English Catholics as a factor in Anglo-Spanish relations, 1603-25
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Description
Throughout James I's reign in England, his Catholic subjects presented a serious problem in foreign as well as domestic affairs. Disappointed in their hopes for toleration at home, many found refuge in Spanish territories, either in Spain itself or in the Spanish Netherlands. From these foreign bases they worked for England's return to Catholicism, with plans ranging from petitions to James and covert missionary activities to schemes for armed invasions and even the assassination of the king. The purpose of this dissertation is to determine the effect which James's fugitive Catholic subjects in Spanish territory had on Anglo-Spanish relations, crucial at this time to European peace The subject of English Catholics in this critical period has been given attention before, but without real consideration of the impact which Catholic individuals and seminaries and colleges (especially Jesuit ones) in Spain had on international relations. Thus, this dissertation is on a hitherto-unstudied subject, and based primarily on unpublished documents To put the problem in its international context, I have studied much of the correspondence of English ambassadors for their on-the-scene evaluations of the situation in Spain itself and the Spanish Netherlands (Public Record Office, London: State Papers, Spain, vols. 9-24, and State Papers, Flanders, vols. 7-14). On the Spanish side, I have made extensive use of the Seccion de Estado of the Archivo General de Simancas and the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid for rare books and manuscripts unavailable elsewhere In correspondence with ambassadors and in negotiations regarding the fugitives, the English government grouped these exiles into three broad categories: Catholic establishments (colleges, monasteries, seminaries, and convents), the Gunpowder Plot fugitives, and Tyrone and his Irish followers. James feared all three for the same basic reason; i.e., he felt they were working to undermine his authority, each in a different way, but all to the same effect Until the time of James's accession, Spain had been considering using force to put a Catholic on the throne of England. Having lost its opportunity to do this, Spain decided on a course of peace. Its relationship with English Catholics had to be accomodated accordingly. After 1603, Spain determined to work for the benefit of English Catholics through peaceful means. James suffered Spain's pro-Catholic activities because he could not afford to go to war over them. But they were a definite strain on Anglo-Spanish relations, a strain that sometimes came perilously near the breaking point, as in 1605. When this happened, both sides backed off a little, for there were many other things to be considered. England's fugitive subjects in Spain and the Netherlands were only one factor in a complex relationship, but they were a major factor and helped color the whole tone of that relationship