Relative character of Spanish industrial prosperity.
Its duration in time.
There has been a tendency to exaggerate the state of prosperity to which Spain attained and to treat it as if it suddenly collapsed. In fact Spain’s industrial wealth was only great by comparison with what it once had been and with what it was presently to be in the period of decline. The manufacture of cloth in the entire kingdom in the most flourishing epoch did not equal the output of the single city of Bruges. That the growth of manufacturing was only ephemeral and did not take root in the peninsula is attested by the fact that it was usually necessary, even in the era of greatest industrial expansion, to depend upon imports to supply Spain’s needs, while the considerable exports of raw materials, especially wool, show that the domestic demand could not have been great. Undoubtedly a good industrial beginning was made, which might have resulted in the economic independence of Spain. It did not continue, however, and the question arises: How long did the era of relative industrial prosperity endure? A precise answer is impossible, because some industries flourished longer than others, or the same industry prospered in one place after it had ceased to do so in another. Conflicting accounts began to appear about the middle of the reign of Charles I, and even in the first half of the seventeenth century there were documents which testified to instances of prosperity. Speaking generally, the decline may be said to have made itself felt in the reign of Philip II and to have become clearly apparent by the middle of the reign of Philip IV.
Handicaps on agriculture.
Agriculture did not advance much from its wretched state of the previous era. The economists, giving undue importance to the accumulation of specie, and obsessed by a desire to develop manufactures, did not appreciate the fundamental value of agriculture; grazing was favored at the expense of farming; agricultural labor, never plentiful, was still more scarce after the expulsion of the Moriscos; and the evil of latifundia tended to reduce the amount of land cultivated. The laws encouraged agriculture only when it did not interfere with what were considered the more important industries. Legislation was frequent forbidding the cultivation of lands which had ever been devoted to grazing and compelling their restoration to that industry, and the old privileges of the Mesta were maintained to the detriment of the farmers. The scarcity of agricultural labor caused an immigration from other countries, especially from France, and this increased after the expulsion of the Moriscos. It did not solve the problem, as the foreigners were wont to return home, after they had accumulated savings. Under the circumstances it is not surprising that agricultural production did not meet the needs of the peninsula. Something was done to protect farm laborers, and some government projects of irrigation were undertaken, but not enough was done to offset the handicaps which the state itself imposed. Intensive cultivation by small proprietors was one of the needs of the time, and one attempt to bring this about in Granada was made. Some 12,500 Castilian, Asturian, and Galician families were sent there to replace in a measure the several hundred thousand expelled Moriscos. The experiment was successful, and the colonization took root, but it was not repeated. Nevertheless, eastern and southern Spain had their period of relative prosperity, especially through the cultivation of the vine and the olive. The Americas offered a rich field for the export of wine, since the growing of vines was prohibited there, and the soil, climate, irrigation canals, and Morisco labor (prior to the expulsion) of Valencia, Granada, and Andalusia were well adapted to provide the desired supply. Even this form of agriculture suffered a serious decline in the seventeenth century, due largely to the loss of the Moriscos.
Comparative prosperity of Spanish commerce.
Prosperity of Seville and Medina del Campo.
Spanish commerce had its era of splendor and its period of decline, but the former was prolonged much more than in the case of the manufacturing industry, because of Spain’s serving as a medium for distribution between foreign countries and the Americas, and because of the continued exchange of raw materials for the foreign finished product after Spain herself had ceased to be a serious competitor in manufacturing. Seville was by far the most prosperous port in the country, since it had a monopoly of the American trade, which also necessitated the sending to that city of goods from the other parts of Spain and from foreign countries for trans-shipment overseas. Mercantile transactions on a great scale, involving the modern forms of credit and the establishment of branch houses in all parts of the world, were a natural outgrowth of Seville’s great volume of trade. The wealth of the city continued until well into the seventeenth century. The transfer of the Casa de Contratación (which handled Spain’s commerce with the Americas) from Seville to Cádiz occasioned a decline of the former and a corresponding prosperity of the latter. Possibly next in importance to Seville in mercantile affairs was the inland city of Medina del Campo, site of the greatest of Spanish fairs and, except for the east coast provinces, the contractual centre of the entire kingdom. Purchases, sales, and exchanges of goods entering or leaving the various ports of Spain were usually arranged there. Numerous other cities shared with Seville and Medina del Campo in the commercial activity of the sixteenth century, even those of the east coast, although the forces which had occasioned their decline in preceding eras were still operative and were to renew their effects before the sixteenth century had much more than passed the halfway mark. The Mediterranean trade of Spain remained largely in the hands of the Catalans, however. North European commerce, of which that with Flanders was the most important, was shared generally by Spain’s Atlantic ports, although those of the north coast had in this case a natural advantage.
The consulados and other mercantile machinery.
The inevitable result of the commercial activity of the sixteenth century was the development of a mercantile machinery to handle the trade. This occurred, in Spain, on the basis of institutions already in existence, the consulados, merchants’ exchange buildings (lonjas), and fairs. To the earlier consulados of Valencia (1283), Barcelona (1347), Saragossa (1391), Burgos (1494), and Bilbao (1511) there were added those of Seville (1543) and Madrid (1632). Although the consulados of the ports differed in some respects from those of the interior the same principles applied to both,—so much so, that the ordinances of the consulado of Burgos were the model for that of Bilbao. The consulado of Burgos served as the type, indeed, upon which the ordinances of many of the later consulados were founded, wherefore its description may suffice for all. Strictly speaking, the consulado was only the tribunal of the body of merchants, who together formed the universidad, or association, for purposes of trade, although the term consulado came eventually to include both. Many cities lacked the tribunal, but did possess the universidad of merchants. The tribunal, or consulado, of Burgos exercised jurisdiction in mercantile cases, and also had charge of such important matters as maritime insurance, charter-parties, and the patronage of certain pious foundations. The universidad met annually to elect the officers of the consulado,—a prior, two consuls, and a treasurer. The jurisdiction of the consulado as a court was not limited to cases arising in Burgos, but extended to other towns and cities for many miles around it. There was an appeal in criminal cases to the corregidor of Burgos, but in civil cases the consulado was independent of both the royal and the municipal courts. The consulado of Madrid introduced some novelties, principal among which was its close attachment to the national bureaucracy through the intervention in its affairs of the Consejo Real. Various cities founded merchants’ exchange buildings, including some which had no consulado. As for the fairs, the great importance of Medina del Campo has already been mentioned. Two fairs a year, in May and October, were held at that city, on which occasions merchants, bankers, and brokers from all parts of the world gathered there. By the end of the sixteenth century the fairs of Medina del Campo were already in a state of decline, and they received a death-blow when by royal mandate Burgos replaced Medina del Campo as the contractual centre of Spain. Burgos did not greatly profit, however, for the general mercantile decadence had begun to affect all commercial institutions in the country. Mercantile machinery survived after the period of prosperity had passed, and thus it was only to be expected that a central institution should at length be founded. Such was the case, for the Junta de Comercio y Moneda (Junta, or Council, of Commerce and Coinage) came into existence in 1679. During the remainder of this era it was of slight consequence, however.