How did the perception of Spain as the centre of a mighty European empire change to a lame state in the early-modern period?

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How did the perception of Spain as the centre of a mighty European empire change to a lame state in the early-modern period?

‘Generations of English-speaking historians have considered Spain worthy of attention mainly in respect of one single theme- the ‘decline of Spain”        

        Historians disagree as to the point of the decline of Spain- Kamen, for instance, states that your conclusion depends on your ‘political and moral views’, although he is sure that ‘between 1450 and 1714 Spain underwent a more extensive political evolution than probably any other European state of the time’ and points out that the Spaniards themselves tended to view the period as one of ‘tyranny, bigotry and racism’, and not as a magnificent empire.

        The reign of Ferdinand and Isabella is often seen as the high point of Spain, bringing together Castile and Aragon, and truly uniting the two into one country. William E. Wilson states that:

“The few decades which immediately preceded her golden age had seemed to promise a future of increasing power and wealth for Spain. With the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabel in 1469 unified rule was established in the nation for the first time in centuries.”

Very different monarchs ruled over Spain in the period from 1500 to 1670. Their ruling styles were often drastically different from the predecessor. Ferdinand and Isabella, the uniting force of Spain were famous for their dedication to their country, and their determination to unite it in all aspects, most particularly that of religion, forcibly converting Jews and Muslims to their own Catholic religion.

Charles V took a very casual attitude towards Spain, unsurprising, considering the size of his empire, which was divided between his brother and his son upon his abdication in 1556. Spain, and particularly Castile, was important to him in a mostly economic sense, taxation providing the funds for the rest of his empire, and the Spanish military serving in his campaigns as Holy Roman emperor. He is, after all, known far more as the Holy Roman Emperor, as Charles V, than as the king of Spain, Carlos I. He was, by birth, from the Low Countries, born in Ghent in 1500, and did not enter Spain at all until 1517, although his brother, Ferdinand, had been ‘born and bred in Spain, and for this reason, a number of the Spanish Grandees considered him a more suitable successor than Charles.”

Philip II took a completely different attitude to his father, making Spain his central governance and main concern. Whilst Charles had been Spanish only in name, identifying himself as Dutch and making his position as the ‘champion of Catholicism’ his main concern, Philip was entirely Spanish. He seemed to view the Netherlands as something of an inconvenience, and concerned himself far more with the affairs in the Iberian Peninsula. Whilst he still viewed himself as a ‘champion of Catholicism’, his success was far less than that of his father. Whilst Charles V had the battle of Lepanto to his credit, despite the other forces involved and his many other failures, Philip’s great historical military memory is in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.

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The Hapsburg family as a whole seem to have inspired little confidence: Victor-L Tapié maintains that those of the Hapsburg dynasty were affected by “sickliness and ugliness, the degeneration evident in the projecting jaw or the abnormally thick lower lip, the blood deficiency caused by inbreeding.”  It is true that a strain of mental instability was said to run through the family, Charles V’s mother being known as ‘Joanna the mad’. Indeed, when visiting her in 1517, he declared that she must not be seen by any but her attendants, as he deemed her harmful. Charles II is believed to have ...

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