Austria in the 17th Century: Valid Kings and the Crisis of 1640
Austria in the 17th Century: Valid Kings
The kings of the Austrian dynasty in the 17th century were characterized by a weak character and lack of political vocation, leading to the delegation of government to the validos (the king’s trusted person, who, without an official position, exercised power). Top validos were the Duke of Lerma, favorite of Philip III, and the Count-Duke of Olivares, valido of Philip IV.
The validos had to cope with the slow decline of Hispanic hegemony, motivated by the depletion of resources to cope with costly wars in Europe. This crisis was exacerbated by the depletion of American precious metal mines, used in the financing of foreign policy, and the impoverishment of Castile.
Philip III decreed the expulsion of the Moors, intending to create an image of strength and defense of the Catholic faith.
However, major problems would come from the depletion of Castile, which was the kingdom that had incurred the high costs of imperial policy, where the king enjoyed absolute power and authority to establish taxes. Faced with this situation, the Count-Duke of Olivares developed a reform program that caused great opposition.
The first was the “Union de Armas.” The aim was to create an army with the help of soldiers and money from each of the kingdoms. The Courts opposed the eastern realms.
He also raised the legal unification of the kingdoms on the model of Castile, proposing three ways to achieve this:
- Facilitating marriages between citizens of different kingdoms.
- Attempting to negotiate with each kingdom under the threat of military intervention.
- Provoking a rebellion as a pretext for military occupation, which, after suppressing the revolt, imposed the laws of Castile as a sanction. This caused the outbreak of the crisis of 1640.
The Crisis of 1640
When Philip IV was proclaimed king, the Count-Duke of Olivares became the new valido. He presented a series of reformist projects, the discontent caused especially in the peripheral kingdoms, and this is the origin of the crisis of 1640. These revolts will produce a series of reforms:
Administration Reform
Sixteen reform juntas were created, the most important being the Reformation of Customs, which aimed to curtail expenditure on luxuries.
Commercially Sensitive Protectionism
Efforts were made to encourage exports and prevent imports.
Homogenization of Kingdoms
Olivares wanted to pursue a centralist policy, characterized by all kingdoms having the same laws as Castile (intervening in uprisings with the army and changing laws by Royal Decree).
Building the Union of Arms
The objective was to create a common army for all the monarchy, which was to be staffed by soldiers from all realms.
The Revolt of Catalonia
Count-Duke of Olivares, favorite of Philip IV, during the Thirty Years’ War, thought the French would not be able to maintain two open battlefronts (Flanders and Roussillon). For this reason, the war with France forced the stationing of troops in Catalonia. The abuses and excesses of the soldiers (Spanish and Italian), coupled with the suspicion caused by Olivares’ project of unification of law, created great discomfort exacerbated by the repressive measures of the viceroy. The revolt broke out when, on the day of Corpus Christi (Corpus of Blood), harvesters who had come to Barcelona for recruitment unleashed their anger against the viceroy, who was assassinated. The Catalans had the support of France, whose king was proclaimed Count of Barcelona. French pressure was worse than Castilian, and the advancing armies of Philip IV determined the surrender of Catalonia, whose charter was respected.
The Independence of Portugal
In Portugal, growing discontent considered linking Portugal and Castile made the Habsburgs a target of enemy attacks, whose kings were also unable to guarantee the defense of the Portuguese empire. Building on the Catalan crisis, a group of Portuguese nobility proclaimed John IV of Braganza king of Portugal. The aid of the king of France and England secured the independence of Portugal.