SPAIN. 
414 
winter the siege of Calais. Having taken that place, he next 
invested Thionville, in the duchy of Luxembourg, one of 
the strongest towns on the frontiers of the Netherlands ; and 
forced it to capitulate after a siege of three weeks. But the 
advantages on this quarter were more than balanced by an 
event which happened in another part of the Low Countries. 
The Mareschal de Termes, governor of Calais, who had pe¬ 
netrated into Flanders, and taken Dunkirk, was totally 
routed near Gravelines, and taken prisoner by Count 
Egmont. This disaster obliged the duke of Guise to relin¬ 
quish all his other schemes, and hasten towards the frontiers 
of Picardy, that he might there oppose the -progress of the 
enemy. 
The eyes of all France were now turned towards the duke 
of Guise, as the only general on whose arms victory always 
attended, and in whose conduct as well as good fortune they 
could confide in every danger. His strength was nearly 
equal to the duke of Savoy’s, each commanding about 
40,000 men. They encamped at the distance of a few 
leagues from one another; and the French and Spanish 
monarchs having joined their respective armies, it was ex¬ 
pected that, after the vicissitudes of war, a decisive battle 
would at last determine which of the rivals should take the 
ascendancy for the future ; in the affairs of Europe. But 
both monarchs, as if by agreement, stood on the defensive; 
neither of them discovering any inclination, though each 
had it in his power, to rest the decision of a point of such 
importance on the issue of a single battle. 
During this state of inaction, peace began to be mentioned 
in each camp, and both Henry and Philip discovered an 
equal disposition to listen to any overture that tended to re¬ 
establish it. The private inclinations of both kings con¬ 
curred with their political interests and the wishes of their 
people. Philip languished to return to Spain, the place of 
his nativity, and peace only could enable him, either with 
decency or' safety, to quit the Low Countries. Henry was 
now desirous of being freed from the avocations of war, that 
ho might have leisure to turn the whole force of his govern¬ 
ment towards supressing the opinions of the reformers, 
which were spreading with such rapidity in Paris and the 
other great towns, that they began to grow formidable to the 
established church. Court-intrigues conspired with these 
public and avowed motives to hasten the negociation, 
and the abbey of Cercamp was fixed on as the place of 
congress. 
While Philip and Henry were making these advances 
towards a treaty which restored tranquillity to Europe, 
Charles V., whose ambition had so long disturbed it, but 
who had been some time dead to the world, ended his days 
in the monastery of St. Justus, in Estremadura, which he 
had chosen as the place of his retreat. 
After the death of Charles, the kingdom of Spain soon 
lost great part of its consequence. Though Charles had used 
all his interest to get his son Philip elected emperor of Ger¬ 
many, he had been totally disappointed ; and thus the gran¬ 
deur of Philip IT. never equalled that of his father. His 
dominions were also considerably abridged by his tyranni¬ 
cal'behaviour in the Netherlands. In consequence of this, 
the United Provinces revolted; and after a long and bloody 
war, obtained their liberty. In this quarrel Elizabeth of 
England took part against Philip, which brought on a war 
with Spain. The great losses he sustained in these wars 
exhausted the kingdom both of men and money, notwith¬ 
standing the great sums imported from America. Indeed the 
discovery of that country has much impoverished, instead of 
enriching Spain; for thus the inhabitants have been rendered 
lazy and averse to every kind of manufacture or traffic, 
which only can be a durable source of riches and strength 
to any nation. The ruin of the kingdom in this respect, 
however, was completed by Philip III., who, at the instiga¬ 
tion of the inquisition, and by the advice of his prime 
minister the duke of Lerma, expelled from the kingdom 
all the Morescoes or Moors, descendants of the ancient con¬ 
querors of Spain. Thirty days only were allowed them to 
prepare for their departure, and it was death to remain 
beyond that time. The -reason for this barbarous decree 
was, that these people were still Mahometans in their hearts, 
though they conformed externally to the rites of Christianl 
ity, and thus might corrupt the true faith. The Morescoes, 
however, chose themselves a king, and attempted to oppose 
the royal mandate; but, being almost entirely unprovided 
with arms, they were soon obliged to submit, and were all 
banished the kingdom. By this violent and impolitic mea¬ 
sure, Spain lost almost a million of industrious inhabitants; 
and as the kingdom was already depopulated by bloody 
wars, by repeated emigrations to America, and enervated by 
luxury, it now sank into a state of languor, from which it 
has never recovered. 
The reign of Philip IV., the successor of Philip III., com¬ 
menced in 1621. He had not been long seated on the 
throne, before the expiration of the 12 years’ truce which 
Philip III. had concluded with the United Provinces, again 
involved Spain in the calamities of war. The renewed con¬ 
test was carried on with vigour by both the contending 
powers, till in the year 1648, the Spanish monarch was com¬ 
pelled to sign the treaty with Munster, by which the United 
Provinces were declared free and independent. From this 
period the power of the Spanish monarchy began to decline, 
as it had already been severely shaken by the loss of Por¬ 
tugal. 
This event took place in 1640, when the Portuguese finally 
threw off the Spanish yoke, and that country remained an 
independent kingdom, till the power of Buonaparte compelled 
its lawful monarch to abandon his European territories. 
Philip IV. also prosecuted an unsuccessful war with France. 
This war was terminated in 1659, and Philip died about six 
years after. 
The new monarch, Charles II., was only four years old 
when he succeeeded to the throne. He was of a feeble con¬ 
stitution, and a weak capacity. The war which had been 
occasioned by the revolt of Portugal, continued till the year 
1668, when a peace was concluded, and the independence 
of that kingdom was acknowledged. Hostilities had been 
renewed with France, but greatly to the disadvantage of the 
Spaniards, who lost some of the richest and best fortified 
towns which they still possessed in Flanders. The peace of 
Nimeguen between France and Spain was signed in the year 
1678. Charles II. died in 1700, and with him ended the 
male line of the house of Austria; a dynasty to which Spain 
owes less than to any other race of its monarchs. 
Historians have been fond of representing the dominion 
of the Austrian princes in Spain as productive of the greatest 
glory and advantage to that kingdom. The reign of Charles 
V. may indeed be said to have been a glorious reign; but 
little of its glory belonged to Spain, and the emperor cer¬ 
tainly neglected her interests in advancing those of his more 
favoured territories. The picture given by the Spanish his- 
torians of the state of Spain at the accession and during the 
reign of Philip II., fully evinces how little that kingdom 
had profited by the change in the line of its succession. 
Agriculture was neglected ; commerce was fettered by enor¬ 
mous duties, and the people were held in the chains of igno¬ 
rance and superstition. 
Charles II. was succeeded by Philip V., duke of Anjou, 
and grandson to Louis XIV. of France, who had been no¬ 
minated heir to the Spanish throne by the late monarch. 
The treaty of Utrecht, which terminated the differences be¬ 
tween the principal contending powers, was signed in 1713, 
and in 1715 a permanent peace was concluded between 
Spain and Portugal. Hostilities, however, still continued 
with Savoy and Sardinia, and in 1715 the island of Sar¬ 
dinia was taken by a Spanish fleet, and the year following 
another fleet belonging to the same nation invaded Sicily, 
but was defeated by the British Admiral Byng. By a new 
treaty in 1720, Sardinia was given to the Duke of j Savoy, 
and Sicily to the emperor; and by the treaty of Seville, 
concluded in 1729, the duchies of Tuscany, Parma and 
Placentia, were ceded to Spain. In 1731, the Spanish king 
invaded Naples, took possession of that kingdom, and con¬ 
ferred it on his son Don Carlos, in consequence [of which 
war 
