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- Philip II; character, abilities and historical reputation; style of government; his inheritanc
- Government of the Spanish kingdoms; attempts at reform; system of Councils; nancial
problems, the Corte
- The internal economy; the New World and bullio
- Internal opposition; the revolt of the Moriscos and Arago
- Relation with France and England; the Mediterranean and the Turk
- Debate over the extent to which Philip’s policies were determined by religious
convictions; the balance of success and failur
Questions
1) How far was Philip II personally responsible for the outbreak of the revolt of the
Netherlands? (2010
2) To what extent were the foreign policies of Philip II determined by ‘a grand strategy’?
(2011
3) How successfully did Philip II govern Spain? (2012
4) ‘Philip II’s perception of what was in the best interests of the Roman Catholic Church
always dominated his rule in Spain.’ Discuss. (2013
5) ‘Lacking both in vision and good judgement.’ Assess this view of the rule of Philip II in
Spain. (2014
6) To what extent did Philip II of Spain subordinate Spanish interests to Catholic interests?
(2015
7) To what extent did Philip II achieve his foreign policy aims? (2016
Government in Spai
Nature of Philip’s governmen
1) Conciliar administration
- By the end of his reign, 14 central councils
- Each exercised executive, legislative and judicial functions
- Each of their presidents and secretaries had considerable power
- 6 councils were territorial (e.g. Council of Castile)
- 8 dealt with aspects of government (e.g. the Council of State (foreign affairs) and the Council of
Finance)
2) Highly bureaucratic
- Reports sent to the council, commented on by the council and sent to the King.
- The King annotated these this and sent them back to the council.
- The council considered the comments and sent nal recommendations back to the King
3) Pen and in
- Information and decisions were written down
- This was probably because Philip was a slow thinker, not very con dent in his abilities and
indecisive, so preferred exchanges of paper to talking and listening in meetings as a decision
making method
Criticism of this indecisiveness has been moderated by some historians
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, - Parker argues that the king may appear indecisive as more documentary evidence of such times
of indecision remains
- Mattingly argues that, given the changing nature of international affairs and slow
communications, it was often wiser to be cautious
However, the effect was decision making was slow and not able to deal quickly with changing
circumstances, especially when events took place far away from Madrid
4) Painstaking and very cumbersom
- Koenigsberger argues the result was “administrative chaos” in the Empire and political intrigue in
Madrid
5) Personal rul
Philip
- Saw it as his duty to God to assume total responsibility for governing
- Followed the advice given by his father in 1543 to only trust himself
- Found it nearly impossible to delegate and lacked the judgment to discriminate easily between
the important and the trivial (he even allocated soldiers’ berths on the Armada)
- Taking the initiative was not allowed. If Philip suspected local of cials of trying to bypass
bureaucracy by taking and executing their own decisions, Philip would lay traps for them to
catch them out
- Was hardworking and spent 9 hours or more a day reading and annotating papers, and taking
decisions (in 1571 he read and annotated an average of 40 memoranda a day), which caused ill
health.
Once Philip had made a decision, he kept to it in an in exible and determined manner. Bratli
suggests that
- This steadfastness of purpose was “the most striking quality of the king”
- Philip saw compromise or retraction as a sign of weakness, even when he was wrong.
6) Obsessive veneration of his father’s image
Agencies Philip had to hel
1) Councils
- Thompson argues that the Council of State and later the War Council were the most important
councils, because Spain was at war all but seven years of his reig
- Councils were good at collecting detailed information but still information was sometimes
fragmented and inaccurate
- To a certain extent, councils operated as a system of checks and balances on each other
- However, con icts between councils could reduce their ef ciency e.g. the Council of War in 1581
protested against exemptions from billeting obligations by the Council of Castile and the Indies
2) Secretary of Stat
- Was key in directing council business and acted as an intermediary with the King
How did the system change as the reign progressed
Structural change became important following the offensive in the north
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, From 1586, the Grand Junta (an informal committee of 8 to 10 of Philip’s most experienced
councillors) became increasingly in uential
- The inner circle of this group Junta de Noche (Junta of the Night) formulated general strategy,
relieving pressure on Philip and enabling Spain to prosecute her wars against the Atlantic
powers
Division of Secretaries after 1566 - one Secretary of State for Northern Europe and one for the
Mediterranean
Who staffed the royal councils
- Secretaries were university-educated lawyers mainly from the middle and urban classes (e.g.
Diego de Espinosa - a priest trained in law, became president of the Council of the Inquisition
(1564) and President of the Council of Castile (1565))
- Grandees were given the most important, lucrative posts but had little in uence. They were
given ceremonial roles over various parts of the empire and local and military power
- Philip preferred Castilians who therefore dominated central government
Problems with the nature of royal government during Philip’s reig
- All decisions were ultimately made by Philip who was not particularly intelligent and indecisive.
Therefore the pace of business was slow and cumbersome. The system was in exible and not
able to deal quickly with changing circumstances
- Information from the provinces was not used effectively
- Philip sometimes reversed council decisions without consulting them
- The authority and functions of councils overlapped and clashed. While this provided checks and
balances, it made taking and implementing decisions harder
- Philip did not travel but retained control of patronage - the non-Castilian parts of the empire felt
excluded from Philip’s favou
- Philip relied on secretaries for advice. All petitioners had to work through them, leading to abuse
and corruption
The nature and roles of the Cortes of Aragon and Castil
Aragon Cortes
- Philip had little political power in Aragon - he was forced to respect the region’s constitutional
liberties
- Resented attempts by Madrid to interfere in its affairs
- Wanted to retain its rights to avoid over-taxation
- Separate Cortes and legal and nancial system, judiciary executive and army
- The Aragon Cortes was powerful in Aragon but had no real role in the Empire which was
Castilian
Castile Cortes
Some historians like Pierson and Grif ths believe the king won a major battle in making the Cortes
of Castile the subservient tool of the crown
- Grants of “servicio” taxation made by the Cortes rose from 25% to 40% of royal revenue
However:
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