Iberian Union

The Iberian Union, also called the Hispanic Monarchy, describes the period from 1580 to 1640 when the Monarchy of Spain under the Habsburg dynasty, which was a personal union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon, also brought the Kingdom of Portugal into a personal union. It included the whole Iberian Peninsula, except Andorra and French territory, along with Portuguese and Spanish overseas possessions. These lands were ruled by the Spanish Habsburg monarchs Philip II, Philip III, and Philip IV. For modern proposals to unite Iberia, see Iberism.

The union began after the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580 and the War of the Portuguese Succession that followed. It lasted until the Portuguese Restoration War, during which the House of Braganza was established as Portugal's new ruling dynasty when John IV was acclaimed as the new king of Portugal.

As a personal union, the Kingdom of Portugal, the Crown of Castile, and the states of the Crown of Aragon remained independent states that shared only a single monarch. The kings from the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg were the only link between the many kingdoms and territories. These were ruled by six separate government councils: Castile, Aragon, Portugal, Italy, Flanders-Burgundy, and the Indies. Portugal sometimes had a viceroy appointed by the king, though turnover was often rapid. In the 60 years of the Union, the country had 13 viceroys and four regency councils (see List of viceroys of Portugal). Similar viceroys were appointed in Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, and other kingdoms of the Union. Each kingdom's governments, institutions, and legal traditions stayed separate. Under Alien laws (Leyes de extranjería), a national of one kingdom was considered a foreigner in all the others.

The Iberian Union was the most widespread empire of the early modern era, with territories on every continent known at the time. The union drew Portugal into the Dutch Revolt against Spain. The Dutch Republic saw the union as a reason to start targeting Portuguese colonies, and this would weaken Portugal's overseas empire in the Orient.

Background

For a long time, the rulers of the region wanted to unite the peninsula, with the goal of restoring the Visigothic monarchy. Sancho III of Navarre and Alfonso VII of León and Castile both took the title Imperator totius Hispaniae, meaning "Emperor of All Hispania."

After Alfonso VII died in 1109, many attempts were made to join the kingdoms, often through marriages between royal families. Two well-known examples are Miguel da Paz, who would have inherited the crowns of Portugal, Leon, Castile, and Aragon but died at a young age, and Afonso, Prince of Portugal, who was to marry the eldest daughter of the Catholic Monarchs. Afonso died early after falling from his horse.

Establishment

Main article: Portuguese succession crisis of 1580

In 1578, the young king Sebastian died at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir. His granduncle and successor, Cardinal Henry, was 66 years old at the time. When Henry died, three grandchildren of Manuel I claimed the throne: 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 acclaimed António as king of Portugal, and many other cities and towns across the country did the same. Some members of the Council of Governors who supported Philip escaped to Spain and declared him the legal successor of Henry. Philip marched into Portugal and defeated the troops loyal to the Prior of Crato at the Battle of Alcântara. The soldiers, known as the Tercios and led by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, arrived in Lisbon. Before entering the city, the Duke made the Portuguese provinces submit to Philip, and he took a huge treasure there. He also allowed his soldiers to plunder the area around the capital.

In 1581, the Cortes of Tomar recognized Philip as king, which began the rule of the House of Habsburg over Portugal. In 1583, Philip left for Madrid and 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 took advantage of the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) to persuade the English to support an attack on Portugal by sea in April 1589. The expedition, led by Francis Drake and John Norris, had 120 ships and 19,000 men, but it failed because of poor planning. 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, and Portugal kept its own laws, currency, and government. The court briefly considered moving the royal capital to Lisbon, but the Castilian aristocracy opposed this 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. The Portuguese Empire's spice trade was at its peak at the start, after the age of exploration. Because running the government was complicated, the Spanish king used Councils to give advice and solve problems. Philip II set up a permanent capital in Madrid in 1562, though the court and staff moved to Valladolid for a short time (1601–1606). Each Council's secretary prepared papers for the king. Territorial councils included the Council of Castile, Council of Aragon, Council of Navarre, Council of Italy, Council of the Indies, Council of Flanders, and the Council of Portugal.

The Council of Portugal, set up in 1582, handled justice and the economy for the Portuguese kingdom. It ended in 1668, when Charles II of Spain gave up his title as king of Portugal. Afterwards it continued, because Philip IV had not accepted Portugal's independence, and it governed the Portuguese loyal to him and the government of Ceuta. Spain largely let the Portuguese run their own kingdom and empire, and public offices were kept for Portuguese people. Several Portuguese bodies were kept, including the Mesa da Consciência e Ordens, which handled church matters, the Portuguese Inquisition, which remained independent, 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

During the 1600s, Dutch, English and French privateers attacked Portuguese merchant ships and set up trading posts in Africa, Asia and the Americas. This weakened Portugal's control of the valuable spice trade, which went into a long decline. The Habsburg monarchy moved wealth away from Portugal to support the Catholic side in the Thirty Years' War, which strained the union. Still, Portugal gained from Spanish military power in keeping Brazil and in slowing Dutch trade. Events at the end of the Aviz dynasty and the Iberian Union left Portugal depending economically on its colonies, first India and then Brazil.

When the two crowns joined, Portugal lost its own foreign policy, so Spain's enemies became Portugal's. England had been Portugal's ally since the Treaty of Windsor in 1386, but war between Spain and England hurt that friendship, and Portugal lost Hormuz. Wars with the Dutch led to invasions of many places in Asia, including Portuguese Ceylon (today's Sri Lanka), and to trade interests in Japan, Africa (Mina), and South America. France and the Dutch both partly conquered Brazil. The Dutch occupied much of Brazil's northeast, home to sugarcane plantations, but their conquest was short-lived after the Recapture of Bahia by a Spanish-Portuguese fleet in 1625. The Dutch returned in 1630 and captured Recife and Olinda in the captaincy of Pernambuco, the largest and richest sugar-producing area in the world. John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen, was appointed governor of the Dutch possessions in Brazil in 1637 by the Dutch West India Company. He extended Dutch lands from Sergipe to São Luís, Maranhão, and conquered the Portuguese possessions of Elmina Castle, São Tomé Island, and Luanda in Africa. The Dutch set up a colony called New Holland, but the Second Battle of Guararapes ended the Dutch occupation of the Portuguese colony of Brazil.

Decline of the Union and revolt of Portugal

When Philip II died, he was followed by Philip III, who took a different approach to Portuguese matters. Taxes mainly hurt Portuguese merchants. The Portuguese nobility lost importance at the Spanish Cortes, and Spaniards took over government jobs in Portugal. Philip III also tried to make Portugal a royal province, and Portuguese nobles lost much of their power. Pressure from Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, to share the costs of Castile's wars in Europe made the Portuguese even less willing to support the union. Spain had also failed to stop the Dutch West India Company from taking several of Portugal's colonies.

The situation came to a head in a revolution by the nobility and high bourgeoisie on 1 December 1640, 60 years after the crowning of Philip I. The revolution was most directly sparked by a popular and institutional revolt against the Crown in the Principality of Catalonia. The plot was planned by Antão de Almada, 7th Count of Avranches, Miguel de Almeida, and João Pinto Ribeiro, along with several associates known as the Forty Conspirators. They took advantage of Castilian troops being busy on the other side of the Iberian Peninsula. The rebels killed Secretary of State Miguel de Vasconcelos and imprisoned the king's cousin, Margaret of Savoy, Vicereine of Portugal, who had governed Portugal in his name. The timing suited the rebels, since Philip's troops were also fighting the Thirty Years' War at the time. People supported the revolt almost at once, and soon John, 8th Duke of Braganza, was acclaimed king of Portugal throughout the country as John IV. By 2 December 1640, John had already written to the Municipal Chamber of Évora as the country's sovereign.

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), and the Portuguese won all of them. The Spanish won the Battle of Vilanova (1658) and the Battle of the Berlengas (1666). The Battle of Montijo (1644) was not decided, as it began well for Spain but ended in Portuguese success.

John IV made several decisions to strengthen his forces. In December 1640 he created a Council of War to organize operations, and a Junta of the Frontiers to look after the fortresses near the border, the defense of Lisbon, and the garrisons and sea ports. In 1641 a body was set up to upgrade all fortresses, paid for with regional taxes. He also organized the army and worked to restore good relations with England. Spain's best forces were busy fighting the French in Catalonia and other wars, so Spanish forces in Portugal never got enough support. Still, Philip IV would not give up what he saw as his rightful inheritance. In June 1663, English soldiers helped Portugal defeat Don John's army at Ameixial near Estremoz. In June 1665, the German general Frederick Schomberg led Portuguese forces to victory at Montes Claros near Vila Viçosa. Spain had spent 25 million ducats on the costly war, and on 13 February 1668 it recognized Portugal's independence and made peace.

Legacy

In the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain, Valdegovía adopted 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, it decided to remain with Spain. Because of this history, the city's coat of arms looks almost the same as the one for the Kingdom of Portugal, with 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 remembers that the Portuguese first raised this flag in Ceuta when they conquered the city in 1415.