Europe in the Sixteenth Century 1494-1598 Part 25

| The Duke of Alva.

| Ruy Gomez, Prince of Eboli.

| Cardinal Espinosa.

Of the ministers who chiefly enjoyed his confidence the following may be mentioned. At the beginning of his reign three men were most influential: the Duke of Alva, Ruy Gomez de Silva, Prince of Eboli, and Espinosa. The Duke of Alva had been a trusted adviser of Charles, and had served him in his wars. Accordingly he recommended him to his son as the ablest statesman, and the best soldier in his dominions. Alva's love of carefully weighing all sides before arriving at a decision, coupled with his determination in carrying out the royal will, made him a congenial spirit. He was Grand Steward of the household, and a member of the Council of State, and for the first few years had much influence. From the very first, however, he found a rival in Gomez. This n.o.bleman, descended from the younger branch of a Portuguese family which had settled in Castile, had, as an imperial page, become the favourite of Philip when prince. The ascendency thus obtained he subsequently maintained by his knowledge of the humours of his master, his pliability, his obsequiousness, and his dexterity; while by his affability to others he succeeded in retaining popularity. After his marriage with Anna Mendoza, Princess of Eboli, a woman remarkable for her wit and for her beauty in spite of the loss of an eye, he was created Prince of Eboli, and made a member of the Council of State, and First Gentleman of the Bedchamber. Generally in favour of pacific measures, he was opposed to the policy of repression in the Netherlands, of which Alva approved. On this question Alva's advice prevailed; but with his departure to carry out the policy he advocated, the influence of the Duke declined. The King perhaps had learnt to resent his haughty demeanour; at all events Alva ceased to play an important part in affairs of state.[66] The influence of the Prince of Eboli was now supreme; and by his adroitness, and, if we may believe some, by the complaisance of his wife to the attentions of the King, he continued to retain his power till his death, in July, 1573. The third man of note during Philip's earlier years was Diego de Espinosa, who attracted the attention of the King by his extraordinary capacity for work, and by his ability. He became President of the Council of Castile and of the Indies; he was also Inquisitor-General, a member of the Council of State, and Bishop of Siguenca, and, finally, was created Cardinal. This rapid rise, however, made him so arrogant that he shortly incurred the dislike of his master, and on being given the lie by the King in open council, Espinosa took to his bed and died of chagrin, in September, 1572.

| Antonio Perez.

After the death of Ruy Gomez in July, 1573, his policy was continued by the Marquis de Los Velez, the Queen's major-domo, and by Antonio Perez. The history of the latter is so characteristic of the dealings of Philip with his ministers, that it requires more elaborate notice. Antonio Perez, the illegitimate son of Gonzalo Perez, Archdeacon of Sepulveda--one of the secretaries of state of Charles V., and afterwards of his son--had learnt his business in the service of the Prince of Eboli. On his father's death, in 1566, Perez had succeeded to some of his duties, and on the death of his patron, the Prince of Eboli, he stepped into his place and continued his policy, supported by the powerful advocacy of his widow. Blindly devoted to the service of the King, and an adept at that system of espionage which Philip loved, he sought for confidences that he might betray them to his master, and flinched at no baseness to do him service. Of these despicable acts, the dealings of Perez with Don John will furnish the most flagrant example. We shall find (p. 353) that it was Perez who fed the jealousy of Philip for his half-brother; that he made use of Escovedo, Don John's secretary, to tempt Don John into rash statements, only that they might be communicated to the King, and finally that it was he who saw Philip's order to murder the unfortunate secretary carried out. From that moment, however, Perez knew no peace. His enemies in the council fostered the report that he was the murderer of Escovedo, and implored the justice of the King. Philip at first promised to support his instrument, or, rather, his accomplice, but suddenly changed his mind, and had him and the Princess of Eboli arrested (July 28, 1579). The explanation of this strange conduct is still one of the mysteries of that reign of mystery. The popular opinion, that it was due to the wounded pique of the monarch, who was affronted because the widowed Princess of Eboli preferred the embraces of the secretary to those of his master, is not very probable. The report was based on vague surmises, and is not supported by any definite proof; the Princess was now in years, and the mother of ten children; the wife of Perez remained the constant defender of her husband; nor is it easy to believe that Philip's confessor, Fray Diego de Chaves, would have shown such activity in the matter had the reason for the persecution of Escovedo been of this shameful character. It would appear more likely that Philip became convinced that Perez and the Princess had deceived him in the matter of Escovedo, and that, possibly to free themselves from a rival, they had by their slanders compa.s.sed the death of the unfortunate man. The conduct of the King seems to support this view. Afraid apparently of compromising revelations with regard to his treatment of Don John, and the murder of Escovedo, he at first seemed inclined to pardon Perez, and even to recall him to his work; and it was not until November, 1581, that, urged on by his confessor, he determined on a more rigorous course. From that moment, the affair became almost a personal struggle between the King and Perez. For five years the ign.o.ble matter dragged on, while Philip was collecting evidence against his secretary. Perez was then (January 23, 1585) condemned to a fine and to two years' imprisonment, followed by eight years'

exile. Even then an attempt was made to get hold of all compromising papers and letters. These had been hidden by the wife of Perez at the commencement of the affair, but, though imprisoned, she refused to surrender them, even after receiving her husband's leave. Meanwhile, Perez himself succeeded in escaping from his house, where he had been confined, and took sanctuary. This was, however, violated, and Perez was seized and put to torture. Nevertheless, on April 20, 1590, he managed to escape from his tormentors, dressed in his wife's clothes, and fled to Aragon, where we have already met him (p. 300). On the suppression of the revolt in that kingdom he once more succeeded in escaping, this time to France. Philip still pursued him with fury; he suborned agents to murder him; he tried to entrap him by means of a woman of Pau, but all in vain. Perez subsequently went to England, where he stirred up Elizabeth to send the expedition to Cadiz (cf.

p. 374). He finally survived his persecutor, and tried to make his peace with Philip III. by offering to betray the state secrets of the countries which had given him refuge. Philip, meanwhile, baulked of his prey, took vengeance on the Princess of Eboli, and the heroic wife of the secretary. The first was treated with increased harshness, and died eighteen months afterwards (February 1592); the second was imprisoned with her children, during the rest of Philip's life.

| Change of Ministers and of Policy, after fall of | Perez, 1579.

| Cardinal Granvelle, 1579-1586.

| Idiaquez and Christoval de Moura.

With the fall of Perez in 1579, the party originally led by Ruy Gomez lost influence in the royal councils. Their places were taken by Granvella, Don Juan de Idiaquez, and Christoval de Moura. Of these, Cardinal Granvelle, son of the Chancellor of Charles V., and a native of Franche-Comte, had already served Philip as a member of the Consulta in Flanders, 1559-1563 (cf. p. 321). Since then he had filled the post of Viceroy of Naples, where he had distinguished himself by forming the league which led to the battle of Lepanto (cf. p. 293). He was now appointed President of the Council of Castile. Idiaquez, son of a secretary of state under Charles V., succeeded to Perez' place as secretary, while Moura, a Portuguese, was appointed member of the Council of Finance, and took an active part in the conquest of his native country (cf. p. 297). This change of ministry was marked by a complete revolution in the policy of the King. Philip had hitherto pursued a pacific policy in Europe; but from this moment he began to embark on those attempts to make himself master of France and England which finally ended in complete collapse.

| The Night Junta.

Granvelle soon found himself supplanted by his colleagues; and on his death (September 22, 1586), Idiaquez and Moura with the addition of the Count de Chinchon, an Aragonese, formed a triumvirate known as the Night Junta, to which all important affairs from every department were referred. Under the rule of this Junta, which lasted to the end of the reign, the administration became more corrupt, and the quarrels among the subordinates more frequent, while the irresolution and procrastination of the King increased as his health began to fail.

| The King's Confessors.

We should, however, fail to appreciate the influences which surrounded Philip if we omitted his confessors. These were two Dominican friars--Fray Bernardo de Fresneda up till 1577; from that date till 1595, Fray Diego de Chaves. Both these men added to their position as confessors a post in the civil administration. The former--'the fat Bishop of Cuenca,'--whom Cecil's agent declared to be one of the 'chiefest' of the ministers, was appointed a member of the Council of War, and commissary-general of the revenue derived from the Cruzada. The second had even greater influence. Nominated a Councillor of State in 1584, we find De Chaves taking a princ.i.p.al part in the affair of Perez, in the suppression of the rebellion in Aragon, and in the conquest of Portugal. He did not scruple to betray to his master the secrets he learnt in the confessional, but in return for this devotion he at times demanded obedience. Thus, in 1591, we find him actually refusing the sacrament to Philip until the King should follow his wishes with regard to the appointment of the President of the Council of Castile.

| The beginnings of a standing army.

| The evils of the absolute rule of Philip.

To this despotic rule, one thing alone was wanting--a standing army--and even there a beginning had been made. Although a large force had been kept on foot by Philip's father, it was only used on foreign service, and was stationed abroad. For service at home, Charles had depended on the militia levies from the towns, and the feudal service of the n.o.bles and their retainers. To these Philip added the 'Guards of Castile,' a considerable force of men-at-arms with their followers, together with some squadrons of light cavalry, who were put upon a permanent footing, and retained at home. Henceforth the government had an army at hand wherewith to quell any domestic troubles. But if Philip's rule may be justly called a despotism, here too, as ever, that despotism involved the restraints and the intrigues of a bureaucracy--a bureaucracy which, though appointed by the King, sometimes became his master. Nowhere perhaps can a more startling ill.u.s.tration be found of the evil results of absolute rule, especially when placed in the hands of a man of small intelligence, of narrow and bigoted views, and of suspicious temperament, yet with a tenacious love of power, and with indefatigable though misdirected industry. Charles had, indeed, ruled despotically, and with some success. But the son resembled his father in one point only, his self-control. Neither good nor bad news made him display any emotion; at most, when some untoward event was announced, he was seen to clutch his beard. For the rest, Philip had not his father's gifts, and, with such a man, the consequences of the system were disastrous. His determination to hold the reins of government, at least in appearance, necessarily caused delay; and, coupled with his unfortunate delusion that 'time and he were a match for any other two,' led to that fatal habit of procrastination and irresolution which often ruined his most cherished schemes. Dearly as he loved power, he was not strong enough always to take the lead himself; and hence his eager desire for the opinions of his councillors. No doubt he fancied that the ultimate decision lay with him; yet often, in reality, he was guided by the individual who for the moment had his ear. Under these circ.u.mstances it was inevitable that intrigue and corruption should gather round him, until they were often too strong to be withstood. Meanwhile, in the lower orders of the bureaucracy these evils grew apace, and were even acknowledged by Granvella himself.

Nevertheless, since it is not to be denied that Philip decided what influences should be near him, and thus gave the general tone to the character of the administration, he must be held primarily responsible for its harmful action. We have already shown how the isolation of the n.o.bility was fostered; how by the absolute authority which Philip exercised over the Church, combined with the powers of the Inquisition, all independence of thought was crushed; how by a narrow bureaucratic system, the people were deprived of the substance of political power.

| Philip's Financial and Commercial Policy.

A few words remain to be said on the commercial and financial policy of the reign. The view prevalent at that time in Europe that gold and silver were the most desirable of all forms of wealth, and that a country benefited when the imports of those metals exceeded their exports, had a certain practical truth in it. It should be remembered that, in the absence of paper money, the amount of metallic currency required within a country would, relatively to the volume of trade, be greater then than now. Moreover, since national loans were only in their infancy, and a National Debt unknown, a well-filled treasury was necessary to meet great emergencies, such as a war. Above all, in those countries which did not themselves possess any mines, the only way of obtaining the precious metals was in exchange for homemade goods, or by trade. In such countries, therefore, the doctrine tended to stimulate, not to cramp industrial enterprise. The case of Spain, however, was different. The mines of the New World gave her the precious metals, and therefore she was tempted to discourage the imports of foreign countries, and even to forbid the exportation of gold and silver. Nor was this all. Trusting to the produce of the mines, the Spaniards both at home and in the colonies were encouraged in their national dislike for the more laborious, though more productive industries, and national indolence increased. The mines, moreover, were not nearly so productive as was hoped, and Philip soon learnt that the wealth turned out by the Flemish looms was infinitely greater than that produced by the far-famed mines of Mexico and Peru.

The absurd regulations with regard to trade, which were not however new, led also to disastrous results. In the vain hope of keeping prices down, the export of corn and cattle, and even dealing in corn within the country, was prohibited; importation of any kind from the Barbary coast was also forbidden. The effect of these and other absurd restrictions was that the cultivation of the restricted articles was checked, and that trade gradually fell into the hands of foreigners. Many of these, in return for loans, obtained licences from the King to export, while the demand for foreign goods gave the foreigner the command of the import trade. All articles of luxury came from abroad, and we know that the rebels of the Netherlands carried on a thriving trade in those very munitions of war which Spain used in her attempt to crush them. It has been computed that five-sixths of the home, and nine-tenths of the Indian trade were monopolised by foreigners. Thus Spain, by no means wealthy by nature, failed to enrich herself by trade and manufactures, and remained poverty-stricken. The evil was increased by the exorbitant taxation necessitated by Philip's wars, and by the expenses of the court. These taxes fell more especially on Castile and Naples, and were collected by such evil and corrupt methods that, while the people suffered much, the government often received but little.

| General results of Philip's Home Policy.

The general effect of Philip's policy at home was to foster and exaggerate all the worst traits of the Spanish character--its intolerance, its ignorance, its indolence, and its pride; and if at the beginning of his reign Spain seemed to have touched her pinnacle of greatness, by the end of it she had made a long step towards her future decline. We must now pa.s.s on to deal with Philip's policy in the Netherlands and abroad, to trace the failure of his attempt to reduce these provinces to the condition of his other dependencies, and the collapse of his wild idea of subjugating England and France to his despotic rule.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE NETHERLANDS]

FOOTNOTES:

[59] The Grand Inquisitors during the reign of Philip were:--

1. Don Fernando Valdes, Archbishop of Seville, 1547-1566.

2. Espinosa, the King's Secretary, Bishop of Siguenca, and Cardinal, 1566-1573.

3. Quiroga, Archbishop of Toledo, 1573-1594.

[60] For the mystery of Don Carlos cf. Prescott, _Philip II._, c.

vi.; Forneron, _Philippe II._, c. xi.; Gachard, _Don Carlos et Philippe II._

[61] There were Moriscoes in other parts of Spain, especially in Murcia, Valencia and even in the Vega of Granada, who were not disturbed.

[62] A _cruzada_ was a licence granted by papal dispensation, allowing the eating of eggs and milk on certain days. This licence was sold by the King, and to induce people to purchase it, every one was forced to buy these articles whether they ate them or no. An _excusado_ was the t.i.the upon one holding in each parish in Spain, granted to the King.

[63] There were other possible claimants--Emanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, and the sons of Alexander Farnese, who could claim through the female line, but did not do so. Even Catherine de'

Medici affected to base her t.i.tle on descent from a distant King of Portugal, but did not at this time urge it. The question of the succession, and the close relationship between the royal families of Spain and Portugal will be best understood from the following table:--

{ Isabella, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella.

=Emanuel of Portugal= = { Mary, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella.

| { Eleanor, sister of Charles V.

| +-----------------+------+----------+-----------+ | | | | =John III.= = Catherine, Lewis, =Henry, Isabella = Charles V.

1521-1557. | sister of Duke of Cardinal=, | | Charles V. Beja. 1578-1580. | | . | +--+-------+ ................. | | | . | Philip II. = Mary Emanuel = Joanna, Antonio, | of Spain. John, | sister of Prior of | +1554. | Philip II. Crato, the | | Pretender. | =Sebastian=, | 1557-1578. +-----------+ | | =Philip II.= Joanna = Emanuel John.

[64] The others were:--

1. The Hazienda, for the administration of the revenue, and for the trial of cases concerning it.

2. The Council of The Orders, for the administration of the three Military Orders of St. Iago, Calatrava, Alcantara.

3. The Camera, originally a section of the Council of Castile, subsequently became practically a separate council.

4. The Council of War.

5, 6, 7, 8. The Councils of Aragon, Italy, Flanders, and Portugal. That of Portugal was created after the conquest of that country. That of Flanders soon ceased to be of much importance.

9. The Council of Indies, for the general administration of the Indies, and for the trial of cases, civil and ecclesiastical, arising thence.

[65] Only eight t.i.tled houses of the Grandees could claim a seat.

Of the hidalgos, or lesser n.o.bility, only those came whom the king chose to summon.

[66] After the return of Alva from the Netherlands, a quarrel broke out between him and the King about the marriage affairs of his son, and he was ordered to live in retirement at Uzada, 1579.

There he remained till his services were required for the conquest of Portugal, 1580. He died in December 1582.