THE PRIVATEERING WAR

Early in 1632, the Cortes of Castile met to consider the alarming new scales of servicios y millones being demanded by the government in order to discharge the imperatives of defence. It was a crucially important political test. The kingdom, exhausted by prolonged fiscal exploitation, had been overwhelmed by a recent crisis of dearth and disease. Olivares, acutely conscious of war-weariness amongst the delegates, resorted once again to a theme which was capable of reawakening residual enthusiasm. The King began his speech by regaling the loyal reino with a decade of maritime achievements, a veritable catalogue aria of conquests all over the seven seas; warships of all sizes constructed and equipped, sailors and marines from all parts of the Monarchy raised and armed. Not until the end of two full pages of the printed version of his address – the libretto, as it were – does he arrive at the cadence: ‘ma in Ispagna son già mille è tre’.

It was Philip's misfortune that, despite the alleged expenditure of 1½ million ducats a year, he had accumulated nothing like 1003 warships – whether in Spain or elsewhere. The demands of the Atlantic emergency had drastically reduced reserves of ships, sailors and materials, leaving serious weaknesses even in the main battlefleet defending the shores of Iberia itself.