Iberian Union

The Iberian Union, also called the Hispanic Monarchy, was the period from 1580 to 1640. During this time, the Monarchy of Spain under the Habsburg dynasty was a personal union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon. It also brought the Kingdom of Portugal into the same union. It covered the whole Iberian Peninsula, except Andorra and French territory, as well as Portuguese and Spanish overseas lands. The Spanish Habsburg kings Philip II, Philip III, and Philip IV ruled these lands. For modern ideas about joining Iberia, see Iberism.

The union began after the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580 and the War of the Portuguese Succession that followed. It ended with the Portuguese Restoration War. During that war, the House of Braganza became Portugal's new ruling family when John IV was declared the new king of Portugal.

Under a personal union, Portugal, Castile, and the states of Aragon stayed independent countries. They shared only one king. The kings from the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg were the only link between these many kingdoms and lands. Six separate government councils ran them: Castile, Aragon, Portugal, Italy, Flanders-Burgundy, and the Indies. Portugal sometimes had a viceroy, a ruler chosen by the king, but these changed quickly. During the 60 years of the Union, Portugal had 13 viceroys and four regency councils (see List of viceroys of Portugal). Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, and other kingdoms also appointed similar viceroys. Each kingdom kept its own government, institutions, and laws. Under Alien laws (Leyes de extranjería), a person from one kingdom was treated as a foreigner in all the others.

The Iberian Union was the largest empire of the early modern era, with lands on every continent known at the time. The union pulled Portugal into the Dutch Revolt against Spain. The Dutch Republic saw the union as a reason to start targeting Portuguese colonies. This weakened Portugal's overseas empire in the East.

Background

For a long time, the rulers of the region wanted to unite the peninsula. They hoped to bring back the Visigothic monarchy. Sancho III of Navarre and Alfonso VII of León and Castile both took the title Imperator totius Hispaniae, which means "Emperor of All Hispania."

After Alfonso VII died in 1109, many people tried to join the kingdoms. They often did this through marriages between royal families. Two well-known examples are Miguel da Paz and Afonso, Prince of Portugal. Miguel da Paz could have inherited the crowns of Portugal, Leon, Castile, and Aragon, but he died young. Afonso was going to marry the eldest daughter of the Catholic Monarchs. He died early after a fall from his horse.

Establishment

Main article: Portuguese succession crisis of 1580

In 1578, the young king Sebastian died in the Battle of Alcácer Quibir. His great-uncle and successor, Cardinal Henry, was 66 years old. When Henry died, three grandchildren of Manuel I wanted the throne. They were Infanta Catarina, Duchess of Braganza, who was married to John, 6th Duke of Braganza; António, Prior of Crato; and King Philip II of Spain. In July 1580, the people of Santarém named António king of Portugal, and many other cities and towns did the same. Some members of the Council of Governors who supported Philip went to Spain. They said Philip was the rightful successor of Henry. Philip marched into Portugal and defeated the soldiers loyal to the Prior of Crato at the Battle of Alcântara. The soldiers, called the Tercios and led by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, reached Lisbon. Before entering the city, the Duke made the Portuguese provinces accept Philip as king. He also took a great deal of treasure. He let his soldiers take goods from the area around the capital.

In 1581, the Cortes of Tomar recognized Philip as king. This started the rule of the House of Habsburg over Portugal. In 1583, Philip left for Madrid. He made his nephew Albert of Austria his viceroy in Lisbon. In Madrid, he set up a Council of Portugal to advise him on Portuguese affairs. António tried to use the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) to get the English to help him attack Portugal by sea in April 1589. The expedition was led by Francis Drake and John Norris. It failed because it was poorly planned. Portugal kept its special status under the first two kings of the Union, Philip II and Philip III. Both kings gave high positions in the Spanish courts to Portuguese nobles. Portugal also kept its own laws, money, and government. The court briefly thought about moving the royal capital to Lisbon, but the Castilian nobles opposed the idea.

Continuity in the administrative system

The history of Portugal from the dynastic crisis in 1578 to the first Braganza dynasty monarchs was a time of change. At the start, the Portuguese Empire was very rich from its spice trade, which grew after the age of exploration. Running the government was complicated, so the Spanish king used Councils to give advice and solve problems. In 1562, Philip II made Madrid the permanent capital. For a short time (1601–1606), the court and staff moved to Valladolid. Each Council had a secretary who prepared papers for the king. The territorial councils included the Council of Castile, the Council of Aragon, the Council of Navarre, the Council of Italy, the Council of the Indies, the Council of Flanders, and the Council of Portugal.

The Council of Portugal was set up in 1582. It looked after justice and the economy of the Portuguese kingdom. It ended in 1668, when Charles II of Spain gave up his title as king of Portugal. The council continued afterwards, because Philip IV had not accepted Portugal's independence. It governed the Portuguese people who stayed loyal to him, and the government of Ceuta. Spain mostly let the Portuguese run their own kingdom and empire, and public jobs were kept for Portuguese people. Several Portuguese bodies were kept. These included the Mesa da Consciência e Ordens, which handled church matters, and the Portuguese Inquisition, which stayed independent. They also included the Desembargo do Paço, the highest law court, and the Conselho da Fazenda, which managed the treasury and customs.

Portuguese Empire challenged

Main article: Dutch–Portuguese War

In the 1600s, Dutch, English and French privateers attacked Portuguese merchant ships. They also set up trading posts in Africa, Asia and the Americas. This made it harder for Portugal to control the valuable spice trade, and its trade began a long decline. The Habsburg rulers sent wealth away from Portugal to help the Catholic side in the Thirty Years' War. This put pressure on the union. Still, Portugal benefited from Spanish military power, which helped it keep Brazil and slowed Dutch trade. Events at the end of the Aviz dynasty and the Iberian Union left Portugal relying on its colonies, first India and then Brazil.

When the two crowns joined, Portugal no longer made its own foreign decisions. This meant Spain's enemies became Portugal's enemies. England had been Portugal's friend since the Treaty of Windsor in 1386, but a war between Spain and England hurt that friendship. Portugal also lost Hormuz. Wars with the Dutch led to attacks on many places in Asia, including Portuguese Ceylon (today's Sri Lanka). They also affected trade in Japan, Africa (Mina), and South America. France and the Dutch both took parts of Brazil. The Dutch controlled much of Brazil's northeast, where sugarcane plantations grew, but their control did not last long. In 1625, a Spanish-Portuguese fleet won back the city of Bahia in the Recapture of Bahia. The Dutch returned in 1630 and captured Recife and Olinda in the captaincy of Pernambuco, which was the largest and richest sugar-growing area in the world. In 1637, the Dutch West India Company chose John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen to govern the Dutch lands in Brazil. He expanded Dutch lands from Sergipe to São Luís, Maranhão. He also took the Portuguese lands of Elmina Castle, São Tomé Island, and Luanda in Africa. The Dutch founded a colony called New Holland. In the end, the Second Battle of Guararapes brought an end to Dutch rule in the Portuguese colony of Brazil.

Decline of the Union and revolt of Portugal

When Philip II died, Philip III became king. He treated Portugal differently. Taxes mostly hurt Portuguese merchants. The Portuguese nobles lost influence in the Spanish Cortes, and Spaniards took government jobs in Portugal. Philip III also tried to make Portugal a royal province, so Portuguese nobles lost much of their power. Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, pushed Portugal to share the costs of Castile's wars in Europe. This made the Portuguese even less willing to support the union. Spain also failed to stop the Dutch West India Company from taking several of Portugal's colonies.

Things came to a head on 1 December 1640, 60 years after Philip I became king. Nobles and wealthy townspeople carried out a revolution. The revolution was sparked most directly by a popular revolt against the Crown in the Principality of Catalonia. This was a revolt by both the people and important institutions. Antão de Almada, 7th Count of Avranches, Miguel de Almeida, and João Pinto Ribeiro planned the plot, together with several helpers known as the Forty Conspirators. They used the moment when Castilian troops were busy on the other side of the Iberian Peninsula. The rebels killed Secretary of State Miguel de Vasconcelos. They also locked up the king's cousin, Margaret of Savoy, Vicereine of Portugal, who had governed Portugal in the king's name. The timing helped the rebels, because Philip's troops were also fighting the Thirty Years' War. Many people supported the revolt almost right away. Soon John, 8th Duke of Braganza, was declared king of Portugal across the country, taking the name John IV. By 2 December 1640, John had already written to the Municipal Chamber of Évora as the country's ruler.

Restoration War and the end of the Union

The Portuguese Restoration War against Philip III was mostly small fights near the border. The most important battles were the Battle of the Lines of Elvas (1659), the Battle of Ameixial (1663), the Battle of Castelo Rodrigo (1664), and the Battle of Montes Claros (1665). Portugal won all of them. Spain won the Battle of Vilanova (1658) and the Battle of the Berlengas (1666). The Battle of Montijo (1644) did not have a clear winner. It started well for Spain but ended in Portuguese success.

John IV made several decisions to make his forces stronger. In December 1640 he created a Council of War to plan operations. He also set up a Junta of the Frontiers to look after the forts near the border, the defense of Lisbon, and the garrisons and sea ports. In 1641, a group was formed to improve all the fortresses, paid for with money from the regions. He also organized the army and worked to build good relations with England. Spain's best soldiers were busy fighting the French in Catalonia and other wars, so Spanish forces in Portugal did not get enough help. Still, Philip IV did not want to give up what he saw as his rightful inheritance. In June 1663, English soldiers helped Portugal defeat the army of Don John at Ameixial, near Estremoz. In June 1665, the German general Frederick Schomberg led Portuguese forces to victory at Montes Claros, near Vila Viçosa. The war had cost Spain a great deal of money, about 25 million ducats. On 13 February 1668, Spain recognized Portugal's independence and made peace.

Legacy

In the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain, Valdegovía used the royal coat of arms during the Iberian Union. The Navarre arms and the Portuguese arms were added to the top middle part of the shield.

The Spanish city of Ceuta was part of the Portuguese Empire until the Iberian Union ended in 1640. After that, Ceuta chose to stay with Spain. Because of this history, the city's coat of arms looks almost the same as the one for the Kingdom of Portugal. It has seven castles above a red border and five shields with silver circles. The pattern on its flag is the same as the flag of Lisbon. This reminds people that the Portuguese first raised this flag in Ceuta when they conquered the city in 1415.