Iberian Union | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1580–1640 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 The Iberian Peninsula with the Councils of the Iberian Union, corresponding with the following realms: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 Map of the Spanish–Portuguese Empire in 1598. Territories administered by theCouncil of Castile Territories administered by theCouncil of Aragon Territories administered by theCouncil of Portugal Territories administered by theCouncil of Italy Territories administered by theCouncil of the Indies Territories appointed to theCouncil of Flanders | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Official languages | Spanish • Portuguese | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Government | Composite monarchy underpersonal union | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| King | |||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1580–1598 | Philip II and l | ||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1598–1621 | Philip III and II | ||||||||||||||||||||||
• 1621–1640 | Philip IV and III | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Legislature | Cortes of Castile Courts of Aragon Courts of Catalonia Courts of Valencia Cortes of Navarre Cortes of Portugal | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25 August 1580 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 December 1640 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Spanish real andPortuguese real | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
TheIberian Union[1] describes the period from 1580 to 1640 in which theMonarchy of Spain under the Habsburg dynasty, then thepersonal union of the crowns ofCastile andAragon, brought in personal union also theKingdom of Portugal. It incorporated the entireIberian Peninsula exceptAndorra, as well asPortuguese andSpanish overseas possessions, under the Spanish Habsburg monarchsPhilip II,Philip III, andPhilip IV. The union began after thePortuguese succession crisis of 1580 and the ensuingWar of the Portuguese Succession,[2][3] and lasted until thePortuguese Restoration War, during which theHouse of Braganza was established as Portugal's new ruling dynasty with the acclamation ofJohn IV as the newking of Portugal.[4]
As a personal union, the Kingdom of Portugal, the Crown of Castile and the states of the Crown of Aragon remained independent states, sharing only a single monarch. The kings from the Spanish branch of theHouse of Habsburg were the only element that connected the multiple kingdoms and territories, ruled by the six separate government councils ofCastile,Aragon,Portugal,Italy,Flanders-Burgundy, andthe Indies. For periods, Portugal maintained a viceroy, appointed by the king, although the turnover was often rapid; in the 60 years of the Union, the country had 13 viceroys and four regency councils (seeList of viceroys of Portugal). Similar viceroys were appointed inAragon,Catalonia,Valencia and other kingdoms of the Union. The governments, institutions, and legal traditions of each kingdom remained independent of one another.[5]Alien laws (Leyes de extranjería) determined that a national of one kingdom was a foreigner in all other kingdoms.[6][7]
Possessing territories in all known continents of the time, the Iberian Union was the most wide-spread empire of the early modern era. The Union led to Portugal's involvement in theDutch Revolt against Spain. TheDutch Republic in turn saw the union as a justification tostart targeting Portuguese colonies and would weaken Portugal's overseas empire in the Orient.
The unification of the peninsula had long been a goal of the region's monarchs with the intent of restoring theVisigothic monarchy.[8]Sancho III of Navarre andAlfonso VII of León and Castile had both taken the titleImperator totius Hispaniae, meaning "Emperor of AllHispania".[9] There were many attempts to unite the different kingdoms after Alfonso VII's death in 1109, especially through a policy of intermarriage. Some of the most famous attempts are those ofMiguel da Paz, who would inherit the crowns ofPortugal,Leon,Castile, andAragon, but who died at a young age; and those ofAfonso, Prince of Portugal, who was to marry the eldest daughter of theCatholic Monarchs, if not for his untimely death by an accident in which he fell off his horse.
TheBattle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578 saw the death of the young kingSebastian. Sebastian's granduncle and successor,CardinalHenry, was 66 years old at the time. Henry's death was followed by a succession crisis, with three grandchildren ofManuel I claiming the throne:Infanta Catarina, Duchess of Braganza (married toJohn, 6th Duke of Braganza),António, Prior of Crato, and KingPhilip II of Spain. António had been acclaimedking of Portugal by the people ofSantarém on 24 July 1580, and then in many cities and towns throughout the country. Some members of the Council of Governors of Portugal who had supported Philip escaped to Spain and declared him to be the legal successor of Henry. Philip marched into Portugal and defeated the troops loyal to the Prior of Crato in theBattle of Alcântara. The troops occupying the countryside (Tercios) commanded byFernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba arrived in Lisbon.[10] The Duke of Alba imposed on the Portuguese provinces a subjection of Philip before entering Lisbon, where he seized an immense treasure; meanwhile, he allowed his soldiers to sack the vicinity of the capital.[11] Philip was recognized as king by the Cortes ofTomar in 1581, beginning the reign of theHouse of Habsburg over Portugal. When Philip left in 1583 to Madrid, he made his nephewAlbert of Austria his viceroy in Lisbon. In Madrid he established aCouncil of Portugal to advise him on Portuguese affairs.
António exploited the opportunity that thewar between Elizabeth and Philip presented in order to convince theEnglish to back an amphibious assault on Portugal in April 1589. Led byFrancis Drake andJohn Norris, theexpedition of 120 ships and 19,000 men failed due to poor planning.[12][13][14]
Portugal's status was maintained under the first two kings under the Union, Philip II andPhilip III. Both monarchs gave excellent positions to Portuguese nobles in the Spanishcourts, and Portugal maintained an independent law, currency, and government. It was even proposed to move the royal capital to Lisbon.[citation needed]
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Thehistory of Portugal from thedynastic crisis in 1578 to the firstBraganza dynasty monarchs was a period of transition. ThePortuguese Empire'sspice trade was peaking at the start of this period following the greatage of exploration. It continued to enjoy widespread influence and dominated global trade routes.
Due to the complexity in the management of government, the Spanish monarch needed some auxiliary bodies, as theCouncils (Consejos), dedicated to the advice and resolution of problems, and submitted to the monarch's knowledge and dictum. This complexity needed a permanent seat, and Philip II of Spain established in 1562 the permanent capital inMadrid, seat of the Royal Court and of the administrative staff,[15][16][17][18] although transferred toValladolid, with the whole administrative staff, during a brief period (1601–1606).[19]
The government functioned as follows; the administrative correspondence came to the different Councils in Madrid, then thesecretary of every Council arranged the material for the attention of the king, and later the king assembled with the secretaries requesting the opinion of the council. After that, the Council held a session to deal with the issue and to formally agree to consult the monarch. The secretary raised the issue to the king, and his reply was returned to the council with the decision to be executed. The meetings of the Councils took place in the royal palace, and they did not count on the presence of the king habitually. In this poly-synodical system,[20] "Consejo de Estado" (Council of State) stood out for its importance. TheConsejo de Estado in Madrid, entrusted to declare on the major decisions that concerned the organization and the defense of the ensemble of the Hispanic monarchy, and it had frequently that to get into Portuguese matters. Even, the Council of War (Consejo de Guerra) exercised its jurisdiction on the troops placed in the Castilian strongholds established on the Portuguese littoral.
And also, there were Councils of territorial character, which functions specialized in a concrete territorial space, theCouncil of Castile,Council of Aragon,Council of Navarre,Council of Italy,Council of the Indies,Council of Flanders, and theCouncil of Portugal. The Council of Portugal, established in 1582, was integrated with a president and six (later four) counselors, and it was abolished at the end of the war in 1668, whenCharles II of Spain gave up his title as king of Portugal. The function of the Council consisted in representing the Cortes of the Crown of Portugal for matters of justice and the economy. Any decision of the king concerning his kingdom had to be consulted with the council before being transmitted to the chancellery of Lisbon and to the concerned courts. The Council of Portugal was briefly replaced twice: in 1619, with the presence of the king in Lisbon, and between 1639 and 1658, when it was replaced by the Junta of Portugal. From the Restoration, the Council continued existing, sincePhilip IV had not recognized the independence of Portugal, and continued administering those Portuguese faithful to the Spanish monarch, and the government ofCeuta.[21]
Relating to the particular government of the Kingdom of Portugal itself. During the union of the Kingdom of Portugal to the Spanish monarchy, the Spanish Hasburgs on the whole respected the pledges made at Thomar in 1581 to allow considerable Portuguese autonomy and to respect the territories of its empire. Public offices were reserved for Portuguese subjects at home and overseas. The king was represented at Lisbon sometimes by a governor and sometimes by a viceroy. So, Spain left the administration of Portugal and its empire largely to the Portuguese themselves, under general supervision from Madrid channeled through the viceroy in Lisbon. Important matters, however, were referred to Madrid, where they came before the Council of Portugal. In the Kingdom of Portugal, the polysynodial system was reinforced:
For urgent matters, a system of meetings was introduced, such as the Junta for the reform of the Council of Portugal (1606–1607, 1610), the Junta for the classification of the debts to the treasury (since 1627) or the Juntas for the organization of the navies of succor of Brazil (since 1637).[22]
Throughout the 17th century, the increasing raids on Portuguese merchant shipping byDutch,English andFrenchprivateers and their establishment of trading posts in Africa, Asia and the Americas undermined Portugal's monopoly on the lucrativespice trade. This sent the Portuguese spice trade into a long decline. The diversion of wealth from Portugal by the Habsburg monarchy to support the Catholic side of theThirty Years' War also created strains within the union, although Portugal did also benefit from Spanish military power in helping to retainBrazil and in disrupting Dutch trade. These events, and those that occurred at the end ofAviz dynasty and the Iberian Union, led Portugal to a state of economic dependency on its colonies, firstIndia and then Brazil.
The joining of the two crowns deprived Portugal of a separate foreign policy, and Spain's enemies became Portugal's. England had been an ally of Portugal since theTreaty of Windsor in 1386. War between Spain and England led to a deterioration of the relations with Portugal's oldest ally, and the loss ofHormuz. War with the Dutch led to invasions of many countries inAsia, includingPortuguese Ceylon (today'sSri Lanka), and commercial interests inJapan,Africa (Mina), andSouth America. Even though the Portuguese were unable to capture the entire island of Ceylon, they were able to keep the coastal regions of Ceylon under their control for a considerable time. Brazil was partially conquered by bothFrance and theDutch.
In the 17th century, taking advantage of this period of Portuguese weakness, many Portuguese territories in Brazil were occupied by the Dutch, who gained access to thesugarcaneplantations. The whole Brazilian northeast was occupied, but the Dutch conquest was short-lived. TheRecapture of Bahia by a Spanish-Portuguese fleet in 1625 was followed by a rapid recovery of the lost territories. The Dutch returned in 1630 and capturedRecife andOlinda in the captaincy ofPernambuco, the largest and richest sugar-producing area in the world.John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen, was appointed as the governor of the Dutch possessions in Brazil in 1637 by theDutch West India Company. He landed at Recife, the port of Pernambuco, in January 1637. By a series of successful expeditions, he gradually extended the Dutch possessions fromSergipe in the south toSão Luís, Maranhão in the north. He likewise conquered the Portuguese possessions ofElmina Castle,São Tomé Island, andLuanda, Angola, on the west coast of Africa. This began a war over Brazil, which would see the Dutch establish a colony calledNew Holland. However, theSecond Battle of Guararapes, the second and decisive battle in a conflict called Pernambucana Insurrection, ended the Dutch occupation of the Portuguese colony of Brazil.[citation needed]
On the other hand, the Iberian Union opened to both countries a worldwide span of control, as Portugal dominated the African and Asian coasts that surrounded the Indian Ocean, and Spain the Pacific Ocean and both sides of Central and South America, while both shared the Atlantic Ocean space.[citation needed]
When Philip II of Portugal (and III of Spain) died, he was succeeded byPhilip III (and IV of Spain), who had a different approach on Portuguese issues. Taxes raised affected mainly the Portuguese merchants (Carmo Reis 1587). The Portuguese nobility began to lose its importance at the SpanishCortes, and government posts in Portugal were occupied by Spaniards. Ultimately, Philip III tried to make Portugal a royal province, and Portuguese nobles lost all of their power.
Several other problems also damaged Portuguese support of their union with Spain. One of these was certainly the pressure from the center, especially fromGaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, towards uniformity and sharing the financial and military burden of Castile's wars in Europe. However, the Portuguese were hardly inclined to help with that, as Spain had failed to prevent theDutch West India Company's occupation of several of Portugal's colonial holdings, despite the fact that both the Portuguese and the Spanish were nominally under the same crown.[24]
This situation culminated in a revolution by the nobility and highbourgeoisie on 1 December 1640, 60 years after the crowning of Philip I.[4] This revolution, while foreseeable, was most immediately sparked by a popular and institutionalrevolt in thePrincipality of Catalonia against the Crown. The plot was planned byAntão de Almada, 7th Count of Avranches, Miguel de Almeida and João Pinto Ribeiro. They, together with several associates, known as theForty Conspirators, took advantage of the fact that the Castilian troops were occupied in the other side of the Iberian Peninsula. The rebels killedSecretary of StateMiguel de Vasconcelos and imprisoned the king's cousin,Margaret of Savoy, Vicereine of Portugal, who had governed Portugal in his name. The moment was well chosen, as Philip's troops were at the time fighting theThirty Years' War in addition to the previously mentioned revolution in Catalonia.[25]
The support of the people became apparent almost immediately and soonJohn, 8th Duke of Braganza, was acclaimedking of Portugal throughout the country as John IV.[4] By 2 December 1640, John had already sent a letter to the Municipal Chamber ofÉvora as sovereign of the country.
The subsequentPortuguese Restoration War against Philip III (Portuguese:Guerra da Restauração) consisted mainly of small skirmishes near the border. The most significant battles were theBattle of the Lines of Elvas (1659), theBattle of Ameixial (1663), theBattle of Castelo Rodrigo (1664), and theBattle of Montes Claros (1665); the Portuguese were victorious in all of these battles. However, the Spaniards won theBattle of Vilanova (1658) and theBattle of the Berlengas (1666). TheBattle of Montijo (1644) was indecisive, starting out with great Spanish success and ending with Portuguese success; the numbers of casualties were nearly equal.
Several decisions made by John IV to strengthen his forces made these victories possible. On 11 December 1640, the Council of War was created to organize all the operations.[26] Next, the king created the Junta of the Frontiers, to take care of the fortresses near the border, the hypothetical defense ofLisbon, and the garrisons and sea ports. In December 1641, a tenancy was created to assure upgrades on allfortresses that would be paid with regional taxes. John IV also organized the army, established the Military Laws of King Sebastian, and developed intense diplomatic activity focused on restoring good relations with England. Meanwhile, the best Spanish forces were pre-occupied with their battles against theFrench in Catalonia, along the Pyrenees, Italy and the Low Countries. The Spanish forces in Portugal never received adequate support. Nevertheless, Philip IV felt he could not give up what he regarded as his rightful inheritance. By the time the war with France ended in 1659, the Portuguese military were well established and ready to confront the last major attempt of a worn out Spanish regime to reclaim control.
English soldiers were sent to Portugal and helped the Portuguese routDon John's army at Ameixial nearEstremoz on June 8, 1663. The Spaniards lost 8,000 men and all their artillery while the Portuguese had only 2,000 casualties. On 7 July 1664 about 3,000 Portuguese met 7,000 Spaniards near Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo and killed 2,000 and took 500 prisoners. Many Spanish communities lost population and blamed their decline on the war against Portugal. Louis XIV sent French troops to Lisbon, and on 17 June 1665 the German GeneralFrederick Schomberg led about 20,000 Portuguese forces to victory at Montes Claros nearVila Viçosa with only 700 killed and 2,000 wounded. The Spanish army of 22,600 men was devastated with 4,000 dead and 6,000 captured. Protests erupted in Madrid as Spain had wasted 25 millionducats on the disastrous Portuguese war. The Spanish tried to carry on the war for two more years of increasingly fitful warfare. Spain recognized Portugal's sovereignty and made peace on 13 February 1668.
In theBasque Autonomous Community of Spain, theValdegovía adopted the royal coat of arms during the Iberian Union period with theNavarre arms and thePortuguese arms added on the honor point.
The Spanish city ofCeuta was a part of the Portuguese Empire until the end of the Iberian Union in 1640, after which it decided to remain with Spain. Thus the coat of arms of the city is nearly identical to that of the Kingdom of Portugal, showing the seven castles over the red bordure and the five escutcheons with silver roundels, and the gyronny field of its flag is identical to that of the flag ofLisbon, to commemorate the fact of that flag having been the first raised in Ceuta by the Portuguese when theyconquered the city in 1415.
there is consensus among professional historians that the most adequate term is Hispanic monarchy
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