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In order to isolate France, the Catholic Monarchs arranged the marriage of their children, Juan and Juana, with two Habsburgs. Although there was an economic interest as well. Spanish merino wool, the main raw material for export had competed advantageously with English wool since the 14^th century with which it disputed the markets of Flanders and the Netherlands, a flourishing domain of the Habsburgs, inherited from the House of Burgundy. The great European textile centres were there: cloths, lace, tapestries, rugs and bedspreads. The fine linens were known throughout Europe as “cloth from Holland”. Nevertheless, while Flanders, in the south of the Netherlands, remained faithful to Spanish wool, the Dutch soon preferred English wool and linen or cotton, imported from overseas.<br>

The herds were owned by the nobility, powerfully organised in the association called the ''Mesta'' (1273-1836). The cattle migrated in winter, grazed on rented meadows in La Mancha and Extremadura, and returned in spring. They moved along their own paths, protected by cane (''cañas'') fences, or by ropes (''cuerdas'') between stakes, named ''cañadas'' (75 m wide), ''cordeles'' (38 m) and ''veredas'' (21 m), with periodic resting places (''descansaderos''). The ranchers paid the ''servicio y montazgo'' as they passed through the “royal ports” that marked the entire Sistema Central: a great fiscal source for the Crown. The fair of Medina del Campo was the financial centre, and export was organised from the Consulate of Burgos. The ''Mesta'', distributed territorially in four districts (''cuadrillas''), was grouped into route networks: Leonese, Segovian, Sorian and from Cuenca, with a meticulous judicial and economic regulation that still keeps a strong presence today.

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With Philip II, Spanish hegemony oscillated between war successes –San Quintín (1557) or [https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batalla_de_Lepanto#/media/Archivo:Plan_of_the_Battle_of_Lepanto.png Lepanto] battles (1571)– and failures, such as that of the Spanish Armada (''Armada Invencible'', 1588), or the resistance to accept his rule in the Netherlands (the “United Provinces” of the north). On the Peninsula, his unitary political conception pushed him to dictate intergrative provisions in clothing, customs and religion for the Moriscos (many lived in Granada and even in Aragon and Valencia). This caused a great uprising, the rebellion of the Alpujarras that, once defeated, led to the dispersion of the Moriscos of Granada. Ten years later, the mythical King Sebastian of Portugal died childless in the battle of Alcazarquivir. Philip II, supported by powerful Lusitanian nobles, was recognised King of Portugal as Philip I. He lived in Lisbon for two years, where he organised a court and planned to make the River Tagus navigable to Toledo. After another ten years (in a secret episode of betrayal, envy and love, with the involvement of the [http://aache.com/princesa-de-eboli/ princess of Éboli] and the king himself), Antonio Pérez, the royal secretary, orders the assassination of Juan de Escobedo, secretary of Don Juan de Austria. Antonio Pérez fled and took refuge under the protection of a foral institution: the Justicia Mayor de Aragón. It was in 1591, when [https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Justicia_Aragon_Monumento_1.JPG Don Pedro Lanuza], supported by the people of Saragossa, refused to hand him over to the King’s Justice. However, a royal army took Saragossa, Don Pedro was executed and strong cuts of the Aragonese ''fueros'' (privileges) were dictated, which increased the unitary policy.<br>

The brilliant Spanish hegemony was kept on credit. Philip II had to declare bankruptcy three times, despite the high tax pressure in Castile and the constant incomes of precious metals from America and from Spain itself, because the middle years of the 16^th century are known as ''the prodigious decade of Spanish mining''. The Crown owned all of the mines, and between 1550 and 1570, the silver production of the Guadalcanal mine (Seville) surpassed the one of Potosí. There was a formidable development of mining engineering, administration and techniques in Spain and America, and in 1624, the Board of Mines (''Junta de minas'') was created. No amount seemed to suffice; the Genoese (Centurione or Spínola) and German (Fugger or Welser) banks lent money guaranteed by the mines, then by the taxes on wool and, always, by the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIHAeMjmuLM gold] and silver of America. Their agents were controlling income in Seville and Cádiz (trade with America), at the Medina fairs (wool trade), in the Cantabrian export ports and at the consulates of Seville and Bilbao. They were contracted on behalf of the Spanish and were also in charge of the thousands of payments (soldiers, imports, maintenance of the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ode08z4Qjk Spanish road] from Milan to Flanders, etc.). The very high imports always kept a deficit balance of trade, but there were many Spanish industries as well, such as the cloth one in Segovia, the Basque ironworks, cutlery in Albacete, and the Toledo swords. Mining declined in the 17^th century, although in the 18^th century there was an evident recovery, due to copper from Riotinto and mercury from Almadén.<br>

During the 16^th and 17^th centuries, the Spanish Administration was of utmost efficiency, accounting precision, information speed, and support for specifically Spanish sciences, such as the nautical or botanical sciences. Justice had two supreme courts (the ''chancillerías''), royal territorial audiences, and ''corregimientos'' in each city (the ''corregidor'' was the highest municipal and judicial authority) with very important institutions such as the ''veedores'' (overseers for inspection visits) and the ''juicios de residencia'' (very important in the Indies), to which all authorities, including viceroys, had to submit after leaving office. However, some ancient figures survived, such as the ''adelantamientos'' (a military title for “a forward man”), used for a long time in the Indies, not to mention that various sectors had their own jurisdictions (universities, army, professional associations, etc.).