The “Decline” of Spain in the Seventeenth Century
The “Decline” of Spain in the Seventeenth Century
Dr Christopher Storrs, University of Dundee
One of the most striking phenomena of the early modern period was the rise and then the decline of Spain between the late fifteenth and the late seventeenth centuries. Spain’s rise to be a European and global power began with the marriage (1469) of queen Isabel of Castile (1474–1504) and king Ferdinand of Aragon (1479–1516), whose realm included Aragon proper, Valencia and Catalonia. They not only united “Spain” by bringing together, very loosely, these disparate territories, but they also conquered the last Islamic realm (Granada) in Iberia, supported Columbus’ Atlantic voyages, and extended Spanish dominion in north Africa and Italy. In 1516, this inheritance passed to their grandson, the Habsburg Charles I of Spain (1516–56), the future Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. Forty years later, Spain, Spanish Italy (Naples, Sicily, Sardinia and Milan), the Spanish Low Countries (Flanders, Luxembourg and Franche Comté) and an expanding Spanish America (“the Indies”) from which foreigners were excluded and which was yielding growing revenues, passed to Charles’s son, Philip II (1556–98), under whom Spanish power and influence reached new heights. Philip secured Portugal and its empire in 1580–1 and in 1588 launched an attempt to conquer England – the Spanish Armada – which almost succeeded. Nevertheless, the Armada’s failure is widely regarded as a turning point, the beginning of a decline which became pronounced in the seventeenth century. Spanish forces continued to win victories in the 1620s and 1630s, in the Thirty Years War, but in 1639 another Spanish fleet, convoying troops to Flanders was destroyed off the English coast; a few years later, in 1643, Spain’s Army of Flanders suffered defeat in France at Rocroi. For many historians, this finally extinguished Spanish military power. Imperial retreat followed. In 1648, after a near eighty-year struggle to suppress the Dutch
Dr Christopher Storrs, University of Dundee
One of the most striking phenomena of the early modern period was the rise and then the decline of Spain between the late fifteenth and the late seventeenth centuries. Spain’s rise to be a European and global power began with the marriage (1469) of queen Isabel of Castile (1474–1504) and king Ferdinand of Aragon (1479–1516), whose realm included Aragon proper, Valencia and Catalonia. They not only united “Spain” by bringing together, very loosely, these disparate territories, but they also conquered the last Islamic realm (Granada) in Iberia, supported Columbus’ Atlantic voyages, and extended Spanish dominion in north Africa and Italy. In 1516, this inheritance passed to their grandson, the Habsburg Charles I of Spain (1516–56), the future Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. Forty years later, Spain, Spanish Italy (Naples, Sicily, Sardinia and Milan), the Spanish Low Countries (Flanders, Luxembourg and Franche Comté) and an expanding Spanish America (“the Indies”) from which foreigners were excluded and which was yielding growing revenues, passed to Charles’s son, Philip II (1556–98), under whom Spanish power and influence reached new heights. Philip secured Portugal and its empire in 1580–1 and in 1588 launched an attempt to conquer England – the Spanish Armada – which almost succeeded. Nevertheless, the Armada’s failure is widely regarded as a turning point, the beginning of a decline which became pronounced in the seventeenth century. Spanish forces continued to win victories in the 1620s and 1630s, in the Thirty Years War, but in 1639 another Spanish fleet, convoying troops to Flanders was destroyed off the English coast; a few years later, in 1643, Spain’s Army of Flanders suffered defeat in France at Rocroi. For many historians, this finally extinguished Spanish military power. Imperial retreat followed. In 1648, after a near eighty-year struggle to suppress the Dutch