Global Crisis

by Parker, Geoffrey

  37. Elliott, Revolt, 130–7, describes the election process for the Diputats, concluding: ‘Although it was luck alone that determined the outcome of the final lottery, a good deal more than luck was required to qualify for the draw.’

  38. Ibid., 374–5, Olivares to Santa Coloma, 7 Oct. 1639; and ibid., 393, quoting Martí i Viladamor, Noticia Universal.

  39. Manuel de Melo, Historia, 25, 22; Elliott, Revolt, 411, Dr Valonga to Villanueva, 24 Mar. 1640.

  40. Parets, De los muchos sucesos, I, 147, and Pasqual de Panno, Motines, 60 and 126 (on the character of Monrodón); Simon i Tarrés, Cròniques, 253–4 (the Relation of Judge Rubí de Marimon); and Parets, De los muchos sucesos, I, 146–8 and 363–70 (on the death of Monrodón).

  41. BNE Ms 2371/21, draft history of the year 1640 by Jerónimo de Mascarenhas. Simon i Tarrés, Cròniques, 264–5 (Relación of Rubí), recorded both predictions that ‘something big’ would happen on Corpus Christi Day and the departure of the galleys the day before.

  42. BNE Ms 2371/21; Corteguera, For the Common Good, 163, quoting the diary of Miquel Parets, and 165 n. 34, quoting a servant of Santa Coloma. Vidal Pla, Guerra dels segadors, appendix I, lists the fate of the judges.

  43. Corteguera, For the common good, 166, again quoting Parets; Simon i Tarrés, Cròniques, 268 (Relación of Rubí; cf. the account of random looting and burning in idem, 208–9: chronicle kept by the cathedral chapter).

  44. Simon i Tarrés, Cròniques, 80 (Dietari of Bartolomeu Llorenci) and 269 (Rubí, who shaved his beard and got a tonsure in order to masquerade as a Jesuit), noted the murder of Castilians, with women playing a prominent role; PRO SP 94/41/336–7, ‘Copy of a letter from Barcelona’, 9 June 1640.

  45. Elliott, Revolt, 452, royal rescript to a consulta of the Council of State, 12 June 1640; 489, Hopton to Cottington, 25 July 1640 NS; and 490, diary of Matías de Novoa.

  46. Sanabre, La acción de Francia, 76, Granollers to the Junta de Braços.

  47. Reula i Biescas, ‘1640–1647’, notes the publication of Olivares's letters.

  48. Quotations from AMAE (P) CPE 3/189 and 205, Duplessis-Besançon's long defence of his role: ‘Première négotiation des françois en Cathalogne’.

  49. Simón i Tarrés, Els orígens ideològics, 173–98; and Neumann, Das Wort als Waffe, ch. 2, discuss the Proclamación Católica; the Justifació en conciència by the ‘Junta de teòlegs’; and Martí i Viladamor, Noticia Universal (written, ironically, in Castilian). Ettinghausen, La Guerra, published several shorter propaganda tracts.

  50. Van Aitzema, Saken van Staet, II, 729. For the international impact of the most celebrated Catalan tract (also written in Castilian), Gaspar Sala i Berart's Proclamación Católica, see Grotius, Briefwisseling, XI, 640–4, letters to Camerarius and Oxenstierna, 1 Dec. 1640.

  51. BNE Ms 2371/121–4, account of Mascarenhas; and Rubí, Les Corts, 262–8 (Los Vélez quoted on p. 266).

  52. Révah, Le Cardinal Richelieu, 20–3, 47–8, Instruction to Jean de St Pé, 15 Aug. 1638.

  53. PRO SP 94/41/1, Hopton to Coke, 14 Jan. 1639 NS.

  54. Schaub, Le Portugal, 240, Vasconcelos to Soares, 30 Sep. 1640.

  55. HAG Ms 28/514v–515, Viceroy of India to Philip IV, 2 Aug. 1641; and HAG Ms 488/24–24v, Viceroy to authorities in Manila, 26 Mar. 1641.

  56. Valente, Documentos históricos, I, 442–5, resolution of 1 June 1640; Loureiro de Souza, Documentos, 10–16, Câmara to Philip IV, 13 Nov. 40, and to John IV, 16 Feb. and 30 Apr. 1641. They were right: Olivares's decision to denude Portugal of troops to suppress the Catalan revolt proved that he expected Brazil to fend for itself.

  57. AGS GA 1331, n.p., consulta of the Junta de Ejecución, 7 Dec. 1640; PRO SP 94/42/73–4, Hopton to Windebank, 8 Dec. 1640. Valladares, ‘Sobre reyes de invierno’, 114–21, provides an excellent account of Bragança's personal road to rebellion.

  58. AGS GA 1331, n.p., consulta of the Junta de Ejecución y Estado, 7 Dec. 1640; Elliott, Olivares, 600, consulta of 17 Dec. 1640, vote of Olivares.

  59. Simon i Tarres, Els orígens, 199 n. 81, quoting Albert Tormé i Lliori.

  60. AMAE (P) CPE: Supplément 3/228v, account of the battle by Duplessis-Besançon; Pérez Samper, Catalunya, 279, quoting Mascarenhas's Relaçam of his mission to Barcelona (written in July 1641).

  61. Did royalist agents poison Claris? Although no direct evidence survives, Philip IV certainly ordered the assassination of two other opponents at this time: (a) Bragança's brother Don Duarte (BNE MS 10,984/28, Philip IV to Don Juan Chumacero, his special envoy to Rome, 15 Dec. 1640: ‘encargo y mando que con gran secreto, y usando de los medios más eficazes, procuraréis que se mate a Don Duarte’); and (b) Bragança's ambassador to England (Elliott, Olivares, 606). Moreover, (c) in 1641 and again in 1647 Philip sponsored attempts to assassinate John IV (AHN Estado libro 699, s.v. ‘Levantamiento’ and ‘Matar al tirano’ – in itself a telling epigraph!). See also García Cárcel, Pau Claris, 120–3; and Sanabre, La acción, 139–40.

  62. AGS GA 1376, n.p., Olivares at the Junta Grande, 19 June 1641 (my thanks to Lorraine White for drawing this document to my attention); AGI México 35/18, Marquis of Caldereyta to Philip IV, 6 Dec. 1641, noting the decision to hold back the treasure in July 1640: the arrival of 750,000 ducats might have turned the tide in the peninsular war.

  63. Hespanha, ‘La “Restauraçao”’, details these general petitions and notes that most had also been voiced by the last Cortes, in 1619. In 1648 the Russian national assembly, the Zemskii Sobor, would also miss a golden opportunity to innovate: see ch. 6 above.

  64. Parets, De los muchos sucesos, VI, 585–91; BNE Ms 2371/111–14, Nochera to Philip IV, 6 Nov. 1640, copy.

  65. BNE Ms 18,723 no 58, ‘Copia del papel que dió a Su Magestad el duque de Medina Sidonia’, 21 Sep. 1641, quoting the duke of Nájera.

  66. Valladares, La rebelión, 37–45 (details on the poison at p. 44); Marcos Alonso, ‘El descubrimiento’, based largely on BL Egerton Ms. 2081/138v, ‘Memorial’ of Francisco Sánchez Marqués.

  67. BNE Ms 8177/141–5, ‘Relación’ of 16 May 1641; Borja Palomo, Historia crítica, 281–94; Archivo histórico de la Catedral de Burgos, Sección de volúmenes, VII, royal cédula of 6 Oct. 1642, printed; and Libros de Actas Capitulares, 83/597–600, acts of 16–17 Aug. 1642 (my thanks to Cristina Borreguero Beltrán for a transcript of these documents); AGI IG 429 leg. 38/193–4, one of 300 royal cédulas sent 6 Oct. 1642. For the record precipitation, see www.ucm.es/info/reclido/es/basesdatos/rainfallindex.txt, accessed 31 January 2010.

  68. Elliott, Olivares, 611, Hopton to Vane, 3/13 April 1641; Pérez Samper, La Catalunya, 309–13; Marcos Martín, ‘Tráfico de indulgencias’. For the link between the distribution of bulls and population size, see p. 259 above.

  69. BL Addl. Ms. 12184/110–11, Sir Richard Browne to Secretary of State Nicholas, 12 Sep. 1642.

  70. Elliott, Olivares, 280 and 646, Antonio Carnero to Pieter Roose, 16 Jan. 1643.

  71. AHN Estado libro 969 n.p., Don Miguel de Salamanca to Olivares, Brussels, 14 July 1641.

  72. AGS Estado 2667 n.p., and 8341/3, consultas of the Council of State, 30 Jan. and 3 Feb. 1643; Co. Do. In., LIX, 304, Philip IV to Melo, 12 Feb. 1643, with a letter for Anne. (Queen Isabel also re-established direct contact with Anne: BNE Ms 9163/126.) Israel, The Dutch Republic, 351, notes Philip's peace initiative with the Dutch.

  73. AGS Estado 2056 n.p., consulta of the Council of State 5 Dec. 1641, on Melo's letter of 11 Nov. (My thanks to Fernando González de León for this reference.)

  74. AGS Estado 8341/3, consulta of the Council of State, 3 Feb. 1643, ‘voto’ of the count of Oñate (‘tendría el conde por conveniente dar un poco de tiempo al tiempo’).

  75. AGS Estado 2039 n.p., Melo to Philip IV, 23 May 1643.

  76. Cueto, Quimeras, chs 5 and 6, reconstitute the prophets' summit. See also ch. 2 above.

  77. AGS Estado 3848/154, consulta of the Junta of State, 23 Oct. 1643, votos of the counts of Monterrey and Oñate. On the cons
equences for Italy of this decision, see ch. 14 below.

  78. Gelabert, ‘Alteraciones’, 364, Chumacero to Philip IV, June 1645; AMAE (M) Ms. 39/218, same to same, 22 July 1645 (a letter full of foreboding).

  79. AGS GA 3255, n.p., Haro to Gerónimo de Torre, 13 Feb. 1646 (two letters), and to Philip IV, 14 Feb. 1646, all from Cadiz. On the 18th Haro declared that the storm was the worst anyone could remember ‘in 30 or 40 years’.

  80. BNE VE Ca 68–94, Escrívense los sucessos de la Evropa desde Abril de 46 hasta junio de 47 inclusive.

  81. AMAE (M) Ms 42/15–16v, Chumacero to Philip IV, 22 Oct. 1647, and fos 45–8, consulta, 10 Sep. 1647.

  82. Gelabert, ‘Alteraciones’, 367–72, narrates the revolt of Ardales.

  83. Thompson, ‘Alteraciones granadinos’, 799; Morales Padrón, Memorias de Sevilla, 123–4; BNE Ms 11,017/106–19, ‘Account of the troubles in Granada’.

  84. AGS Estado 2668, n.p., consulta of the Council of State, 4 July 1648, incorporating the views of the Council of Castile; Seco Serrano, Cartas, I, 158–9, Philip IV to Sor María, 29 July 1648 (and yet, the king continued ominously, without ‘abundant resources, we cannot defend ourselves’).

  85. Valladares, Rebelión de Portugal, 96, Haro to Philip IV, Dec. 1646.

  86. Seco Serrano, Cartas, I, 170, Philip IV to Sor María, 8 Dec. 1648. Philip also executed the marquis of Ayamonte, still in prison for trying to lead Andalusia to independence seven years before (page 277 above), and imprisoned Don Miguel de Iturbide, a prominent member of the Navarre elite who 18 months before had come to court to explain the kingdom's opposition to new taxes and recruiting and whose name appeared in the papers of a friend of Híjar. Iturbide was never seen again: Gallasteguí Ucín, ‘Don Miguel’, and Gelabert, Castilla convulse, 304–5 and 311–12.

  87. Co. Do. In., LXXXIV, 314–16 Peñaranda to Philip IV, 19 Aug. 1648.

  88. AM Cádiz 26/161 and 168–74, resolutions of 26 Oct. and 24 Nov. 1648; Borja Paloma, Historia crítica, 297–9, quoting Memorias Sevillanas; Morales Padrón, Memorias de Sevilla, 115–17. Carbajo Isla, Población, 301–5, noted unparalleled peaks of ‘párvulos’ in 1651, 1654, 1657 and 1660.

  89. Gelabert, Castilla Convulsa, 315, quoting an apocalyptic speech by the procurador of Valladolid in 1649; and idem, ‘Alteraciones’, 375, Tomás López to the marquess of Castel Rodrigo, Madrid, 2 Dec. 1651.

  90. Gelabert, Castilla convulsa, 337, quoting a manuscript ‘Tumultos de la Cyudad de Sevilla’; Domínguez Ortiz, Alteraciones andaluzas, 86, real cédula, 16 May 1652. Anes Álvarez, Las crisis agrarias, graph 9, shows dramatic drops in tithe yields for the archdiocese of Seville in 1647, 1650 and 1652.

  91. These popular uprisings represent only a selection of the total: a host of minor revolts caused by taxes, billeting and recruiting at a time of chronic food shortage remain buried in obscure sources: see ch. 17 below.

  92. Berwick y Alba, Documentos escogidos, 486, Philip IV to Haro, 21 Oct. 1652 (the day he heard of the surrender of Barcelona); Firpo Relazioni, X, 198, Relation of Pietro Bassadonna, 26 May 1653, beginning ‘Correva l'anno 1647 …’

  93. Seco Serrano, Cartas, II, 42, Philip IV to Sor María, 11 Jan. 1656; Benito, ‘Magnitude and frequency of flooding’, 187–8.

  94. AGS Estado Francia 1618/C.5, Junta of State, 7 Jan. 1659. Seco Serrano, Cartas, II, 131, letter to Sor María, July 1659. A few months later Mazarin agreed to the full reinstatement of Condé in return for the surrender of some more Spanish territory. See the brilliant reconstruction of these events by Séré, ‘La paix’.

  95. Valladares, Rebelión, 204, ‘Junta sobre materias de Inglaterra’, 17 June 1665. See other early modern examples of a reluctance to make peace through unwillingness ‘to sacrifice all the treasure it has cost’ in ch. 2 above.

  96. Espino López, Catalunya, 74 and 78, consultas of the Council of State, 4 Nov. 1687 and 13 Apr. 1688; Kamen, ‘The decline of Castile’, 63, quoting Ambassador Carlo Russini in 1695. Other data taken from Kamen's article, and his monograph, Spain (see, for example, the map of the epidemics of 1676–85 at p. 45).

  97. Parets, De los muchos sucesos, VI, 137–49, prints the royal confirmation of the privileges of Barcelona, 29 Nov. 1652. Other revolts against Philip IV that ended with concessions included Vizcaya in 1634, Portugal in 1637 and the Andalusían towns between 1647 and 1652 (see above), as well as Naples and Sicily (see ch. 14 below).

  98. Pascual del Panno, Motines de Cataluña, 199–216: ‘Lista de catalanes muertos y desterrados’ (listing only ‘cavalleros’); Vidal Pla, Guerra dels segadors, 187–215, names 470 war dead; Vilar, Catalogne, I, 634 (Barcelona), 193 (lost villages); Jordà i Fernández, Església, 134.

  99. Kamen, Spain, 57; Solano Camón, Poder monárquico, 36; and Sanz Camañes, Política, hacienda y milicia, chs 5–7. Demographic and fiscal details from Kamen, Spain, 57–9; White, ‘War and government’, ch. 10 (especially pp. 330–6); and Nadal, ‘La población española’, 39–54.

  100. Marquis of Villars (1681) quoted by Márquez Macías, ‘Andaluces’. The marquis estimated that 6,000 people left for America each year.

  101. Estimate by I. A. A. Thompson in Hoffman and Norberg, Fiscal crises, 176. Marcos Martín, ‘¿Fue la fiscalidad regia un factor de crisis?’, 179 n. 7, evaluates the various estimates of modern historians of the total tax burden.

  102. AM Cádiz, 26/132–8, actos of 16 Oct. 1648. Some groups exempt from paying regular taxes, such as the clergy and the nobility, contributed to the crown's expenses in other ways.

  103. Marcos Martín, ‘¿Fue la fiscalidad regia un factor?’, 197, makes this point eloquently; idem, ‘Sobre la violencia’, 215, consulta of the consejo de Hacienda, 30 Sep. 1634: ‘les es más preciso su sustento que el vestido y calzado’.

  104. Marcos Martín, ‘¿Fue la fiscalidad regia un factor?’, 250–2, and table on p. 232.

  105. BL Egerton Ms. 1820/340, Hopton to Secretary of State Coke, 6 Apr. 1634 NS. Brook quoted in ch. 5 above.

  106. AGRB SEG 195/64, Philip IV to Infanta Isabella, his regent in the Netherlands, 9 Aug. 1626.

  107. Seco Serrano, Cartas, I, 28, Philip IV to Sor María, 20 July 1645, holograph. When in 1665 Don Juan de Palafox analyzed the reasons for the ‘ruina de nuestra monarchia’ in his ‘Juicio interior y secreto’, written ‘for my eyes alone’, he singled out the failure to make peace in the Netherlands and the attack on Mantua. (Text printed by Jover Zamora, ‘Sobre los conceptos’.)

  108. Leman, Richelieu et Olivarès, charts the numerous peace offers by the two statesmen – each one abandoned as soon as they gained the upper hand.

  109. Sessa in 1600 quoted page 254 above; Olivares in 1625 on page 255; Elliott and La Peña, Memoriales y Cartas, II, 279, Olivares to Antonio Carnero, 8 Aug. 1644; Monkhouse, State Papers, III, 16, Hyde to Nicholas, Madrid, 14 Apr. 1650 NS; Alcalá-Zamora, ‘Razón de Estado’, 341, quoting the marques of Los Vélez, viceroy of Naples, to Carlos II, 11 Nov. 1678.

  Chapter 10 France in Crisis, 1618–88

  1. I thank Robin Briggs, Laurence Brockliss, Oliver Herbert, David Parrott and Dale van Kley for their help in drafting this chapter.

  2. Moote, The Revolt, 368.

  3. Le Roy Ladurie, Les fluctuations, 72–3, documents the often overlooked cold conditions in France 1617–23.

  4. Le Roy Ladurie, Histoire humaine, I, 337–9, and idem, Les fluctuations, 76–9, on the ‘période hyper-pluvieuse’ and on the worst mortality (after those of 1563 and 1694) to afflict France between 1560 and 1790.

  5. Mousnier, ‘Les mouvements populaires’, 47, Marillac to Louis XIII, 15 July 1630; Grillon, Les papiers, V, 212, Richelieu paper of 13 Apr. 1630.

  6. Porshnev, Les soulèvements populaires, 53, duke of Épernon to Chancellor Séguier, 26 June 1633. On the ‘biennat super-aquatique’ of 1629–30 and the famine of 1631, see Le Roy Ladurie, Histoire humaine, 337–47.

  7. APW, 1st series I, 18–20, Louis XIII to Richelieu, 4 Aug. 1634 (‘Not a living soul has seen this,’ the king wrote on the outs
ide of his ratiocinations). For proof that Spain planned to attack in 1635, see ch. 9 above.

  8. Jansen, Mars Gallicus, first published in Aug 1635. Four editions, and a French and Spanish translation, had appeared by 1640.

  9. See Bercé, Histoire, I, 365 (weather) and 368–93 (on the ‘peasant assemblies’). Le Roy Ladurie, Histoire, 462–8, provides an excellent short overview of the Croquants.

  10. Details from Bercé, Histoire, I, 402–6 (quotation from the Histoire du duc d'Épernon, the nobleman charged with suppressing the troubles, composed circa 1660).

  11. Ibid., I, 412–14 lists the leaders; and at pp. 414–19 discusses the 14 surviving manifestos and the role of La Mothe.

  12. Ibid., I, 443, quoting letters from royal ministers to Chancellor Séguier in June and July 1637. La Mothe survived in hiding until 1648 (445). On the vow, and the painting, see Monod, The power of kings, 120–1; for more on the ‘etiquette’ of rebellion, see ch. 17 above.

  13. Both examples from Caillard, ‘Recherches’, 39–41.

  14. Bonney, Political change, 252. Rural labourers earned 30 livres a year: Jacquart, La crise rurale, 613.

  15. Foisil, La révolte, 62, Bullion to Richelieu, 11 Oct 1639 (‘quasiment la quatriesme des impositions du royaume’). The Nu-Pieds revolt had begun in July. Bercé, Histoire, I, 78–96, examines both the exemptions and the government's efforts to end them.

  16. Foisil, La révolte, 62, complaint of the États of Normandy, Feb. 1638.

  17. Details in ibid., 93–101. The salt monopoly existed elsewhere in France but not in Normandy. Le Roy Ladurie, Histoire, 456–62, provides an excellent overview of the Nu-Pieds.

  18. BNF f. fr. 3833/214, printed Ordonnance of ‘General Jean Nud-Pieds’. BNF f. fr. 18937/227–40, ‘Relation de la révolte de la Basse Normandie’, identified all the leaders, and printed two verse manifestos.

  19. Avenel, Lettres, VI, 500–1, Richelieu to Bouthillier, 29 Aug. 1639; Grotius, Briefwisseling, X, 611, to Nicolaes van Reigersberch, 17 Sep. 1639.

  20. Foisil, La révolte, 285, quoting Séguier's journal. The chancellor sentenced scores of rebels to death, and hundreds to exile; imposed huge fines on towns implicated in the uprising (Caen had to pay over one million livres); and ordered reparations to those whose property had been damaged.