DOMESTIC POLICY (Felipe IV)

DOMESTIC POLICY

-Philip had inherited a huge empire from his father, spanning the known world, but many of his most difficult challenges as king would stem from domestic problems in Spain itself. Spain in the early 17th century was a collection of possessions.

-The kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, Valencia and Portugal the autonomous provinces of Catalonia and Andalusia, complete with the wider provinces of Naples, the Netherlands, Milan etc.

-All loosely joined together through the institution of the Castile monarchy and the person of Philip.

 In the first years of his reign, heavily influenced by his royal favourite Olivares, Philip focused on efforts to reform the most chaotic aspects of this system.

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS:

 

-Philip had clear intentions to try to control the Spanish currency, which had become increasingly unstable during the reign of his father and grandfather, but in practice, inflation soared.

By the 1630s, Philip's domestic policies were being increasingly impacted by the financial pressures of the Thirty Years' War, and in particular the growing war with France. The costs of the war were huge, and whilst they had largely fallen upon Castile, the ability of the crown to raise more funds and men from this source was increasingly limited.

-Philip and his government were desperately trying to reduce the responsibilities of central government in response to the overstretch of the war, and various reform ideas that might have been pursued during the 1620s were rejected on this basis.