Editing Philip III of Spain (section)

==Colonial policy==
===Chile===
[[File:-The Armor of Philip III- MET DP138041.jpg|thumb|Armour of Philip III]]
In the Americas, Philip inherited a difficult situation in [[Colonial Chile|Chile]], where the [[Arauco War]] raged and the local [[Mapuche]] succeeded in [[Destruction of the Seven Cities|razing seven Spanish cities]] (1598–1604). An estimate by [[Alonso González de Nájera]] put the toll at 3,000 Spanish settlers killed and 500 Spanish women taken into captivity by Mapuche.<ref name="Luz2013">{{Cite journal|title=Las cautivas de las Siete Ciudades: El cautiverio de mujeres hispanocriollas durante la Guerra de Arauco, en la perspectiva de cuatro cronistas (s. XVII)|journal=Intus-Legere Historia|last=Guzmán|first=Carmen Luz|volume=7|pages=77–97|issue=1|doi=10.15691/07176864.2014.0.94 |year=2013|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024|language=es|trans-title=The captives of the Seven Cities: The captivity of hispanic-creole women during the Arauco's War, from the insight of four chroniclers (17th century)}}</ref> In retaliation, the proscription against [[Slavery of Mapuches|enslaving Indians]] captured in war was lifted by Philip in 1608.<ref>{{cite book |quote=Philip III, had taken the drastic step of stripping indigenous "rebels" of the customary royal protection against enslavement in 1608, thus making Chile one of the few parts of the empire where slave taking was entirely legal. |last=Reséndez |first= Andrés |title= The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America |pages=127–128 |publisher= Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. |edition=Kindle}}</ref><ref name=Valenzuela231-233>{{cite book |last=Valenzuela Márquez |first=Jaime |editor-last1=Gaune |editor-first1=Rafael |editor-last2=Lara |editor-first2=Martín |title=Historias de racismo y discriminación en Chile |date=2009 |pages=231–233 |chapter=Esclavos mapuches. Para una historia del secuestro y deportación de indígenas en la colonia|language=es}}</ref> This decree was abused when Spanish settlers in [[Chiloé Archipelago]] used it to justify slave raids against groups such as the [[Chono people]] of northwestern Patagonia, who had never been under Spanish rule and never rebelled.<ref name=UrbinaRod2007>{{Cite book|chapter=El pueblo chono: de vagabundo y pagano a cristiano y sedentario mestizado|url=http://www.turismocientifico.cl/admin/apps/filemanager/repository/%C3%A1reas%20del%20conocimiento/Poblamiento,%20historia%20y%20cultura/Antropologia/Etnias/Al%20Pueblo%20Chono.pdf|last=Urbina Burgos|first=Rodolfo|pages=325–346|title=Orbis incognitvs: avisos y legados del Nuevo Mundo|year=2007|publisher=Universidad de Huelva|location=Huelva|isbn=9788496826243|language=es|access-date=1 September 2019|archive-date=31 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031163524/http://www.turismocientifico.cl/admin/apps/filemanager/repository/%C3%A1reas%20del%20conocimiento/Poblamiento,%20historia%20y%20cultura/Antropologia/Etnias/Al%20Pueblo%20Chono.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Jesuit missionary [[Luis de Valdivia]] believed the Mapuche could be voluntarily converted to Christianity only if there was peace.<ref name=JRP1993>{{cite journal |title=Jesuitas, Franciscanos y Capuchinos italianos en la Araucanía (1600–1900) |journal=[[Revista Complutense de Historia de América]] |year=1993 | pages = 109–147 |volume=19 |last1=Pinto Rodríguez |first1=Jorge |author-link=Jorge Pinto Rodríguez |language=es}}</ref><ref name=MCLmisioneros>{{Cite journal| url = http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-3615.html
| title = Misioneros y mapuche (1600–1818)
| journal = Memoria Chilena
| publisher = [[Biblioteca Nacional de Chile]]
| access-date = 30 January 2014
| language = es
}}</ref> To diminish hostilities Valdivia proposed a [[Defensive War]] in a letter to Philip. The King supported the idea, issuing a decree that established the Defensive War as an official policy in 1612.<ref name=MemCh-GD>{{cite Memoria Chilena
 |id = 602
 |title = Guerra Defensiva
 |access-date = 3 August 2019
|url = http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/602/w3-article-92262.html
 |language=es
}}</ref> By the time Defensive War was established, war between Spanish and Mapuche had been going on for 70 years.<ref name=MemCh-GD/>

These policies were not without criticism. [[Maestre de campo]] and [[corregidor (position)|corregidor]] of [[Concepción, Chile|Concepción]] Santiago de Tesillo claimed the Defensive War gave the Mapuche a much needed respite to replenish their forces that should have been denied.<ref name=Bara>{{cite journal |last=Baraibar |first=Alvaro |date=2013 |title=Chile como un "Flandes indiano" en las crónicas de los siglos VI y VII |url=http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0718-22952013000300007&script=sci_arttext |journal=[[Revista Chilena de Literatura]] |language=es |volume=85 |access-date=30 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126133000/http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0718-22952013000300007&script=sci_arttext |archive-date=26 January 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Real Audiencia of Santiago]] opined in the 1650s that [[slavery of Mapuches]] was one of the reasons for constant state of war between the Spanish and the Mapuche.<ref name=Barana342>{{cite book
 | last       = Barros Arana
 | first      = Diego
 | author-link1 = Diego Barros Arana
 | title      = Historia General de Chile
 | volume     = IV
 | url        = http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/602/w3-article-7987.html
 | year       = 2000
 | orig-year   = 1884
 | edition    = 2
 | publisher  = Editorial Universitaria
 | location   = Santiago, Chile
 | isbn       = 956-11-1535-2
 | language   = es
 | page       = 341
 }}</ref>

=== Philippines ===
{{copy edit section|date=February 2025}}
[[File:Imperio Español en Asia y Oceanía.png|thumb|[[Spanish East Indies]] (red) and [[Portuguese Empire in the Indonesian Archipelago]] (light purple). Dark purple represents the territories to be conquered.]]
The primary objective of Philip III's reign was to strengthen the islands against the appearance of hostile European navies (English and Dutch) in what was previously a Spanish-Portuguese Iberian monopoly over [[East Indies]], especially after a fight between Spaniards and Dutch near [[Manila]] on 1600. Also he desired the expansion over the hostile [[Ternate Sultanate]] and its vassal kingdoms, while he feared the possible restriction of Spanish trade with [[China]] or losing [[New Spain]] if Dutch power increased in the [[North Pacific Ocean]]. Therefore, efforts were made to expand the available fleet of galleys to deter any future Dutch attack, as well as to organize an [[Spanish conquest of the Moluccas|expedition to Ternate]] in order to prevent further incursions due to [[Ternatean–Portuguese conflicts]]. For that mission, [[Pedro Bravo de Acuña|Pedro de Acuña]] made a series of informs about the situation in the [[Spanish East Indies]] and [[Portuguese Empire in the Indonesian Archipelago|Portuguese Indonesia]], along the relations between [[Dutch East India Company]] and [[Sultanate of Ternate]], that he sent to the [[Council of the Indies]] on 1602 to develop further actions to benefit both the [[Captaincy General of the Philippines]] and [[Portuguese India]], which were that both would embark on an expedition with troops from Spain and Mexico that would travel to the Philippines carrying resources and money, putting an end to the Dutch-Ternatea raids. However, the [[Council of Portugal]] hesitated to collaborate with the [[Council of Castile]] in those plans, wanting to maintain the status quo from the [[Treaty of Zaragoza]] instead of the [[Spice islands]] being further under Spanish influence (that now were under VOC and Ternate influence). In spite of the Portuguese, the Spaniards succeeded in conquering Ternate on 1606, but failed to establish a total victory over the Dutch, who were protectors of the Ternatean resistance that expelled Spaniards from the islands.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Valpuesta Villa |first=Iñigo |title=Política y enfrentamiento en las Islas Filipinas durante el reinado de Felipe III (Resumen) |date=2023 |degree=http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text |publisher=UNED. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia |url=https://portalcientifico.uned.es/documentos/649dc42ba3a4af6c6b6260e4}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=At the Spanish court, Acuña's plans were assessed and approved for implementation. However, there was a key issue: the Moluccas were [[Council of Portugal|Portuguese]] territory while the ministers who studied Acuña's proposals were [[Crown of Castile|Castilian]]. Philip III did not want a confrontation between kingdoms over this issue and asked for a joint assessment of the Moluccas problem, but the ideas of both sides seemed irreconcilable. The Castilian advisors understood that if there was intervention from the Philippine Islands, as Acuña proposed, the Moluccas should come under Castilian control, since politically and militarily it made more sense. The Portuguese did not view this manoeuvre favourably and hoped that Ternate would return to Portuguese control, even if the Castilians had recovered it. In the end there was no understanding and the king opted for the Castilian position and at the end of 1602 he approved Acuña's proposal (...) The governor's plan was first to regain control of Ternate, the most important kingdom with a great influence over the other local powers, and then to gain the loyalty of the other kingdoms. With their firm support, Acuña hoped to be able to cut off the clove trade to the Dutch, so that they would have no interest in returning to the islands. Finally, once the Spanish had settled in the Moluccas, he hoped to be able to make the leap to the islands of Ambon and Banda where the Dutch maintained trade and had prominent forces. In a few years the spice islands could be sealed off from the Batavian passage and thus deal a great blow to their economy and overseas prestige (...) After the initial success of the conquest of Ternate, a relief effort was organised from the Philippines, intended to make up for the losses of the day and the resources expended. This was not very extensive, but according to the original plan this was not important, since the Spanish troops were going to rely on local troops in their fight against the Dutch. However, events did not go according to plan and there was no clear alternative response to this relief (...) Essentially, the relief system devised by the Spanish for the Moluccas allowed them to supply them with the money, men and resources that the garrison might need to recover its losses and watch over the Moluccas, but it could not compete with the large forces that a VOC squadron could deploy on the ground.|author=[[Íñigo María Valpuesta Villa]] (historian)}} Also, in 1604, Philip III decided to limit Chinese trade exclusively to Mexico, with trade strictly regulated by the [[Manila galleon]], due to the harm that transpacific trade caused to the transatlantic flow, ending the direct trafficking of Asian goods and silver between [[Ming China]], the [[Captaincy General of the Philippines|Philippines]], and the entire western [[Spanish America]]n fringe ([[Mexico]], [[Central America]], [[Peru]] and [[Chile]]) which had been formerly approved in 1579 by [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]]. This measure generated some resentment in the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]] after being officially excluded from any dealings, either direct or with a prior stopover in [[Acapulco]], with the [[Far East]]. However, this would only increase smuggling among South American traders in their attempt to evade this unjust measure, with the support of the Spanish representative of the King, [[Juan de Mendoza y Luna, Marquis of Montesclaros]] (both Viceroy of [[New Spain]] and of [[Viceroyalty of Peru|Peru]] intermittently) under the principle of "It is obeyed, but it is not fulfilled", since he saw it as unwise to harm the interests of the great merchants of [[Lima]] and [[Mexico City]], who had already integrated into an organic triangular trade with [[Manila]], even developing migrations of [[Chinese people|Chinese]], Japanese, [[Filipinos]], [[Indonesians]], [[Indian people|Indians]] and [[Luso-Asians]] towards [[Spanish America]]. However, Montesclaros also did not seek to betray the king or inculcate Spanish Americans in the habit of disobeying the laws and [[corruption]], so he even proposed legalizing that Manila-Acapulco-Callao trade route, so that the [[Spanish crown]] could obtain funds as taxes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bonialian |first=Mariano |date=2015-08-01 |title=Asiáticos en Lima a principios del siglo XVII |url=https://journals.openedition.org/bifea/7540?lang=en#bodyftn6 |journal=Bulletin de l'Institut français d'études andines |volume=44 |language=es |issue=2 |pages=205–236 |doi=10.4000/bifea.7540 |issn=0303-7495|doi-access=free }}</ref>