kingdom and Naples and the "Council of the Indies" for the territories discovered by Columbus. The firm alliance between church and state and the religious policy established during this reign fixed the character and moulded the policy of the Spanish government till modern times, and still influence it in great measure. Ferdinand died in 1516 and Charles, son of his daughter Joanna and of her husband Philip son of the German Emperor Maximilian I, succeeded to the thrones of Castile and Aragon, and thus the House of Hapsburg came to the united Spanish throne. In 1519 Charles succeeded his father as emperor. Serious revolts followed. Charles was a foreigner by birth, reared in the Netherlands, and it was only by intimidation that he obtained supplies for his wars from the cortes. After his authority had become well established and all rebellions suppressed, Charles convened the Castilian cortes in 1523 and compelled them to grant supplied before presenting their petitions for redress, thus establishing a precedent adhered to thereafter, which gave him what he required and still left him free to reject all demands of the cortes. During his reign Cortes conquered Mexico, Pizarro, Peru, and Milan and a portion of North Africa were added to his dominions. In 1538, as a result of the refusal of the nobles in the Castilian cortes to consent to an excise tax, Charles excluded them from seats in the cortes, which thereafter consisted of only thirty-six deputies from eighteen towns, who were wholly wanting in strength to oppose the will of the king. On the abdication of the throne by Charles, his brother Ferdinand became emperor of Germany, and his son Philip succeeded to the Spanish throne and made Madrid his capital. He was a narrow bigot, and his policy was thoroughly despotic. By military force he crushed all remnants of popular liberty, and by the aid of the Inquisition he destroyed whomsoever he pleased. He caused the justiza of Aragon to be put to death and assumed the right of naming his successor. The control of the cortes over judicial affairs was taken away. The extension of Spanish dominions gave to the king ample power to take away the ancient privileges of the provincial cortes separately, and the Spanish people suf fered from the spread of Spanish dominion. In 1580 Philip maintained his claim to the throne of Portugal by an army commanded by the Duke of Alva, and thus the whole peninsula became united under his rule. During his reign the Inquisition employed its force to crush Protestantism in the Netherlands, but met with a stubborn resistance that after the martyrdom of vast numbers of its citizens finally resulted in independence. Philip died in 1598, leaving a great empire to his son Philip III, yet the search for gold in the New World and the prosecution of wars for the aggrandizement of the king consumed the lives of men and impoverished those rich districts, which when properly cultivated by a peaceful and industrious population yielded riches in great abundance. Though in the wilds of America priests sought to convert the heathen, Spanish policy everywhere was wanting in moral strength. Wars of conquest and the vast acquisitions of American gold failed to make good the loss of the natural returns of the efforts of her soldiers if employed in peaceable callings. The gold sufficed for only one purchase and then passed into the channels of trade. The industries of the Netherlands enabled them to keep the gold which Spain wrested from her new subjects. The narrow bigotry of Philip III found expression in 1609 in an order requiring all Moriscoes to leave Spain within three days under penalty of death. The order was wholly without justification in morals or economics, as the Moriscoes constituted the most industries, skillful and peaceful portion of the population. They were leaders in agriculture and manufactures, and their expulsion was a crushing blow to the material resources of the kingdom, as well as a most cruel and unjustifiable infliction on them. By their expulsion the revenues were greatly reduced. The desire for foreign dominion and devotion to the Catholic cause combined sufficient influence on Philip to draw him into the Thirty Years' war in Germany. Spanish troops took a leading part in that great contest and came in contact with the Swedes and their Protestant allies. The wars brought neither profit nor glory to Spain. The Dutch gained signal victories over the Spanish fleets and destroyed their naval ascendency, which had resulted from the discovery of America. Though great victories were gained on land, they were barren of advantageous results. An edict calling all able-bodied men to join the army resulted in a revolt in Catalonia, the driving out of the Castilian troops and the establishment of a republic under the protection of France. Still more important in its permanent consequence was the revolt of Portugal, occasioned by the same measure, and resulting in the independence of that kingdom in 1640. As a result of naval victories the Dutch took from Spain its possessions in Malacca, Java, Ceylon and much of Brazil, and forced it to abandon its claims to Holland and even to cede to them the northern districts of Brabant, Flanders and Limburg. Catalonia was soon reduced to submission. France having effected an alliance with England, forced the Spaniards to submit to still further loss of territory in the low countries. Under Philip IV and Charles II Spain continued to lose prestige down to the time of the death of the latter in 1700. The effects of religious bigotry, of despotic government, of the concentration of the wealth of the country and the ownership of the lands in monastic establishments and an indolent nobility, devoid of all enterprise and given over to luxurious living, and of a most unwise and oppressive system of taxation, are better shown by a comparison of conditions in Spain at the close of that period with those in former times, than by the mere loss of rulership over distant provinces. The population of the country, estimated at twenty millions under the Arabs and at twelve millions under Ferdinand and Isabella, had fallen to six millions under Charles. The Moors, the most industrious element of the population, had been driven out; manufactures declined, fertile districts became barren through lack of cultivation, the destruction of trees and general inefficiency of the agricultural system. After being the first naval power in the world Spain ceased to be formidable on the sea. Her foreign commerce passed into the hands of the Dutch and English merchants, and she was unable to hold the trade of even her own colonies in the new world. Education was neglected. The people were neither instructed in letters nor in the useful arts. Nowhere else has the contrast between a fairly just and liberal Mohammedan policy and a bigoted cruel and unjust enforcement of a creed called Christian been exhibited so disadvantageously to the latter as in Spain. Nowhere else have scientific truth and the moral law been so ruthlessly superseded by a false and cruel priestly tyranny. The war of the Spanish succession, which ensued on the death of Charles II, involved no principle of interest to the multitude, but was a contest instigated by crowned heads for their own ends. France, England, Portugal, Holland and Austria were all involved, and bloody battles were fought, but at the end by the accession of the Archduke Charles to the throne of Austria and the German empire England found that the cause for which it had fought was the one most dangerous to its interests. Peace was concluded leaving Gibraltar and Minorca in the possession of England with the added privilege of importing slaves into the Spanish colonies. The right of Philip V to the Spanish throne was recognized, the cause of the Catalans, who had supported Charles, was abandoned, and they were left to defend themselves. Though they fought obstinately, the power of Castile was too great; they were crushed and all their ancient liberties were forever after denied them. Thereafter they were ruled from Madrid under Castilian laws. Later Philip neglected his subjects at home and caused many of them to fight against Austria for possessions in Italy. The contest dragged on till his death in 1744. No advantage came to Spain from the long contest, but a little added territory for Don Philip to pass to Austria on the extinction of his. male descendants. Ferdinand, VI spoken of as weak and obstinate, had the blessed courage to keep the country at peace. He refused to be drawn into the Seven Years' war, and for the thirteen years of his reign he allowed his subjects exemption from the horrors of war. The reign of this monarch also witnessed a marked reaction against the papal power. In 1753 he asserted his right to appoint to all important benefices, and of the 12,000, which the Pope had filled before, Ferdinand left only fifty-two. He next issued an edict that henceforth papal bulls should not be obeyed till they had received the royal sanction. Charles III, who came to the throne in 1759, continued the work by driving out the Jesuits, restricting the extension of church lands, and moderating the cruelties of the Inquisition. At the time of the American revolution Spain joined with France against England, and on the conclusion of peace gained Minorca and Florida. This reign was one of material progress. The ministers sought to restore prosperity by the encouragement and protection of industry and trade. By a most commendable ordinance issued in 1773 an effort was made to remove the Castilian prejudice against trade by declaring that no loss of rank or privilege should be occasioned by engaging in industrial occupations. Agriculture was stimulated by the construction of roads and canals, and by removing the restriction on inclosures, that had been imposed at the instance of the owners of the great flocks of sheep which overran the country and destroyed all cultivated crops. Charles III died and Charles IV came to the throne at the outbreak of the French revolution. A Bourbon king could not sympathize with a demand for popular rights, and the policy of the Spanish monarch was reactionary and directed to strengthening the despotism. Spain joined the first coalition against France and sustained crushing defeats in the campaigns of 1793 and 1794, due mainly to inefficient organization and want of supplies. This was followed by a treaty of peace which bound Spain in an alliance with France against England. In 1800 Spain ceded Louisiana to France and agreed to aid her in all her wars, and in 1801 invaded Portugal at the call of Napoleon. In the struggle with England the Spanish fleet was destroyed and the prestige of the former nation at sea firmly established, but French influence still dominated, and in 1808 Napoleon caused Charles IV to abdicate and placed his brother Joseph on the throne. A popular uprising was temporarily successful and entrusted the government to a junta of thirty four, to rule in the name of Ferdinand, but Napoleon soon scattered their army and restored his brother to power. The national party made Cadiz |