Editing Philip III of Spain (section)

===War with the Dutch, England, and the truce of 1609–21===
{{copy edit section|date=March 2025}}
Philip's initial aim was to achieve a decisive 'great victory'<ref name="Williams, p.125"/> in the [[Eighty Years' War|long-running war]] against the rebellious Dutch provinces of the [[Spanish Netherlands]], while placing renewed pressure on the English government of Queen [[Elizabeth I]], in an effort to terminate English support for their Dutch colleagues. The Spanish ''armada'', or navy, rebuilt in the 1590s, remained effective against the English,<ref>See Goodman (2002), for a thorough account of this revival.</ref> but after the failure of the [[4th Spanish Armada|Spanish invasion of Ireland]] at the [[Battle of Kinsale]], Philip reluctantly accepted that further attacks on England were unlikely to succeed.<ref name="Williams, p.125"/> In the Netherlands, a new war strategy resulted in the re-establishment of Spanish power on the north side of the major rivers [[Meuse]] and [[Rhine]], stepping up the military pressure on the rebel provinces. The strategy of a 'great victory', however, began to descend into a financial war of attrition: the [[Southern Netherlands]]—still under Spanish control—and the [[Dutch Republic]] in the north—dominated by [[Calvinist]] Protestants—were both exhausted, and after the 1607 financial crisis, Spain too was unable to pursue the war. Philip III turned to peace negotiations instead; with the accession to the throne of [[James I of England]] it became possible to terminate both the war and English support to the Dutch, with his signature in 1604 on the [[Treaty of London (1604)|Treaty of London]].<ref>{{harvnb|Parker| 2004|page=212}}</ref>

[[File:Estatua de Felipe III de España - Plaza Mayor de Madrid.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Statue of Philip III in Madrid, by [[Giambologna]], finished by [[Pietro Tacca]] (1616).]]

The [[Twelve Years' Truce]] with the Dutch followed in 1609 enabled the Southern Netherlands to recover, but was a [[de facto]] recognition of the independence of the [[Dutch Republic]], and many European powers established diplomatic relations with the Dutch. The truce did not stop the commercial and [[Evolution of the Dutch colonial empire|colonial expansion]] of the Dutch into the Caribbean and the East Indies, although Spain had tried to impose the liquidation of the [[Dutch East India Company]] as a treaty condition. Minor concessions of the Dutch Republic were the scrapping of the plan to create a [[Dutch West India Company]] and stop harassing the Portuguese in Asia. Both concessions were temporary as the Dutch soon recommenced preying upon Portuguese interests, which had already led to the [[Dutch–Portuguese War]] in 1602 and would continue until 1654. The Twelve Years' truce gave Philip's regime an opportunity to begin to recover its financial position.
[[File:Velazquez-felipeIII (cropped).jpg|thumb|Portrait by [[Diego Velázquez]] (detail)]]
A period of instability commenced in the [[Kingdom of France]] with the death of [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]], who supported the war against Spain. In a sequence of aggressive policy moves, and largely without firm direction from Philip, his two regional [[proconsul]]s (the [[Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna|Duke of Osuna]], viceroy of [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]] and the [[Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, 5th Marquis of Villafranca|Marquis of Villafranca]], the Governor of [[Duchy of Milan|Milan]]) directed the Spanish policy in Italy, encountering resistance from the [[Duchy of Savoy]] and the Republic of Venice. To secure the connection between Milan and the Netherlands, a new route for the [[Spanish Road]] was opened through [[Valtellina#History|Valtellina]], then part of the independent state of the [[Three Leagues]] (the present-day canton of [[Graubünden]], Switzerland), and in 1618 the plot of Venice occurred, in which the authorities engaged in the persecution of pro-Spanish agents.

During this time of truce with the Dutch and the English, the [[Spanish match]] was proposed. This marriage between [[Charles I of England]] and [[Infanta Maria Anna of Spain]] was to ensure an Anglo-Iberian alliance against the [[Dutch East India Company]], their common enemy. This would serve as a prelude for the [[Anglo–Dutch wars]] and also an attempt at reconciliation between Catholic Spain and Protestant England. However, the proposal generated internal tensions within the [[Iberian Union]] between the [[Council of Portugal|Portuguese]] and the [[Council of Castile|Castilians]], as the former opposed close ties between the [[Portuguese Empire]] and the [[English East India Company]]. This was because the Portuguese wanted to maintain their monopoly on the [[Indian Ocean]] permitted by the [[Treaty of Tordesillas]]. Instead, the Portuguese pushed to start a new Anglo-Spanish War. The Council of Castile had a more pragmatic perspective about the changes in the balance of power since the consolidation of the Anglo-Dutch naval presence in the [[East Indies]], and felt the necessity to develop an alliance with one power against the other. This stemmed from the impossibility of an Iberian-Dutch alliance due to the lack of a formal treaty between the two parties and the threat of Dutch independence to Habsburg power within the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. Thus, the Council of Castile argued that allowing English trade in Asia would be better for the protection of the [[Spanish East Indies]] and [[Portuguese Colonial|Portuguese Colonies]] than a two-front war—owing to the current [[Dutch–Portuguese War|Dutch-Portuguese war]]. They also claimed that it was idealistic to fight for a monopoly over the Indian Ocean, as it not been a reality since the [[Eighty Years' War, 1599–1609|Eighty Years' War]]. However, the Portuguese argued that such concessions to the English would damage the trade between the [[Luso-Asians]] and the Portuguese. They also feared that the reputation of Portugal might suffer and that local powers in Asia, as well as those in Europe, would see Portugal as weak and unable to defend herself against her enemies, thus opening the door to competition in the area. In the end, the English rejected the proposal due to conflicts between the king and the [[Parliament of England]], the refusal of English traders to compensate Iberians from previous attacks on their territories, and mutual hostility stemming from religious differences between Iberia and England.<ref>https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Portuguese_Brazilian_Studies/ejph/html/issue24/pdf/v12n2a01.pdf</ref>