters and officials thought to be well versed on the matters at hand, they were not permenant positions but they were expected to advise the king.
Who was King Phillip’s private secretary?
Mateo Vazquez
What did Mateo Vazquez do?
he was key in making the Junta system work and acted as a coordinator of all work of the Juntas.
What were the responsibilities of Phillip’s secretaries?
They were intermediaries between Phillip and the councils, taking reports to him and relaying his views to the councils.
Who was the principle secretary throughout his reign?
At the beginning of his reign it was Gonzalo Perez,until his death in 1566, when the post was given to his son Antonio Perez (Eboli family) who he had to share it with Gabriel De Zayas (Duke of Alba family)
Why did Phillip willingly promote two factions at court?
He thought it would encourage debate by having two parties of equal strength.
He would support one faction on one issue and then support the other on a different issue, as a result the factional rivalry would evaluate in detail the particular implications of a policy
What were the two factions in Phillip’s court?
the Prince of Eboli family
The Duke of Alba family
Explain the Eboli faction?
The Eboli family attracted a sizeable group of nobles including antonio perez who took over from eboli after he died in 1573
The Eboli faction pursued a moderate foreign policy, believing that territories should be managed on a federal basis
Explain the Alba faction?
The Alba faction included important secretaries of Mateo Vazquez and Gabriel de Zayas.
The Alba faction believed the territories should be administered centrally and they led the war party.
What happened to the faction ‘system’ as time went on?
The factions became increasingly inconsistent in their beliefs as they were determined to disagree with the other. The factions spiraled out of control when Perez (Eboli) encouraged the murder of Escobedes (Alba) in 1578. The factional strife of the late 1570s paralysed government.
Perez overreached and interfered in the troubles of the low countries without royal authority - contributing to his downfall.
Did the factions pose a direct challenge to phillip?
No, his Personal authority remained unchallenged throughout the bouts of factional strife
How did phillip use nobles in government?
He employed grandees in war, diplomacy and government abroad to reduce their power and influence in Spain by removing them from the country.
Any domestic nobles were encouraged to spend time at court where they could be easily controlled.
What were the changes in the style of government from Charles to Phillip?
- Stayed in spain and did not directly interact with as much of his Empire
- Increasingly centeralised in Madrid
- Rarely attended councils, instead relying on secretaries
- Factionalism
- More Castillians at court
- Grandees were sent abroad to deal with foreign affairs
- Directly read all documents and all important royal affairs
What were elements of continuity in the style of government from Charles to Phillip?
- Relied on numerous councils which letrados dominated
- Council of Castille remained mroe important
What were the differences between the Alba and Eboli factions regarding the Netherlands ?
Eboli = sympathised with the dutch rebellions in the Netherland
Alba = wanted the ruthless repression of Dutch rebels,
What were the three main reasons for the Morsicos revolt 1568?
- the position of Morsicos
- Government action towards the moriscos
- Political situation in North Africa
What was Phillip’s outlook to the Moriscos?
He continued Charles’ policy of wanting to create genuine conversos
Why was it hard for Phillip to create conversos at the start of his reign?
Many clergy put little effort into teaching their faith, for them, as long as they attended mass and appeared Christian they had little else to do
In what ways were moriscos not converting/integrating into Spanish society?
- Arabic was still being spoken
- Circumsion was still common
- Marriage within their own community remained prevelant
- traditional dressing and practices remained
- Moriscos could pay subsidies easily to avoid persecution
Why did policies toward the moriscos harshen under Phillip?
As the Silk trade became increasingly less economically viable, when exports were banned and heavy taxes were imposed
What was Phillip’s first policy that was harsh to the moriscos - in 1560 ?
In 1560, a programme began to investigate moriscos landholding rights - those who could not provide proof either lost their land or had to pay a fine.
Why were the spanish fearful of Morsicos - seen as a threat to security?
They were seen as:
- willing to ship ottomans across the mediteranean to Spain
- support Muslim Corsairs in North Africa, who had attacked many villages on the spanish coast
- Fears they would join forces with French protestants to in a spanish invation
These fears only increased with the 1565 siege of Malta
What policy did the ‘security threat’ from the Moriscos create in 1567?
Moriscos forbidden:
- from wearing the distincitve cultural dress
- Reading moorish literature
- Traditional songs and dances
- Any other traditional customs or actions
What did the 1567 morisco policy lead to (not the revolt)?
It was published on the anniversary of Grenada’s defeat, and private and public baths were destroyed, including those at the Alahambra - it was a policy of hardline coercion, with the inquisition increasing investigations on moriscos.
When did the Moriscos revolt and what happened?
They revolted on Christmas eve 1568, The Spanish gov was mostly unprepared as a majority of their troops were fighting in the Netherlands - nonetheless, the Moriscos were defeated by government forces in 1570
What were the two main revolts under Phillip?
Aragonese Revolt 1592
Moriscos revolt 1568
What were the key consequences of the Moriscos revolt 1568?
- Dispersial of moriscos across the christian world to encourage conformity
- Granada suffers economically
- building of 84 new forts in Granada Number of missionaries working with moriscos increased but this had little effect
Why were moriscos spread across the christian world after the 1568 moriscos revolt?
It was thought if they were spread out the moriscos were more likely to conform, but they moved moriscos to new parts of spain which caused fears, suspicions and jealousies to grow and become more widespread.
In what ways did Granada suffer economically after the Moriscos revolt?
While Christians moved into vacant lands, 1/3 of settlements remained abandoned and the population fell by 1/4 between 1561-1591. 100k left and 20k died on the jounrey out of Granada
Why did the Moriscos revolt greatly encourage phillip to build more forts in Granada?
Spain had gotten lucky, there were only 20,000 poor quality spanish toops and no effective local forces to deal with the revoly, and many coastal areas were unprotected. It was only because the turks offered little support and the valencian morsicos had not revolted too. This highlighted military weakness and hpillip ordered the building of 84 new forts in spain?
How many new forts were ordered to be built in Granada after the Moriscos revolt?
84 new forts
Why was phillip hardly involved with Aragon throughout his reign?
He rarely visited or held cortes there, rarely asking it for money that they ouldn’t pay as it was less economically viable than Castille. It was also because of the Fueros of Aragon Protected by the Justicia.
Why did Phillip decide to intervene in Aragon despite no previous action?
- A failure to but the County of Ribagorza on the french border for greater security against french Hugenots
- Failure to control rising lawlessness in Aragon Silver convoys going from Castile to Italy had been attacks by bandits and siezed in 1582.
- The Duke of Vilharmarosa and other Landowners wanted Philip to intervene as they thought conditions would improve under kingly leadership
- vassals of landowners would’ve preffered the King’s leadership
What are the short term causes of the aragonese revolt?
- phillip sent troops to the Valenican coast in 1582 to protect from a potential pirate attack, Aragonese argue its against their fueros and privelleges
- A non aragonese native was sent as Viceroy (Marquis of Almenara) which broke Fueros -> despite the case going to the Justicia it was decided Fueros did not apply to the position of Viceroy
- Soldiers from Aragon were sent to Ribagorza claiming law and order had broke down their and in 1591, the area became a possesion of the crown
- many were also upset so much of their finances went to Castile and thought they would be better off independent
Many harboured deep resentment that their laws and privelleges were being trampled on
Explain the events of the Aragonese revolt?
A minor rebellion broke out in 1591
Antonio perez (Phillips disgraced chief secretary, said to have organised the murder of Escobedo) fled Castile to Aragon, claiming to be tried in the courts of the Justicia, while Phillip tried to get it in the hands of the inqusiton - seen as an infringement of rights that worried many lesser nobles.
The Army was sent in (mainly to Saragossa) and quickly dealt with it, excecuting all leaders
Antonio Perez escaped to France with a small group of Rebels
Why do many debate whether the Aragonese revolt should actually be called a revolt?
- The rebellion was mainly confined to the town of Saragossa, Catalonia and Valencia did not participate
- Most people and nobles did not join in
- The rebels only took over Saragossa
Why did Phillip not react Harshly to Aragon after the Aragonese revolt?
Despite being in a position to reform Aragon, Phillip decided not to do so due to his sense of Justice. Only a few people had taken part and Aragon had helped him stave off French invaders. He may have learnt from the Netherlands and realised it was not worth it to impose the crowns power by altering traditions and customs.
What did Phillip do to increase his power in Aragon after the Aragonese revolt?
- At a Cortes of tarazona in 1592, he was given the right to dismiss the Justicia as he wished and:
- He was entitled to appoint a foreigner as viceroy in Aragon if he saw fit
- It was agreed laws in the Aragonese Cortes would be passed with a majority vote - rather than unanimously
- The permanent Cortes lost much of their say on the how the finances of Aragon would be dealt with.
Despite there only being two major revolts, what two major complaints persisted against Phillip?
That he seldom visited other parts of his empire
That too many Non Castillians had too much power in Spain
What are the three main religous aspects of Philips reign?
Inquisition
Reformation of the Catholic church
Control of the Church
What were the aims of the inquisition under Philip?
Keeping Protestantism out of Spain
as well as any other non catholic sects + censoring that media
What were the two aspects of reforming the Catholic church under philip?
The Council of trent (tridentine decree)
Council of Trent
What were the two aspects of controlling the church in spain?
Relations with the pope
Jesuits
What was the religous situation in Spain in 1556?
- Clergy uneducated and poorly paid, many regular people had poor religious understanding
- High levels of church absenteeism
- Quality of bishops and archbishops greatly varied, they were often positions held by rich famalies who were non-residents of their See
- Some areas had too many parishes while others had too few - > often creating overlaps between churches, monastic orders, inquisitors and other authorities
- many people’s faith was still rooted in Pagan festivals and local rituals
How did the aims of the inquisition change under Philip?
Originally they actively sought out protestants, but following 1562 when protestantism had been mostly dealt with, the inquisition had changed its direction by investigating and dealing with enforcing moral and Christian standards within the Laity.
How much of an issue was spreading protestantism under phillip?
In 1557, 130 protestants were arrested in Seville, and another group was arrested in Valladolid, all protestant groups were seemingly eliminated and it posed no threat. This caused the inquisition to change their aims in 1562, aiming to enforce moral and christian standards within the laity.
What was the main way the inquisition censored works?
The Spanish Index of forbidden books
How did the Spanish inquisition censor heretic works?
- The Spanish index of forbidden books was regularly extended and revised so that it included all known works of Heretics
- All books and manuscripts had to have a license before they could be published
- All bookshops and libraries were liable to searches for circulating banned books
How else did phillip attempt to prevent protestantism and other religions from entering spain?
a 1559 decree prohibited Spanish students from studying abroad at foreign universities, although many Spanish students were found at Dutch and Italian universities.
What was the drawback of Phillip’s censorship (Argued by Elliot) ?
The censorship had a negative impact on the intellectual life of spain and contributed to social isolation.
In what ways was Phillip’s censorship policies unsuccesful?
Because they traded with Europe, launched political missions across Europe, they still brought in new ideas.
Some argue the censorship contributed to Spain’s cultural isolation and damaged spain’s intellectual potential
What was the council of Trent?
Pope Paul III the council of Trent was set up to condemn Protestantism, clarify the doctrines of the catholic church, deal with corruption in the church and improve the quality of the clergy.
It met 3 times from 1545 - 1563 and the Spanish clergy was heavily involved
How did the council of trent reinforce catholic doctorines?
- The latin Vulgate bible became the official version
- The mass was to be the most important part of worship
- Variations in the lithurgy (how the public could worship) were abolished and a new Missal (Catholic customs and prayer book) was to be used by all
How did the council of Trent improve the authority and abillities of bishops?
- Bishops had to live in their beneficies
- Had to hold meetings of clergy in their area
- had to visit dioceses regularly and preach regularly
- Became responsible for ensuring quality of those admitted to holy orders
- Has to see that religous communities kept observant of their rule of life (uphold a catholic lifestyle)
How were priests improved/changed at the council of trent?
- Recieved more education and training that was at a higher quality
- Preach every sunday
- Provide Christian education of the Laity (ordinary people)
- Keep records of Births, Marriages, deaths and baptisms
- Only having one parish that they must remain in
When was the Tridentine reforms brought into Spain and Europe?
Pope Pius IV brought them to all of Europe in 1564 and Phillip brought them into Spain the next year, but made it clear he would be oversseing the implementation of the tridentine reforms into Spain.
Why were the Tridentine reforms never fully implemented in Spain?
Disputed between Phillip and the pope undermined the Tridentine reforms. Phillip was commited to christianity, but wanted it to develop under his leadership and direction - not the popes
In what ways were the tridentine reforms not succesful?
- The powerful cathederal chapters (groups of clerics) resented the new power that bishops had over them
- The ordinary clergy were reluctant to commit to reform so few seminars and training sessions went ahead
- regular meetings of clergy did not take place
- In vast areas of the country the population stuck to their local traditions and resisted all official orders to ban them.
In what ways were the tridentine reforms succesful?
- The caliber of bishops improved (although they often spent little time in their diocese)
- Gaspar de Quiroga was an exemplar bishop who set an example in his personal life, promotion of education and welfare policies and worked to improve the standard of the Clergy.
- Administrative changes occured with a new archdiosce established at Burgos and a number of new diocese set up to avoid previous overlaps.
What piece of evidence shows that Phillip’s aim of improving and reforming the Catholic church were unsucesful?
The inquisiton saw record numbers of complaints about many spaniard’s low level of religious understanding
Why had Charles gotten along with the pope?
He had realised the popes importance in supporting and financing his religious campaigns.
What were the two key reasons there was tensions with the popes?
Phillips control of the Church
Phillip’s foreign affairs
Why did Phillip have so much control over the Church in Spain?
Had the right to appoint and remove bishops, therefore, clergy needed to be in favour with phillip to be promotoed
all appeals to the clergy were done within spain.
The spanish inquisition was heavily under his control
Phillip was adamant the pope should not interfere with Phillip’s rights over the church
What caused relations with the pope to reach crisis point in 1559?
The case of Carranza, archbishop of Toledo
Explain what kickstarted the case of Carranza (archbishop of Toledo)?
The inquisitor general valdes was likely envious of Carranza’s succesful career and accused him of heresy. He was quickly arrested by the inquisition as he had previously made comments that could be interpreted as heretical, he was put into prison where he remained for 7 years as Phillip and Pope Pius V argued over his case.
What did Pope Pious want to happen to Carranza and what did this lead to?
He wanted Carranza to be sent to rome and tried there, arguing the papal right to try Bishops and Archbishops, believing carranza would not get a fair trial in spain. The inquisiton refused and phillip supported him as he didn’t want the pope to interfere with his religous authority in Spain.
How did the case of Carranza conclude?
Phillip eventually had to give way on the case as Pope Pious V withheld assent to the renewal of the Cruzada tax that year. Carranza was sent to rome after 10 years of delays and was released after admitting to minor mistakes.
How did Phillip assert his control over the pope?
He asserted his right in the final say in how the tridentine reforms were implemented in Spain,
In 1567 he ignored Pius V edict banning bull fights
In 1572, Phillip banned his subjects from appealing to Rome.
What foreign issues did Phillip and the Pope clash over?
- Which methods to use to support catholicism in Spain and to deal with Elizabeth in England
- Pope Paul IV accepted Henry IV as king of France when Phillip was fighting him.
Who founded the Jesuit order?
Ignatious of Loyla
What debt did Phillip inherit from Charles?
A debt of 20 million ducats
in addition to the liability of Juros
How did Phillip immediately deal with his inherited debt?
In 1557, Phillip was forced to suspend payments to all creditors, and agreeing to substituite them at a lower rate of interest with juros bearing 5% interest. TMT he could still recieve loans to fund his ambitions as he had not refused to pay his debts
Where did Phillip get most of his money from?
Most came from Castille or the new world. Territories were unwilling to be assist as they were experiencing inflation.
What were the areas of state expenditure in Peace time?
- Cost of administering centeral and local government
- Funding central courts of justice
- repaying loans and bankers
- Funding the royal household (which he had limited success in bringing down)
Where did Phillip increase/spend the most domestically?
Phillip increased spending most in the public sphere, spending lots on on works of art as well as artifacts across his empire.
List examples of how Phillip spent more money on the public sphere?
To boost the reputation of Spain and its monarchy, Phillip commissioned artist Titian to paint various portraits of the King which he displayed in the new palaces he built, like the Escorial palace outside Madrid.
How did Phillip reduce his administration costs?
- Major office holders were grandees, so many like the Duke of Alba spent their own personal money in the service of the king.
- Very few were paid salaries to avoid corruption and those who were were payed very little
Nominal spending reduced but due to inflation, it went up in real terms.
How much did Phillip’s military expenditure increase by?
1556: Military spending under 2 million ducats
1598: Military spending under 10 million Ducats (5x)
what are 3 of Spain’s military expenditures?
- Armada costed 900,000 doctors a month
- 21 million spent in Low countries
- 20 million in France
How successful was Phillip in raising finance in all parts of his empire?
Castille and the New world were succesful, but the rest of empire could not sustain itself economically - including Aragon
Why did phillip get less income from the Netherlands?
The Netherlands had been a vital source of income for charles, but after many states srevolted against Phillip’s rule in 1570s, they refused to send any money. As the revolt grew, he had to invest even more into the area.
How did Phillip raise finance from Castile?
- regularly obtained large subsidios from the Castilian Cortes
- The Alcbala tax was triple under Phillip, gaining 17% more revenue
- After the Failure of the Armada in 1588, the Castilian Cortes agreed to a millones tax that was wholly unpopular as it hit the poorest the hardest, adding a tax to wine, vinegar, meat and oil
- The receipts on customs duties doubled with new duties on salt. The customs duties tripled in Spain and Quadrupled in Seville
- Phillip regained control of customs houses, which meant the crown recieved customs duties directly instead via tax farmers
How did Phillip raise finance from the Church?
- The amount raised from the Cruzada tax doubled
- The existing subsidio and tithe payments increased their yield
- A new tax - the excusado - was granted by the pope in 1567 and a tax on clerical houses
it was 20% of the crown’s total income
How did Phillip raise finance from the New world?
- The crown was entitled to 1/5 of all new worlds minerals, meaning they generated 65 million ducats from gold and silver throughout their reign
- By 1600, income from the new world increased fourfold (4x) and made up 20% of all of the crown’s total income
this helped to pay spain’s increasingly expensive wars
What additional financial reforms took place under Phillip?
- Financial departments of government reformed to make them more efficient and make sure more money went to Phillip
- Attempts were made to reduce those in public offices from getting excessive financial bonuses, but this led to bribery and corruption
How much borrowing did Phillip do?
Phillip could not meet his expenses and left long term debts of 68 million ducats to his successors -> 3x what he had inherited.
