History 2403E Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Flanaess, Medina-Sidonia, Spanish Inquisition
26 Oct 2016
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History 2403
Lecture 15 Final
Charles V, Philip II 4/21/2016 5:44:00 AM
Spain
• Ferdinand and Isabella formed the great kingdom of Spain
→ had religious unity
→ Bureaucracy
→ increasing revenue
→ Diplomatic core
→ Strong army
• Religious disunity = political instability
Charles V – Holy Roman Emperor / Charles I of Spain
• descendent to throne (inherited from Ferdinand and Isabella/ is
their grandson)
• inherits a motivated country
• Born and raised in low countries
• speaks Dutch and French
• When becomes King of Spain he has never been to Spain nor can
he speak Spanish (1516)
• Charles V is a man of the world (Cosmopolitan man)
• 1519: Charles becomes King in Germany (Holy Roman Emperor)
• “Charles spoke Spanish to God, Italian to Women, French to men,
and German to his horse”
• The Spanish people are a little worried about Charles taking the
throne, because:
o 1. He didn’t speak Spanish
o 2. He arrived with a Squad, he brings all his friends from the
low country and gives them key positions within the
government
→ Spanish thought of themselves as high and mighty (Crusaders) and
were insulted when Charles allowed foreigners in key positions
• Holy Roman Emperor (1519)
o Things become worse when Charles wants to be emperor of
the Germans
o Elected position
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o 7 Powerful German Princes elect the Holy Roman Emperor
(electors expect to be paid for their vote, bribe at least 4/7
electors )
▪ Cost of buying that title is $850,000 (1/3 of the annual
income of Spain)
▪ Gets this money by taxing Castille
o The Spanish have a number of problems with this:
▪ Terrified that Charles will become an Absentee ruler
▪ Outraged by this increase of taxation
o Results in rebellion
Revolt of the Communeros (1520)
• Towns and Cities of the Spanish Communes
• Towns and Villages rise up in rebellion
• Begins in the town of the Iberian Territories (last about 2 years)
• Charles V isn’t even present for the rebellion
• Charles has a lot on his plate:
o Gets elected Holy Roman Emperor is 1519
o Deals with the German Princes revolting
o The Ottoman Empire is trying to take over territory
o And now this revolt of the Communeros
• Don’t have clear vision or unity of what they want to achieve
• Rebels want to curtail the expansion of power, they want to see
Charles squad removed, and a reduction in taxes
• Rebellion begins in the city and the Spanish nobles quickly join in
the rebellion!
o Nobles see this as a good way to remove the squad and
diminish Charles power
o Average people/ people in lower social rank begin talking
about change and remodeling of Spanish society at a broad
level (wholesale change)
o This talk scares Spanish lords and they jump off the ship
o The Spanish Nobles turn around and crush the rebellion
• Charles is aware of the revolt and that his choices ultimately caused
this revolt so,
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o He decides to make some changes:
▪ Quietly removes his friends/ “Squad” from power and
replaces with Spanish officials
o But there are some things he cannot do anything about:
▪ Being an absentee rules (travels from fight to fight)
How Charles keeps a hold on Spain:
• Franciso de las Cobos (advisor to Charles)
• With help of Franciso, Charles built a complex system of
government
o Enlarged the Bureaucracy
o Created a system of council
o (Top) Charles → Council of state → Series of smaller councils
o Council for each territory he rules over
o Creates a cabinet
o All lower councils are staffed by Hidalgo’s (based on merit)
▪ On a day to day basis, the smaller councils have great
autonomy
▪ If something important happens it goes up to the
Council of the State
o Council of state is composed of Great Nobles
o Only serious issues reach Charles
o Significant draw back is money (system is very expensive)
▪ Charles is constantly hard for cash (always at war)
▪ Biggest source of revenue was money coming from the
new world (40% of money from new world was going
directly into Charles’ pocket)
Difficulties that plague Charles:
• 1. Has this flood of money coming in from the new world, the
difficulty is that this while the flood of wealth is significant, it is kind
of intermittent
o Charles is constantly forced to borrow money from families-
such as the Fugger’s, to get cash immediately
o The Fugger’s begin to charge substantial amounts of interest
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
4/21/2016 5:44:00 am: ferdinand and isabella formed the great kingdom of spain. Strong army: religious disunity = political instability. He arrived with a squad, he brings all his friends from the low country and gives them key positions within the government. Don"t take that money and invest in new agricultural innovations or economics (closed society) Spanish don"t think that they is anything that other europeans can teach them. Spain has a fear of anything new (due to spanish inquisition) Spain falls farther behind in european ways. Things that make spain great eventually led to its demise. America, various outposts in north africa, and the. Had been spending some time in the low. 1587 (worst kept secret in history: england tries everything to impede this invasion by sending sir francis drake. Sir francis drake: in 1587, drake raided the spanish fort of cadiz, cadiz was one of the main ports where the spanish.
