How successful was Philip II in implementing his religious policies?

How successful was Philip II in implementing his religious policies during his reign in Spain?

One of Philip’s main aims during his reign was to implement the religious policies he had set out for Spain; some, however, proved more successful than others.

In 1556, the beginning of Philips reign, the Spanish Church was in dire need of reform; many of the lower clergy were uneducated, impoverished and morally compromised, much of rural Spain had little Christian understanding, delving in sacramental magic and pagan rituals, their faith was still rooted in local superstition – this was far from orthodox worship. The state of the Spanish Church did not reflect Philips inherited title of ‘Most Catholic King’, Philip knew it was his duty to uphold his name and his reputation, as well as his religious beliefs. He was famously quoted telling the Pope ‘rather than suffer the least damage to religion and the service of God, I would lose all my states and 100 lives, if I had them; for I do not propose nor desire to be ruled by heretics’.

To live up to his words Philip used The Council of Trent as a tool to which he could implement his plans. The Tridentine Decrees (Religious Acts), were issued to attempt to reform the state of the clergy; priests were forced to attend weekly sermons, transubstantiation were confirmed as key to Catholic doctrine and seminaries were set up to train new priests and re-train old ones. Philip attempted to improve the standards of discipline and education in the clergy, the teaching role of the Church expanded and as a result religious art flourished. He supported the decrees enthusiastically, a series of energetic and active bishops were appointed, but however the Church was surprisingly unsupportive; the Pope being against too much change to the Catholic religion, fearing he would lose power. Relations with the Papacy would prove to be difficult for Philip throughout his reign; political clashes over Italy caused problems between them, making it hard for Philip to influence changes within the Church. The Pope even tried to play Philip off against France. However both need each other; The Church relied on Philip for protection against the Turks and Protestants threats and Philip realised the need for good relations with Rome if he was to have any true say on the roles of the Spanish Church. He spent a considerable amount of money, of which there was little of, (highlighting the importance of the Church in Spain to him), on forming a pro-Spanish party in the Vatican. However there continued to be a power struggle between Philip and the papacy throughout his reign, and the jurisdiction over heretics was continually fought over. If Philip was to have formed better relations with the Papacy, he would perhaps have been more successful in raising clerical standards with the help of the Pope.

Shortly after coming in to power Philip employed The Inquisition to win the struggle against heresy and monitor the Tridentine decrees reform programme. Philips reign began with the wave of ‘protestant panic’, so The Inquisitions first task was to persecute ‘Lutheran heretics’, as to not allow the protestant reformation to affect Spain as it had the rest of Europe. In 1559 ‘autos de fe’ were held these were large ‘ritualised’ trials in which heretics were executed and demonstrations of penance were held, there was even burning alive of those who did not confess. Although this regime against the Protestants ...

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Limpieza – purity of blood statutes were reintroduced, conversos and Moriscos were excluded from Church institutions and Philip effectively divided the country.

Many humanists and theologians who had previously strayed marginally from orthodox and were treated as suspicious, mystics could still be found in religious establishments but they had to become much more careful in their activities. These somewhat repressive measures included; all Spanish students studying abroad to be recalled, as to not allow them to be influenced by heretics, An index being formed of ‘dangerous’ or heretical books being banned or censored, including the works of many prominent Spanish thinkers and literatures. It is said that Philip, by doing this, was repressing freedom and the currents of the day- not allowing the country to flourish culturally. However the index was not very successful, it became impossible to enforce; it was the 1590s before Philip was able to extend control over print beyond Castile. Philip’s constant difficulty with finance prevented the Inquisition from having the resources to stop the flow of banned books into Spain, they were overworked and their duties too extensive. Castile had no policing installed so there was no way of apprehending law breakers, in fact Philips own library contained numerous illegal works.

Rural areas continued to worship in their own way, the inquisition only paid one off visits which were not effective in establishing orthodoxy, the argued that most arrested in rural areas were ignorant and uneducated father than heretics. The inquisition remained foremost a teaching machine rather than a method of social control, they simply did not have the resources to exert the sort of power Philip planned. The relied heavily upon familiars and comisarios (unpaid officials) drawn from parishes and local communities. Philips War with the Turks and three bankruptcies would prevent financial help from reaching the Inquisition.

Adding to Philips problems was the Morisco revolt, persecuted by the Inquisition they rose up in bloody rebellion, this not only drained scarce resources and money but attracted unwanted criticism of Catholicism even at the time. Philips dispersion of the Moriscos and his seemingly ethnic cleansing of Spain only encouraged the black legend – bad for his reputation.

Overall Philips attempts to implement his religious policies were not very successful. While seen as ‘Champion of Catholicism’ in the sixteenth century, Philips attempts to Christianise Spain alienated and stifled Spain bringing about the ‘Black Legend’ which tarnished his treasured reputation. His inability to work well with the Pope only stalled his progress and little change occurred in the more rural areas of Spain. Kamen argued ‘Spain was barely more Christianised in 1600 than it had been in 1500, for all the efforts of the king, inquisition and Counter-reformation’. The inquisition power could have been use more efficiently and given the right resources and organisation, Philips policies could have perhaps been implemented more successfully.

However it wasn’t it all dim, Philip did make some improvement in clerical standards and eliminated much heresy within his lands as well as successfully implementing the Tridentine decrees within the council of Trent. Factors such as finance, clashes with the papacy and the Morisco revolt prevented ~Philip from successfully completing his religious policies within Spain during his reign, only managing to implement his ideas rather than fulfil his policies.

How successful was Philip II in implementing his religious policies?

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