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 Chapter 5: Lorraine, Scotland, and the Palatinate, 1636-1639…………………………278 I. Arundel’s Mission to the Emperor…………………………………………...280 II. The Pfalzburg Intervention, 1637-1639……………………………………..297 III. Conclusion………………………………………………………………….322 Chapter 6: The English and Irish Tercios of the Army of Flanders…………………....326 I. The English Tercios…………………………………………………………..330 II. The Irish Tercios…………………………………………………………….347 III. Recruitment………………………………………………………………...364 IV. Recruitment in the Late-Decade Crises…………………………………….374 V. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..382 Chapter 7: The Triple Embassy of 1640………………………………………………..386 I. Scotland at Home, 1637-1639………………………………………………..393 II. Scotland seen from Abroad,