In 1469, the Crowns of Castile and Aragon united to form what would later be known as the Kingdom of Spain under Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. Despite this union, the two regions maintained their local administrative systems. By 1492, the Crown of Castile had begun to explore beyond the Atlantic Ocean to discover the New World (Knowledgia 2018). This knowledge motivated the Spanish kingdom to effectively acquire these territories, hence expanding to become the world’s largest empire at that time. According to Atienza and Howden (2016, 1), “the discovery of the New World and the vast hordes of gold and new riches was a springboard vaulting Spain from a barely-known kingdom in medieval Europe, to the most influential global power of the day.” The union between Ferdinand and Isabella served to unify the Spanish territories, and even more, they extended their territory to Italy and North Africa.
There have been controversies on the apparent dates when the decline process began. Earl J. Hamilton, a historian, claims that Spain thrived and expanded in the sixteenth century (1492-1550) and began to degenerate in the seventeenth (as cited in Kamen 1978). In his work, ‘decline of Spain,’ Hamilton says that historians have treated the whole subject of Spain’s decline for a long time, commonly referred to as Spanish economic decadence, with a lot of bias. Although the historians approve of the fact that there was a decline, they are not specific on the exact dates, which leads them to provide varying dates of the decadence.
According to Kamen, by 1550, there was the lucrative wool trade at Medina del Campo in the Crown of Castile, and clearly, this instance does not depict a decline. Furthermore, Castile was engaging in a bullion trade with the New World, a significant contributor to the Spanish economy. During this period, there was a considerable increase in Spain’s per capita income, which could only be compared with that of Low Countries and Italy. Conflicting evidence such as Atienza and Howden (2016) claim that there was no increase in Spaniards per capita as only a few were involved in the trade with the Americas. Since Spain’s decline did not occur overnight, this article will consider some of the events and factors contributing to this decay.
Factor Which Led to the Decline and Fall of Spain
In assessing Spain’s downfall, it is imperative to note that the factors that led to the decline were not only foreign; some were generated from within the kingdom. According to Kamen (1978), the Spaniards were also aware of their looming and eventual decline, but they viewed it from a different standpoint from that of outsiders. To them, this was a mere misfortune and failure to achieve their targets as a kingdom. For that reason, most of the literature of the Castilian arbitristas did not convey factual data about the decline but rather signals of frustrated hopes. At the time of the fall, Spain faced an economic crisis that saw her suffer adverse political and financial setbacks.
Whereas the sixteenth century was a period of incredible population growth, at the turn of the sixteenth century, there was a massive decline in the Spanish population due to various reasons which are:
- Constant wars,
- Outbreak of plagues,
- Famine and poor harvest,
- Emigration of locals
- Expulsion of moriscos among other unidentified reasons (Macmillan Education 2019).
Dominguez Ortiz, the Castilian commentator, stated that over half a million died between 1596 and 1610 (as cited in Kamen 1978). It is estimated by Atienza and Howden (2016) that almost two million people died as a result of plagues and wars. The epidemics, together with drought and famine, and poor harvests among local peasants that occasionally hit the empire, led to low living standards (Macmillan Education, 2019). These unfortunate circumstances caused starvation and malnourishment, resulting in deaths and susceptibility to diseases.
The forceful eviction of the moriscos from the Spanish empire also contributed to the population decrease. Moriscos were foreigners who got their way into the land during the Gold trade. At first, the Moriscos were favored by the monarchy to run business in Spain. Still, as it later turned out in the seventeenth century, this group of people was distrusted by the general public on the grounds of their religious backgrounds (most moriscos were converted Jewish or Muslims). Generally speaking, the moriscos thrived during their stay in Spain because, amongst their population, there were traders, merchants, shopkeepers, artisans, and professionals, among other occupations. In the article, MacMillan (2019) claims that these people were expelled from Spain because they quickly became famous and influential, which threatened the administration. An article by Chaney and Hornbeck (2015) reports that almost three hundred moriscos were expelled, the majority of them from Valencia. This eviction could have led to families’ separation since they had stayed in the kingdom for a long time.
Another cause of population decline was the large-scale emigration of locals to the Americas. The horrendous and hopeless situation in Spain during the seventeenth century pushed several people to move to the New World to seek better living. By better living, the emigrants prospected relative security, job availability, adequate food, and social amenities. This mass exodus resulted in brain drain and deprived the Spanish kingdoms of labor since those who left could provide skilled and unskilled labor to local industries (Atienza and Howden 2016; MacMillan 2019). The remaining population could not fulfill the needs of the economy since they were devastated and frustrated.
During the 17th century, Spain engaged in several territorial and religious wars, many historians attribute to a powerful military they had reinforced with returns from the Gold trade. An example of the battles they fought in the Thirty Years’ War from 1618 to 1648, against different European powers. These successive wars eventually weakened the Spanish empire. As a result, Spain could not sustain some of their colonies, for example, Portugal, and therefore lost them. She engaged in other wars, such as the Dutch war of 1568, which continued to drain her resources.
The decline in agriculture in the Spanish empire played a significant role in its decay. The Spanish monarchy was being criticized for not promoting agriculture in full capacity. For example, the kingdom was not keen on promoting farming but instead supported the Mestas (sheep keepers). The castigators argued that sheep farming was prone to trespassing and the availability of pastures or lack thereof. Elliot opined that the act of favoring sheep farming to cultivation meant that Spain entered the sixteenth century with an unstable economy (as cited in Kamen 1978). The fact that sheep-keeping was a profitable activity made the Spaniards abandon the cultivation of crops. Therefore, Spain had to continue exporting raw materials such as wool and importing manufactured goods that they could otherwise acquire locally. The importation of manufactured goods rendered local industries (that depended on crops) useless. Thus, they (industries) collapsed since they lacked raw materials and faced stiff competition for the market from imported goods. Historians claim that Spain’s lack of industrial growth was due to the Mestas’ dominance in the sixteenth century. Sheep farming faced a significant decline in the same century.
Other aspects of the decay of the Spanish Empire that resulted in an economic crisis include but are not limited to:
- Over-reliance on bullion imports,
- Inflation,
- Unfavorable government policies.
According to Earl J. Hamilton, there was a steady rise in bullion imports from the onset of the sixteenth century until the mid-seventeenth century (as cited in Kamen 1978). Since Spain relied entirely on these imports to effectively run her empire and service the military, it was unfortunate for Spain in the seventeenth century when the Americas began facing a decline in wealth. Spain had initially been reinforcing her military across the numerous war fronts using the wealth gained from the trade. When the bullion trade began falling, the kingdom could not keep fighting for an extended period as resources were depleted. According to Macmillan (2019), when the bullion trade started to collapse, the Spanish revenue diminished. To continue funding its activities, the government resorted to some measures that would generate revenue. One of them was to warrant mass importation of silver from the New World mines. This action saw the kingdom manipulating its coinage to adjust to the prevailing economic situation, and that is how inflation set in and spread rapidly across Europe.
Phillip IV was not competent enough to run the kingdom when he became king, and therefore, he was assisted by his advisors, such as Gaspar de Guzman and Count-duke of Olivares. Historians report that they failed in transforming the empire to the standards of his (Phillip’s) French counterpart Cardinal Richelieu. Olivares formulated a new law known as the Union of Arms’ to promote cooperation in the military between kingdoms (Atienza and Howden 2016). During the Thirty Years War, Olivares tried to establish a centralized government and collect taxes through the Union of Arms.
In 1640, Catalonia rebelled and was subsequently conquered by King Louis XIII of France. That same year, Braganza, Portugal’s senior aristocrat, declared himself the king of Spain, obviously taking advantage of King Phillip IV’s concentration in the Catalonian revolt. It took King Phillip IV about thirty years to reclaim his kingship from Portugal when the Court of Madrid confirmed the latter’s independence (Boerio 2016). This unfortunate turn of events: the loss of the war and the loss of Catalonia and Portugal compounded pressure from other territories. As stated by Boerio (2016), between 1647 and 1648, there were revolts in Naples, Sicily, and parts of the Indies. However, Spain managed to recover the territories that it lost as a result of different forces.
The Treaty of Pyrenees (1959)
The Treaty of Pyrenees was signed on the Isle of Pheasants between France and Spain on November 17, 1659. According to Lopez (2018), the treaty brought to an end a conflict that had started in 1635 between the two kingdoms. The negotiations that led to the eventual signing of this treaty were a painfully slow process, which resulted in stalling of talks at specific points since the two kingdoms had severe grievances for each other. The inability to settle these grievances resulted in the calling off of negotiations from 1638 henceforth.
The Context of the Treaty
In 1635, Louis III declared war on Spain when he suspected that the Austrian House of Habsburg, which ruled Northern Europe, was planning to clinch the French House of Bourbon (Lopez 2018). At this time, France had high ambitions of extending her dominion to other parts of Europe. So they resorted to supporting Spanish enemies in the bid to gain access to these territories. For example, in 1631, she actively supported Duke Nevers of Italy in the Muntuan Succession war against Spain.
The Content of the Treaty
The treaty consisted of 124 articles that had provisions for the delimitation of territorial boundaries and trade between kingdoms. According to Lopez (2018), an additional eight items were included to check on the relationship between the two kingdoms and other rulers. The Pyrenees was to act as the boundary between France and Spain, and to this effect, France acquired the counties of Roussillon, Cerdenya, and the magistracy of Conflent. Spain recovered some ports and territories in exchange. Louis XIV received Artois, Flanders, and Hainaut’s counties, while Phillip IV reclaimed PO and Burgundy as he released Alsatia. The treaty provided a commission of inquiry to deliberate on boundary matters at Pyrenees and Flanders.
On handing over territories, the treaty directed that the rulers involved were to be awarded monetarily while also enjoying a guarantee of the colonies’ members’ rights. It also prohibited France from supporting Spanish enemies such as Portugal in their struggle against Spain. In the military, the treaty provided directives on disbanding soldiers and releasing prisoners of war without ransom. The agreement also established free trade rights between the two kingdoms and prohibited trading with the other realm’s enemy. The furtive articles in the treaty provided for the supposed marriage between Louis XIV and Infanta Maria Theresa, daughter of Phillip IV. After the marriage negotiation was reached, Infanta was to relinquish all her rights of succession in Spain. Furthermore, Phillip IV was to pay a dowry of 500,000 écus d’or (Lopez 2018). However, as Lopez (2018) stated, this dowry was not settled, and this was the basis of the Bourbon invasion of Spain at the demise of King Charles II.
Conclusion
Spain was at its peak of success after discovering the New World under Ferdinand and Isabella’s reign. Despite all the economic activities that generated revenue for the empire, Spain’s economy was never stable. They did not capitalize on the revenues to bolster their economy even though they experienced a boom during their trade with the Americas. As a result, the subjects were devastated by inflation, poverty, constant wars, plagues, and unfavorable government policies such as high taxation and the exemption of the rich from paying taxes. This research explored the factors that led to Spain’s eventual fall: decreased population, poor governments, economic policies, the decline in agriculture, and bullion imports. Since the Spanish Crown’s decay did not occur instantly, it is placed in the mid-seventeenth century, as other historians stated. Historians comment that Spaniards gained their lost glory from the transformative reforms introduced during the Bourbon’s reign.
Bibliography
Atienza, David, and Howden David. 2016. Three centuries of boom-bust in Spain. Alabama: Mises Institute
Boerio, Davide. 2016. “The ‘Trouble of Naples’ in the Political Information Arena of the English Revolution.” In News networks in early modern Europe, 779-804. Brill.
Eric, Chaney and Richard Hornbeck. 2015. Economic Dynamics in the Malthusian Era: Evidence from the 1609 Spanish Expulsion of the Moriscos. The Economic Journal, 126(594): 1404-1440.
Kamen, Henry. 1978. The decline of Spain: A historical myth? Past and Present, 81: 24-50.
Knowledgia. 2018. Why did the Spanish Empire collapse? YouTube video. 10:24. Web.
Lopez, Julia, and Martel Gordon, eds. 2018. Treaty of Pyrenees. New York: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Macmillan Education. 2019. Spain: 17th and 18th centuries. Web.