Part 966

The failure of the conspiracy, the arrest and execution of some of the conspirators, and the fall of Perpignan, came rapidly, one upon the other, showing the fortune of Richelieu still triumphing over all the best laid schemes of his adversaries."

_G. P. R. James, Eminent Foreign Statesmen, volume 2: Olivarez._

SPAIN: A. D. 1643. Invasion of France from the Netherlands. Defeat at Rocroi.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1642-1643.

SPAIN: A. D. 1644-1646. The war in Catalonia. Sieges of Lerida.

In 1644, Philip IV., "under the prudent and sagacious counsels of Don Louis de Haro, was directing his principal efforts to the recovery of Catalonia. … Don Philip de Sylva, an officer of experience and determination, was put at the head of the Castilian troops, and immediately advanced to the siege of the strong town of Lerida, the king himself being nominally in command of the army. The French troops in Catalonia were at that time commanded by La Mothe Houdancourt, who no sooner heard of the advance of the Spanish troops towards Lerida than he marched with great rapidity to the relief of that place;" but approached the enemy with so much carelessness that he was attacked by Sylva and totally defeated, with a loss of 3,000 men and 12 guns. He then, for a diversion, laid siege to Tarragona, and lost 3,000 more of his men, without accomplishing the reduction of the place; being forced, in the end, to retreat to Barcelona, while Lerida was surrendered to the Spaniards. "La Mothe having been recalled and imprisoned, … the Count de Harcourt was withdrawn from Savoy, and put at the head of fresh forces, for the purpose of repairing the disasters of the former general." {2991} Harcourt began operations (April, 1645) by laying siege to the strong fortress of Rosas, or Roses, which commanded the principal entrance to Catalonia from Roussillon. The fortress surrendered the following month, and "the Count de Harcourt, … after capturing some places of minor import, passed the Segre, encountered the army of Cantelmo in the neighbourhood of Llorens, and, gaining a complete victory, made himself master of Balaguer." After these successes, the Count de Harcourt was called away from Catalonia for a time, to act against the insurgents at Barcelona, but returned in 1646 and undertook the siege of Lerida. He was now opposed by the Marquis de Leganez, whom he had successfully encountered in Ita]y, and whom he was foolishly disposed to regard with contempt. While he pressed his siege in careless security, Leganez surprised him, in a night attack, and drove him in utter rout from his lines. "This signal disaster caused the Count de Harcourt to be recalled; and in order to recover all that had been lost in Catalonia, the Prince de Condé was appointed to command in that province, while a considerable part of the army of Flanders was ordered to proceed towards the frontiers of Spain to serve once more under his command." But Condé, too, was to pay the penalty for despising his enemy. He reopened the siege of Lerida with ostentatious gaiety, marching into the trenches with music of violins, on the 14th of May. In little more than a month he marched out again, without music, abandoning the siege, having lost many men and obtained no sign of success.

_G. P. R. James, Life and Times of Louis XIV., volume 1, chapter 3._

SPAIN: A. D. 1645-1646. French successes in Flanders. Loss of Dunkirk.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1645-1646.

SPAIN: A. D. 1647-1648. Campaign against France in the Netherlands. The defeat at Lens.

See NETHERLANDS (SPANISH PROVINCES): A. D. 1647-1648.

SPAIN: A. D. 1647-1654. The revolt of Masaniello at Naples and its termination. Attempts of the Duke of Guise and the French.

See ITALY: A. D. 1646-1654.

SPAIN: A. D. 1648. Conclusion of Peace with the United Provinces.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1646-1648.

SPAIN: A. D. 1648-1652. Subjugation of Catalonia.

"During the four years which [in France] had been filled with the troubles of the Fronde, Spain endeavored, and with success, to reconquer the province which had abandoned her. In 1650, Mazarin had recognized the peril of Catalonia, and had endeavored to send assistance in war and money. It was possible, however, to do but little. In 1651 the Spanish besieged Barcelona. After Marchin's desertion they hoped to capture it at once, but it was defended with the courage and constancy of the Catalonian people. La Mothe Houdancourt was again put in command of the province. He had been unsuccessful there when France was strong, and it could hardly have been expected that he could rescue it when France was weak. He succeeded, however, in forcing his way into Barcelona, and defended the city with as much success as could, perhaps, have been anticipated from the scanty means at his command. The inhabitants endured, with constancy, the danger and want caused by the siege, rather than surrender themselves to Spain. Some French ships sailed for the rescue of the place, but they acquitted themselves with little valor. Provisions were sent into the town, but the commander claimed he was not in condition for a conflict with the Spanish fleet, and he retreated. Endeavors were made, both by the French troops and those of the Catalonians, to raise the siege, but without success. In October [1652], after a siege of fifteen months, Barcelona surrendered. Roses was captured soon after. Leucate was betrayed to Spain by its governor for 40,000 crowns. He intended to enlist under Orleans, but learning the king had reentered Paris, he made his peace, by agreeing to betray no more. The Spanish granted an amnesty to the people of Catalonia. The whole province fell into their hands, and became again a part of the kingdom of Spain. The loss of Catalonia was chiefly due to the turbulence and disloyalty of Condé. Had it not been for the groundless rebellion which he excited in the autumn of 1651, and which absorbed the energies of the French armies during the next year, Catalonia might have been saved for France and have remained a part of that kingdom. … It was a national misfortune that Catalonia was lost. This great and important province would have been a valuable accession to France. Its brave and hardy population would have become loyal and industrious Frenchmen, and have added to the wealth and power of that kingdom. For the Catalonians it was still more unfortunate that their lot should thus have been determined. They were not closely related to the people of Aragon or Castile. They were now left to share in the slow decay of the Spanish kingdom, instead of having an opportunity for development in intelligence and prosperity as members of a great and progressive nation."

_J. B. Perkins, France under Mazarin, chapter 15 (volume 2)._

SPAIN: A. D. 1650-1651. Alliance with the New Fronde in France. Defeat at Rethel.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1650-1651.

SPAIN: A. D. 1652. Campaign on the Flemish frontier. Invasion of France. Recovery of Gravelines and Dunkirk.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1652.

SPAIN: A. D. 1657-1658. War with England in alliance with France. Loss of Dunkirk and Gravelines.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1655-1658; and ENGLAND: A. D. 1655-1658.

SPAIN: A. D. 1659. The Treaty of the Pyrenees. Territorial cessions to France. Marriage of the Infanta to Louis XIV.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1659-1661.

SPAIN: A. D. 1665. Accession of Charles II.

SPAIN: A. D. 1667. Conquests of Louis XIV. in the Netherlands. The War of the Queen's Rights.

See NETHERLANDS (SPANISH PROVINCES): A. D. 1667.

SPAIN: A. D. 1668. Towns in Flanders ceded to Louis XIV. Triple alliance and the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.

See NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND): A. D. 1668.

SPAIN: A. D. 1668. Peace with Portugal. Recognition of its independence.

See PORTUGAL: A. D. 1637-1668.

SPAIN: A. D. 1673-1679. The War of the Coalition to resist Louis XIV.

See NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND): A. D. 1672-1674, and 1674-1678; also, NIMEGUEN, PEACE OF.

SPAIN: A. D. 1686. The League of Augsburg.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1686.

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SPAIN: A. D. 1690-1696. The War of the League of Augsburg or the Grand Alliance against Louis XIV.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1689-1690, to 1695-1696.

SPAIN: A. D. 1697. The Peace of Ryswick. French conquests restored.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1697.

SPAIN: A. D. 1698-1700.- The question of the Succession. The Treaties of Partition. The will of Charles ll.

As the 17th century approached its close, the king of Spain, Charles II., was nearing the grave. "His days had been few and evil. He had been unfortunate in all his wars, in every part of his internal administration, and in all his domestic relations. … He was childless; and his constitution was so completely shattered that, at little more than thirty years of age, he had given up all hopes of posterity. His mind was even more distempered than his body. … His sufferings were aggravated by the thought that his own dissolution might not improbably be followed by the dissolution of his empire. Several princes laid claim to the succession. The King's eldest sister had married Lewis XIV. The Dauphin would, therefore, in the common course of inheritance, have succeeded to the crown. But the Infanta had, at the time of her espousals, solemnly renounced, in her own name, and in that of her posterity, all claim to the succession.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1659-1661.

This renunciation had been confirmed in due form by the Cortes. A younger sister of the King had been the first wife of Leopold, Emperor of Germany. She too had at her marriage renounced her claims to the Spanish crown, but the Cortes had not sanctioned the renunciation, and it was therefore considered as invalid by the Spanish jurists. The fruit of this marriage was a daughter, who had espoused the Elector of Bavaria. The Electoral Prince of Bavaria inherited her claim to the throne of Spain. The Emperor Leopold was son of a daughter of Philip III., and was therefore first cousin to Charles. No renunciation whatever had been exacted from his mother at the time of her marriage. The question was certainly very complicated. That claim which, according to the ordinary rules of inheritance, was the strongest, had been barred by a contract executed in the most binding form. The claim of the Electoral Prince of Bavaria was weaker. But so also was the contract which bound him not to prosecute his claim. The only party against whom no instrument of renunciation could be produced was the party who, in respect of blood, had the weakest claim of all. As it was clear that great alarm would be excited throughout Europe if either the Emperor or the Dauphin should become King of Spain, each of those Princes offered to waive his pretensions in favour of his second son; the Emperor in favour of the Archduke Charles, the Dauphin in favour of Philip, Duke of Anjou. Soon after the Peace of Ryswick, William III. and Lewis XIV. determined to settle the question of the succession without consulting either Charles or the Emperor. France, England, and Holland, became parties to a treaty [called the First Partition Treaty] by which it was stipulated that the Electoral Prince of Bavaria should succeed to Spain, the Indies, and the Netherlands. The Imperial family were to be bought off with the Milanese, and the Dauphin was to have the Two Sicilies. The great object of the King of Spain and of all his counsellors was to avert the dismemberment of the monarchy. In the hope of attaining this end, Charles determined to name a successor. A will was accordingly framed by which the crown was bequeathed to the Bavarian Prince. Unhappily, this will had scarcely been signed when the Prince died. The question was again unsettled, and presented greater difficulties than before. A new Treaty of Partition was concluded between France, England, and Holland. It was agreed that Spain, the Indies, and the Netherlands, should descend to the Archduke Charles. In return for this great concession made by the Bourbons to a rival house, it was agreed that France should have the Milanese, or an equivalent in a more commodious situation. The equivalent in view was the province of Lorraine. Arbuthnot, some years later, ridiculed the Partition Treaty with exquisite humour and ingenuity. Everybody must remember his description of the paroxysm of rage into which poor old Lord Strutt fell, on hearing that his runaway servant, Nick Frog, his clothier, John Bull, and his old enemy, Lewis Baboon, had come with quadrants, poles, and inkhorns, to survey his estate, and to draw his will for him. … When the intelligence of the second Partition Treaty arrived at Madrid, it roused to momentary energy the languishing ruler of a languishing state. The Spanish ambassador at the court of London was directed to remonstrate with the government of William; and his remonstrances were so insolent that he was commanded to leave England. Charles retaliated by dismissing the English and Dutch ambassadors. The French King, though the chief author of the Partition Treaty, succeeded in turning the whole wrath of Charles and of the Spanish people from himself, and in directing it against the two maritime powers. Those powers had now no agent at Madrid. Their perfidious ally was at liberty to carry on his intrigues unchecked; and he fully availed himself of this advantage." He availed himself of the advantage so successfully, in fact, that when the Spanish king died, November 3, 1700, he was found to have left a will, bequeathing the whole Spanish monarchy to Philip, Duke of Anjou, second son of the Dauphin of France. "Lewis acted as the English ministers might have guessed that he would act. With scarcely the show of hesitation, he broke through all the obligations of the Partition Treaty, and accepted for his grandson the splendid legacy of Charles. The new sovereign hastened to take possession of his dominions."

_Lord Macaulay, Mahon's War of the Succession (Essays)._

ALSO IN: _H. Martin, History of France: Age of Louis XIV, (translated by M. L. Booth), volume 2, chapter 4._

_J. W. Gerard, The Peace of Utrecht, chapters 6-10._

_J. Dunlop, Memoirs of Spain, 1621-1700, volume 2, chapter 9._

_W. Coxe, Memoirs of the Bourbon Kings of Spain, volume 1, introduction, section 3._

SPAIN: A. D. 1700. Accession of Philip V.

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SPAIN: A. D. 1701-1702. The Bourbon succession, and the European League against it.

"Louis XIV. having … resolved to accede to the will, Philip of Anjou was proclaimed King by the Spaniards, and made his solemn entry into Madrid on the 14th of April 1701. Most of the European powers, such as the States of Italy, Sweden, England, Holland, and the kingdoms of the North, acknowledged Philip V.; the King of Portugal and the Duke of Savoy even concluded treaties of alliance with him. Moreover, the situation of political affairs in Germany, Hungary, and the North was such that it would have been easy for Louis XIV., with prudent management, to preserve the Spanish crown on the head of his grandson; but he seemed, as if on purpose, to do everything to raise all Europe against him. It was alleged that he aimed at the chimerical project of universal monarchy, and the reunion of France with Spain. Instead of trying to do away this supposition, he gave it additional force, by issuing letters-patent in favour of Philip, at the moment when he was departing for Spain, to the effect of preserving his rights to the throne of France. The Dutch dreaded nothing so much as to see the French making encroachments on the Spanish Netherlands, which they regarded as their natural barrier against France; the preservation of which appeared to be equally interesting to England. It would have been prudent in Louis XIV. to give these maritime powers some security on this point, who, since the elevation of William, Prince of Orange, to the crown of Great Britain, held as it were in their hands the balance of Europe. Without being swayed by this consideration, he obtained authority from the Council of Madrid to introduce a French army into the Spanish Netherlands; and on this occasion the Dutch troops, who were quartered in various places of the Netherlands, according to a stipulation with the late King of Spain, were disarmed. This circumstance became a powerful motive for King William to rouse the States-General against France. He found some difficulty, however, in drawing over the British Parliament to his views, as a great majority in that House were averse to mingle in the quarrels of the Continent; but the death of James II. altered the minds and inclinations of the English. Louis XIV. having formally acknowledged the son of that prince as King of Great Britain, the English Parliament had no longer any hesitation in joining the Dutch and the other enemies of France. A new and powerful league [the Second Grand Alliance] was formed against Louis. The Emperor, England, the United Provinces, the Empire, the Kings of Portugal and Prussia, and the Duke of Savoy, all joined it in succession. The allies engaged to restore to Austria the Spanish Netherlands, the duchy of Milan, the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, with the ports of Tuscany; and never to permit the union of France with Spain."

_C. W. Koch, The Revolutions of Europe, period 7._

ALSO IN: _Lord Macaulay, History of England, chapter 25 (volume 5)._

_J. H. Burton, History of the Reign of Queen Anne, chapter 5 (volume 1)._

_W. Coxe, Memoirs of Marlborough, chapter 9 (volume 1)._

_W. Coxe, Memoirs of the Bourbon Kings of Spain, chapters 1-7._

See, also, ENGLAND: A. D. 1701-1702.

SPAIN: A. D. 1702. The War of the Succession: Cadiz defended. The treasure fleet lost in Vigo Bay.

The first approach to Spain of the War of the Succession—already raging for months in Northern Italy and the Spanish Netherlands—was in the form of an expedition against Cadiz, undertaken in the autumn of 1702 by the English and Dutch. "King William was the first to plan this expedition against Cadiz and after his decease the project was resumed. But had King William lived he would certainly not have selected as chief the Duke of Ormond, a princely nobleman, endowed with many amiable qualities, but destitute of the skill and the energy which a great enterprise requires. Under him Sir Henry Bellasys commanded the English and General Spaar a contingent of Dutch troops, amounting together to 14,000 men. Admiral Sir George Rooke had the direction of the fleet. Their proceedings have been related at full length in another history [Lord Mahon's (Earl Stanhope's) 'War of the Succession in Spain']—how the troops were set on shore near Cadiz in the first days of September—how even before they landed angry dissensions had sprung up between the Dutch and the English, the landsmen and the seamen—and how these dissensions which Ormond wanted the energy to control proved fatal, to the enterprise. No discipline was kept, no spirit was displayed. Week after week was lost. … Finally at the close of the month it was discovered that nothing could be done, and a council of war decided that the troops should reembark. … On their return, and off the coast of Portugal, an opportunity arose to recover in some part their lost fame. The Spanish galleons from America, laden with treasure and making their yearly voyage at this time, were bound by their laws of trade to unload at Cadiz, but in apprehension of the English fleet they had put into Vigo Bay. There Ormond determined to pursue them. On the 22nd of October he neared that narrow inlet which winds amidst the high Gallician mountains. The Spaniards, assisted by some French frigates, which were the escort of the galleons, had expected an attack and made the best preparations in their power. They durst not disembark the treasure without an express order from Madrid—and what order from Madrid ever yet came in due time?—but they had called the neighbouring peasantry to arms; they had manned their forts; they had anchored their ships in line within the harbour; and they had drawn a heavy boom across its mouth. None of these means availed them. The English seamen broke through the boom; Ormond at the head of 2,000 soldiers scaled the forts; and the ships were all either taken or destroyed. The greater part of the treasure was thrown overboard by direction of the French and Spanish chiefs; but there remained enough to yield a large amount of booty to the victors."

_Earl Stanhope, History of England: Reign of Queen Anne, chapter 2._

ALSO IN: _Colonel A. Parnell, War of the Succession in Spain, chapters 3-4._

For the campaigns of the War of the Succession in other quarters.

See ITALY: A. D. 1701-1713; NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1702-1704, and after; GERMANY: A. D. 1702, and after.

SPAIN: A. D. 1703-1704. The War of the Succession: Charles III. claims the kingdom. The English take Gibraltar.

"The Admiral of Castile, alienated from the cause of Philip V. by having been dismissed from his office of Master of the Horse, had retired into Portugal; and he succeeded in persuading King Pedro II. to accede to the Grand Alliance, who was enticed by the promise of the American provinces between the Rio de la Plata and Brazil, as well as a part of Estremadura and Galicia (May 6th). Pedro also entered into a perpetual defensive league with Great Britain and the States-General. In the following December, Paul Methuen, the English minister at Lisbon, concluded the celebrated commercial treaty between England and Portugal named after himself.

See PORTUGAL: A. D. 1703.

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