Royal Power and
Conflict
In the 1500s and 1600s, European monarchs
sought to create powerful kingdoms in which
they could command the complete loyalty of
all their subjects.
This form of government, know as absolutism,
placed absolute, or unlimited, power in the
monarch and his or her advisers.
The strength of absolutism rested on divine rightthe political idea that monarchs receive their
power directly form God and are responsible
to God alone for their actions.
An absolute monarchy, it was reasoned, would
unify diverse peoples and bring greater
efficiency and control.
During the age of absolutism, the Hapsburgs
remained Europe’s most powerful royal family.
But their lands were too scattered for any one
person to rule effectively.
To remedy this problem, Charles V retired in 1556
and divided the empire, leaving the Hapsburg
lands in central Europe to his brother,
Ferdinand, who became Holy Roman emperor.
He gave Spain, the Netherlands, southern Italy,
and Spain’s overseas empire to his son, Philip
II.
Philip II, who ruled from 1556 to 1598, was the
most powerful monarch in Spanish history.
A devout Catholic, Philip saw himself as the
leading defender of the faith.
His efforts to end Protestantism in his domains
made him the enemy of all Protestants.
The son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and
Isabella of Portugal, Philip worked to increase
the Hapsburg family’s power throughout
Europe.
However, this effort led Philip to involve Spain in
a number of costly European wars.
Philip was cautious, hardworking, and suspicious of
others.
He built a granite palace, which served as royal court,
art gallery, monastery, and tomb for Spanish
royalty.
Bureaucrats, or public servants, advised him and
handled routine matters, but he made all decisions
and signed all papers that he received.
Philip faced many difficulties in ruling Spain.
For example, a unified system of government had
not been set up.
Separate laws and local authorities remained in
place, but the ways of the Holy Roman Empire
, central Europe, became the way of life.
And Madrid, the largest city in Spain became the
capital.
Philip had to deal with a number of troubling
religious issues in his European domains.
He was concerned about the loyalty of large
religious minorities in Spain. These minorities
included Protestants, the Marranos (Jews who
converted to Christianity,) and the Moriscos
(Muslims who had become Christians.)
Concerned, he supported the execution of these
groups, and supported the idea of expelling
them from the country.
Philip also sought to impose Catholicism on the
Netherlands, Dutch Protestants rebelled
however against his rule.
The conflict was long, bloody, and complex.
The Dutch declared their independence in 1581,
but the fighting continued.
Eventually, England gave support to the Dutch.
At the same time this fighting was going on Philip
also extended his rule in the eastern
Mediterranean, where he defeated the Ottoman
Turks in a naval battle off the coast of Greece.
Catholic Spain faced a growing challenge from
Protestant England.
For example, Philip at first had supported
Elizabeth I as England’s queen against the
pope’s wish. When Elizabeth aided the Dutch,
Philip decided to act against her causing
growing challenges from England.
He invaded England. He sent in a force of 130
ships and 33,000 men, known as the Spanish
Armada. They sailed to the English coast.
An Armada is a fleet of warships organized to carry
out a mission.
Months later, the Armada entered the English
Channel and even though the English had faster,
more maneuverable ships and longer range
cannons than did the Spaniards, they were at first
unable to block the Spanish formation.
However, English fire ships, were able to separate the
Spanish vessels. Running out of shot and short of
water, the Spanish fleet retreated to the storm
North Sea.
After circling the northern tip of Great Britain, a
number of Spanish ships later sank near the rocky
coasts of Scotland and Ireland.
The defeat of the Armada not only ended Philip’s
plans to invade England, it also marked the
beginning of Spain’s decline as a sea power
and during the next two centuries, the Dutch
Netherlands, England, and France would
gradually reduce Spanish power in Europe and
around the world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwKefbYtfa
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