Spain’s Seventeenth Century: Imperial Decline and Socio-Economic Crisis
The Decline of the Spanish Empire in the Seventeenth Century
The crisis of the Spanish Empire coincided with the general crisis of the seventeenth century (depression, religious radicalization, crisis of the absolutist state). It developed in two stages. The first stage coincides with the reign of Philip IV and the Spanish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War, which began as a religious war between Catholics and Calvinists and eventually became a general war that decided European hegemony between the Habsburgs and the Bourbons.
The early successes of the Habsburg Spanish were followed by a resounding defeat against France by Cardinal Richelieu in Rocroi (1643). In the Peace of Westphalia (1648), Spain recognized the independence of Holland but continued the war against France in an attempt to recover Catalonia and Portugal and somehow maintain their prestige after the defeat of the Dunes. Philip IV signed the Peace of the Pyrenees (1659), which sanctioned the political and economic dominance of France, which gave them Roussillon, Cerdanya, and the region of Artois. It also recognized the maritime supremacy of the English and Dutch. This peace was like recognizing the loss of Spanish hegemony in Europe.
The second stage coincides with the reign of Charles II. Spain, economically and militarily exhausted, recognized the independence of Portugal in 1668 and had to confront the powerful France of Louis XIV. This confrontation resulted in Spain losing numerous border cities of the Netherlands and Lille (Peace of Aachen, 1668) or the Franche-Comté (Peace of Nijmegen, 1678). The defeats continued until the Peace of Ryswick in 1697, which meant the loss of international prestige for Spain, which also had to provide a solution to the problem related to Charles II.
Economic and Social Developments in Seventeenth-Century Spain
The seventeenth century was a century of economic crisis for Spain due to the following reasons:
- The decline in remittances of silver from America.
- The numerous wars in which Spain was involved, which generated substantial costs.
- Reduction in agricultural production, largely due to the reduction of labor for demographic reasons (epidemics, the expulsion of the Moors, increased migration, increased mortality due to wars, rise of the clerics).
- The crisis of the Castilian textile industry, caused by foreign competition.
- Foreign trade with America.
- The mentality of the time considered productive investments unprofitable.
The Royal Treasury debt led to six bankruptcies throughout the century. The search for new revenues was constant, and even monetary changes were made, such as the minting of coins, which led to a substantial increase in prices. The economic crisis was acute in the plateau and Andalusia, while the Mediterranean coast experienced an economic recovery and even expansion in the last third of the century.
As for Spanish society, the seventeenth century is characterized by the accentuation of economic and legal inequalities between the privileged classes, which grew in power and number (nobles increased due to the sale of peerages by the crown for revenue, while the clergy increased to seek a livelihood in times of crisis), and components of the third estate who paid taxes and, in many cases, were impoverished. The result was a moment of banditry in the area of rogues and beggars, as has been depicted in the literature and art of the Golden Age.