Government

Question 1

Explain Philip’s use of juntas.

Answer 1

Philip’s lack of trust in his contemporaries lead to the formation of informal juntas to discuss administrative matters. One of these was the Junta de Noche and it met exclusively at night so as to avoid prying eyes and ears.

Question 2

Name a member of the Junta de Noche.

Answer 2

Mateo Vazquez, Cristobel de Moura, Juan de Idiaquez and the Count of Chinchon.

Question 3

Who initially formed the juntas and who went on to manage them?

Answer 3

Initially created by Diego de Espinosa but Vazquez took his oath as royal secretary on 1st April 1573 and then started to take lead of the juntas.

Question 4

Explain the importance of royal secretaries under Philip.

Answer 4

• vital for Philip and his links to councils and juntas as they attended council meetings and were also the only people with complete access to Philip
• selected which letters Philip should be read in full and which he only required a summary of
• however, Philip’s key councillors were only given access to limited areas of policy so only Philip could understand the big picture

Question 5

When was the Council for Portugal added? Council for Flanders?

Answer 5

Portugal - 1583
Flanders - 1588

Question 6

What was Cardinal Quiroga’s see?

Answer 6

Toledo

Question 7

How long was Mateo Vazquez secretary?

Answer 7

1573 until his death in 1591

Question 8

How long was Gonzalo Perez secretary? Who was his successor?

Answer 8

1541 until his death in 1566 - he was succeeded by his son Antonio Perez

Question 9

When did the Aragonese cortes meet?

Answer 9

1563, 1585 and 1592.

Question 10

What were the two factions in court and what were their beliefs?

Answer 10

Eboli and Alba. The former wanted Philip to adopt a federalist system whereas the latter wanted him to take a more hard line approach (seen particularly in the Netherlands).

Question 11

Who headed the Eboli faction?

Answer 11

Ruy Gomez de Silva, the prince of eboli

Question 12

What faction did Perez align himself with?

Answer 12

Eboli

Question 13

Name a member of the Eboli faction (other than Perez).

Answer 13

The Eboli faction attracted nobles, most notably the Marquis of los Vélez, the Duke of Sessa, members of the Mendoza family.

Question 14

What happened in 1573?

Answer 14

Prince of Eboli died and Perez took over leadership

Question 15

Who lead the Alba faction?

Answer 15

Fernando Alvarez de Toledo

Question 16

Name a member of the Alba faction.

Answer 16

A number of important secretaries such as Gabriel de Zayas and the king’s own confessor, Diego de Chaves.

Question 17

Which faction wanted to invade England?

Answer 17

Eboli - surprising as they were advocates for the low countries

Question 18

What did Perez do in 1575?

Answer 18

Did a deal with Velez, securing himself a position on the Council of State

Question 19

Who became governor in the Netherlands and what did he declare with regards to Perez?

Answer 19

Don John of Austria in 1576 and insisted his info be passed through Perez not Zayas.

Question 20

What did Don John do in 1577?

Answer 20

Don John seized castle of Namur after Philip left him suspended in animation

Question 21

What did Escobedo discover?

Answer 21

That Perez was selling state secrets and having an affair with the widowed Princess of Eboli.

Question 22

When did Perez have Escobedo killed? What was the consequence?

Answer 22

• upon discovering Escobedo knew his secret, Perez made Escobedo appear like Don John’s evil genius and had him killed by 3 assassins in 1578.
• in retaliation, Escobedo’s friends found an alliance with Vazquez and the King realised he may have been complicit in ordering the death of an innocent man and withdrew his favour of Perez.

Question 23

What did Philip do in 1579? What did this signify?

Answer 23

Wrote to Granvelle in Italy and urged him to return to Spain. Upon his arrival, Perez and the princess of Eboli were arrested and this marked the end of the Eboli faction.

Question 24

Was Philip’s governance effective?

Answer 24

• his compartmentalisation perhaps worked against him as it inhibited key advisors from giving him holistically informed counsel
• corruption through the sale of offices to those without ability but with the money weakened the system
• his secretaries abilities to intercept letters may not have always been good either: Idiaquez intercepted a letter from Medina Sidonia that condemned the Armada and had he not, Philip may have saved himself a lot of money and humiliation
• did have to deal with Aragonese revolt however there was no threat from the eastern kingdoms uniting and him not threatening their privileges perhaps prevented further revolt
• his inability to effectively manage the factions, by whom he was largely influenced made him appear weak
• overall, his bureucratic style of governance slowed decision making immensely and he was hugely influenced by factions in court so for this reason his government was not managed effectively if views in relation to his predecessors who had a much more integrated form of government

Question 25

What did Philip do in 1579? What did this signify?

Answer 25

He wrote to Granvelle in Italy and told him he was in need of urgent assistance. Perez and the princess of Eboli were taken into custody upon his arrival in Spain and this marked the end of the Eboli faction.

Question 26

What did Philip do in 1579? What did this signify?

Answer 26

He wrote to Granvelle in Italy and told him he was in need of urgent assistance. Perez and the princess of Eboli were taken into custody upon his arrival in Spain and this marked the end of the Eboli faction.