17th Century Europe: England, Netherlands, and Spain

England in the 17th Century

At the beginning of the 17th century, the new dynasty that ruled in England, the House of Stuart, tried to impose Absolutism. This led to a confrontation between the Monarchy and the Parliament and to a period of instability. There were two Revolutions (in 1640 and in 1688) and a succession of important events such as the execution of King Charles I (1649), the Protectorate of Cromwell, the restoration of the House of Stuart, and after the revolution of 1688, the arrival of a new dynasty (House of Orange) in the figure of William III of Orange.

This new king signed the Bill of Rights, an important English law that obliged the king to obey laws passed by the Parliament. This was a very important advance for the Parliamentary system in England. The main supporter of the parliamentarian regime was the English philosopher John Locke.

The Netherlands: A 17th Century Republic

After the separation of The Netherlands from the Spanish Monarchy, they established a Republic, where the Parliament was the most important institution. The Netherlands became an important major power and a financial center during the 17th and 18th centuries thanks to its industrial and commercial activities. This led to the rise of a rich bourgeoisie, formed by important merchants, bankers, or shipyard owners, who, thanks to their economic power, obtained control of Parliament and acquired great political power.

Decline of Spain: The Last Habsburgs

Felipe III inherited the largest and most powerful empire in the world in 1598. However, he faced some extremely serious problems, which continued during the reigns of his successors Felipe IV and Carlos II.

The Government

The Spanish kings decided not to get involved in government. Instead of that, they delegated their authority to a valido. This was similar to a prime minister in some aspects, but they usually were the king’s personal favorite and depended entirely on his favor.

The two most important validos of the century were the Duke of Lerma (Felipe III’s main one), who pursued a peace policy in Europe, and the Count-Duke of Olivares, who was Felipe IV’s valido for over 20 years and attempted to restore Spanish military leadership by designing the Union of Arms to make all the monarchy’s kingdoms share the military expense of a permanent army.

Crisis of the Monarchy

At the beginning of Felipe III’s reign, the position of the Moriscos weakened. They were considered to be insincere in their conversion to Christianity and were suspected of collaborating with the Turks. In 1609, they were expelled, and around 275,000 people left the country. This was disastrous for many regions, which were depopulated.

In the 1640s, rebellions broke out in Catalonia and Portugal. They provoked a serious crisis for the monarchy:

• Catalonia rejected the Union of Arms and started a revolt, which was eventually crushed.
• The situation in Portugal also grew worse because of the tax pressure from the Union of Arms. Taking advantage of the rebellion in Catalonia, a revolt broke out. With the support of other European powers, Portugal became independent.