Charles I and the Spanish Plot: Anglo-Habsburg Relations and the Outbreak of the War of Three ...

516 Pages·2014·2.81 MB·English

UC Riverside
UC Riverside Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Title
Charles I and the Spanish Plot: Anglo-Habsburg Relations and the Outbreak of the War of
Three Kingdoms, 1630-1641
Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5z67h5rt
Author
O'Neill, Patrick Ignacio
Publication Date
2014

Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation
eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library
University of California
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
RIVERSIDE

Charles I and the Spanish Plot:
Anglo-Habsburg Relations and the Outbreak of the War of Three Kingdoms, 1630-1641

A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction
of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

in

History

by

Patrick Ignacio O’Neill

March 2014

Dissertation Committee:
Dr. Thomas Cogswell, Chairperson
Dr. Randolph Head
Dr. Georg Michels
Copyright by
Patrick Ignacio O’Neill
2014
The Dissertation of Patrick Ignacio O’Neill is approved:

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________
Committee Chairperson

University of California, Riverside
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Bertolt Brecht posed the question, “Young Alexander conquered India./ He
alone?” Like any great human endeavor, this dissertation is not the product of one
person’s solitary labors, but owes much to the efforts of a great number of individuals
and organizations who have continually made straight my paths through graduate school,
through archival research, and through the drafting process.
First and foremost, I would like to thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Thomas
Cogswell, for his excellent guidance throughout my years at the University of California,
Riverside. When I arrived as a first-year graduate student, I had very little certainty of
what I wanted to do in the field of Early Modern Britain, and I felt more than a bit
overwhelmed at the well-trod historiographical world I had just entered. Dr. Cogswell
quickly took me under his wing and steered me gently through a research path that helped
me find my current project, and he subsequently took a great interest in following my
progress through research and writing. I salute his heroic readings and re-readings of
drafts of chapters, conference papers, and proposals, and his perennial willingness to
have a good chat over a cup of coffee and to help dispel the many frustrations that come
from dissertation writing. To say that I could not have succeeded without his help would
be a trite commonplace, but it would also be accurate.
Additionally, I would like to thank the other faculty members of UC Riverside
who have provided me with guidance and moral support over the years, particularly the
other members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Randolph Head and Dr. Georg Michels.
I would also like to thank Dr. Robert Patch, who supervised my secondary field work in
iv
Colonial Latin America, for many enlightening conversations on the early modern
Hispanic world. Of a different sort of assistance, but no less vital, I offer my heartfelt
thanks for the gracious and efficient support given by the departmental staff, especially
Susan Komura, Deisy Escobedo, and Iselda Salgado, whose expertise and flexibility kept
paperwork and bureaucratic procedure from ever becoming an obstacle to progress in my
research and writing.
A dissertation is only as good as the research that went into it, and my successes
in the archives were entirely attributable to the support I received from Dr. Emile
Boulpaep and Marie-Claude Hayoit of the Belgian American Educational Foundation.
Spending a year in Belgium was a fabulous opportunity and allowed me to peruse a wide
variety of sources and to learn much, even outside my dissertation topic. I also thank the
Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara, the Burnand-Partridge Foundation, and UC
Riverside’s Center for Ideas and Society for similarly supporting my research in Spain. I
thank the staff at the Archives Générales du Royaume in Brussels for their courteous
assistance in providing me access to archival materials. I likewise thank the staff at the
Archivo General de Simancas for being of good humor in the face of my poor spoken
Spanish and for nevertheless going out of their way to help me in any way they could.
Finally, I would like to thank my family, whose confidence in my abilities and
loving encouragement have always driven me to excel. Most especially, I want to offer
my sincerest thanks and love to my wife Lena and our new son Philip, for suffering with
me through the long labor of writing and re-writing and for always providing me with the
hope and motivation to press onward.
v
DEDICATION

In memory of Ignacio Flores Ortiz, my grandfather,
whose love of learning and zeal for self-edification
were constant inspirations to his children and grandchildren.

vi
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION

Charles I and the Spanish Plot:
Anglo-Habsburg Relations and the Outbreak of the War of Three Kingdoms, 1630-1641
by

Patrick Ignacio O’Neill

Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in History
University of California, Riverside, March 2014
Dr. Thomas Cogswell, Chairperson

This dissertation focuses on Anglo-Habsburg relations during the personal rule of Charles
I until the outbreak of the Civil War. Making extensive use of Continental European
archival materials in addition to British sources, the dissertation examines the major
issues in Anglo-Spanish and Anglo-Flemish politics. These include naval security in the
English Channel, the negotiations for the restoration of the Lower Palatinate, the
recruitment of English and Irish soldiers to serve in Spanish armies, and the hopes of the
Count-Duke of Olivares to persuade England to join a Habsburg alliance against France
and Holland in the Thirty Years War. These negotiations floundered throughout the
decade because of Charles’s unwillingness to antagonize the English population with an
unpopular war and his inability to wage war without Parliament. Additionally, the
Spaniards were severely hampered by their occupation of the Palatinate, which Charles
demanded they restore, but which they would not relinquish without first gaining the
English alliance. In 1640, Charles was faced with an uncontainable rebellion in Scotland
and could no longer afford to dismiss Spanish overtures or insist on the Palatinate
restoration. Badly in need of funds, he was reluctant to summon Parliament for fear it
vii
would be determined to limit his power and exert control over policy. At this moment,
Spanish ambassadors offered Charles a sizeable sum of money in exchange for the
assistance of the English navy and recruiting privileges in Ireland. Such an agreement
would have allowed Charles to raise another army without recourse to Parliament and
could have completely altered the history of the Civil Wars, or even precluded them
entirely. With record speed, the Spanish ambassadors and English ministers produced the
necessary treaty. Their plans, however, were defeated by the distance and slow
communications between Madrid and London which critically delayed the confirmation
of the treaty and the raising of the agreed funds. By the time the money arrived, events in
England had already moved beyond Charles’s control. Nevertheless, this episode
represents a major potential turning point in the history of the Civil Wars and a perfect
demonstration of the importance of integrating British and European history.

viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………... iv
Dedication……………………………………………………………………………....vi
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………....vii
Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………….ix

Introduction: The “Anglo-Spanish Moment”: a case for a European turn in British
History……………………………………………………………………………………1

Chapter 1: Trade, Violence at Sea, and the English Road………………………………25

I. Trade Agreements and Negotiations: Gerbier and the Cloth Customs………..29
II. Conflicts in Ports and Violence at Sea………………………………………..43
III. Seeking Restitution of Ships and Goods…………………………………….54
IV. The ‘English Road’………………………………………………………….63
V. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………77

Chapter 2: The Maritime Treaty, Ship Money, and the Sovereignty of the Sea………...80

I. Necolalde and the Maritime Treaty……………………………………………82
II. The Ship Money Fleets……………………………………………………….90
III. The ‘Sovereignty of the Seas’………………………………………………100
IV. The Battle of the Downs……………………………………………………113
V. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..123

Chapter 3: Balthasar Gerbier and the ‘Free Catholic States’…………………………...127

I. Balthasar Gerbier, Agent at Brussels……...………………………………….131
II. Spain’s Fortunes in Europe and Unrest in Flanders…………………………138
III. August 1632 – June 1633: the States General’s Bid for Peace……………..148
IV. Gerbier and Conspirators…………………………………………………...165
V. Downfall…………………………………………………………………….179
VI. Gerbier’s Role and Legacy…………………………………………………195
VII. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………208

Chapter 4: England, Spain, and the Palatinate, 1631-1635……………………………..212

I. England and the Palatinate Crisis in the 1620s……………………………….216
II. The Peace of Madrid and the Promises of 1631……………………………..235
III. Charles’s Direct Negotiations, 1633-1635………………………………….256
IV. Conclusion………………………………………………………………….275

ix