Spain and England - Essay Example

England and Spain The period running from 1560 to 1648 is important to the history of Europe, for increased religious warfare was witnessed across Europe’s major powers such as Spain, France, England and Netherland, and which had devastating effects on Europe. The quest for reforms in the Catholic Church spearheaded Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1564) and John Calvin (1509-1564), saw the rise of religious schism, among the Catholics, Protestants and Anabaptists. There were frequent struggles over religious beliefs, and that culminated into the thirty years of war from 1618 to 1648. Catholic and protestant leaders manipulated the situations to befit their political interests. This paper seeks to examine the early modern rivalry between Spain and England, from the angle of the ensuing religious schism. It conspicuously shows how the rivalry strengthened each nation and explains the reasons why England emerged the dominant power by 1600, based on the accounts and examples captured in the book The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, 3rd edition by Lynn Hunt et al. The religious war pitted France and Spain, which were predominantly Catholic and desirous of restoring Catholicism throughout Europe and England, which was predominantly protestant, under the Church of England. The rise of Church of England came under the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547). When Henry VII tried to end is marriage with Catherine of Aragon, so that he would marry Anne Boleyn, the Catholic Church opposed as result of which Henry VIII changed England’s religion, through the enactment of the Act of Supremacy of 1529. Henry VIII’s successors had different impact of the Church of England, most of which were influenced by Spanish catholic philosophy. For instance, Mary Tudor was married to Phillip of Spain, and the latter implored upon her to instill reforms at the Catholic Church in England. As a result of his role, Mary Tudor had over 300 Protestants executed (Hunt et al, 2010, 456). However, Elizabeth I (1558-1693) reestablished Protestantism, and she rejected proposals by Phillip upon the death of Mary. Therefore, as results of the differences between these 2 powers, there were internal strife and disorders in each country. For instance, in England, there was a catholic uprising in the North under the reign of Elizabeth, which she had to deal with, and because of her Protestantism policy, she faced two serious attempts to assassinate her, and there was always the threat of a Spanish invasion. To add, these powers interfered with each other’s activities, including using proxies to fight their wars. For instance, Elizabeth I funded Dutch rebels engaged against Spain. Phillips II of Spain was determined to destroy political enemies in England, France and Netherlands. The wars took an economic toll on Spain, for by the time Phillip died; Spain could barely afford to wage wars against the Dutch, France and England. Phillip II, despite inheriting a lot of wealth, he used all his revenue to fund the conquest of France, the English protestants and the Ottoman Turks. The conflicts had escalated to a full war, in 1587, when Phillip, in response to the beheading of Mary Stuart-a catholic who was next in line to the throne and who had offered Phillip II of Spain her rights to the Scottish throne- sent his armada to attack England. His armada was heavily defeated, signaling a humiliating defeat to the Spanish Catholics while the Protestants rejoiced (Hunt et al, 2010, 457). Moreover, the two countries were faced with famine, starvation, economic recession and as results of the constant wars between the 2 countries. For instance, in England, many people ate some bread and soup during the famine, that culminated in the passage of poor law in 1597, whose role was to order communities to support the poor. With regards to inflation, it arose out of the need for more money to support the warfare. As a result, the rulers raised taxes and depreciated the value of their money resulting to high inflation (Hunt et al, 2010, 460). The poor were the ones who were hit hard by the constant warfare. Peasants were burdened with the tax and also felt impact of the war, in that they had to flee whenever the marauding armies burned down their villages. However, the rivalry strengthened both nations, with the result that there was growth of state authority, with the interests of the state taking priority over those of individuals. It led to the growth of these states to be more centralized and powerful. It led to the growth of civil service and government employees, while appointment to government offices began to be based on educational qualification. To add, it resulted to more adventures, with the desire to discover more territory and trade routes. For instance, the Spanish sent Christopher Columbus round as an explorer in 1492, and that of Vasco Da Gama, with Christopher Columbus discovering the West Indies. By 1600, England had benefitted more, emerging as a more dominant power, and an economic power house. This was because of the recession that had resulted from the war and that led to the end of the dominance of Mediterranean powers at the expense of the northwestern countries that had access to the Atlantic oceans such as England France and Netherlands. These countries also took less time to recover from the effects of the war, and thus emerged as mercantile powers. England had stayed out of the war and as result, had saved on the expense as well as reducing the cost of destruction emanating from the wars. As their armies had increased in size, so did their firepower, resulting to wars that were very costly. As a result, most rulers opted to borrow from private bankers in order to finance their war. When overburdened with debts, some states opted to seek for bankruptcy. For instance, the Spanish government did so three times for the first half of the 17th century. Most of these powers assumed significant control on international commerce, as result of mercantile advantage, which was also used to increase their colonial territory abroad, and dominance of trade with the colonies. The conflict between Protestants and Catholics, between religion and politics ended after the thirty year war, after the politics prevailed over religion. The war shifted the balance of power in Europe, with the dominance of Northern Europe. By the time the treaty of Westphalia was signed in 1648, Spain had lost most of her territories following the thirty year war, and ended up losing its European super power to France. It recognized the independence of Netherlands after eight years of war. In 1460, the Portuguese revolted against Spain, while in the same year Portuguese declared independence from Spain, of which the Spain was forced to concede. In 1463, France defeated the Spanish for the first time. This was also being witnessed in foreign territory under the dominion of Spain. For instance, in Peru and Mexico where attempts by the new Spanish regime to introduce a more centralizing ‘regalist’ system were eventually overpowered by the feudalists who favored the encomienda system. To add, the Indians residing in these captured territories stared demanding for more rights and self governance. In conclusion, religious conflicts prevalent in this period shaped the lives of all those who were living in this period. It finally culminated to the separation of state and religion, while the political leaders, after seeing the negative effects of the war, decided not to involve religion in the war again. References Hunt, L. et al. Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures: A Concise History, Volume I to 1740. Bedford/St. Martin's. 2010. Print. Read More