30YearsWar #66: A Tale of Two Crowns [1639-40]

30YearsWar #66: A Tale of Two Crowns [1639-40]

King Philip IV of Spain and King Charles of Britain had a surprising amount in common by the late 1630s. Both were presiding over a deteriorating situation domestically and abroad, and during the Battle of the Downs in October 1639, both came off worse than before.


For Charles, the problem was one of authority, which had suffered terribly following years of wrong headed religious and political policies. With Scotland in revolt, and only pacified with painful concessions by spring 1639, Charles needed a win, and nothing said defeat like the prospect of watching a Spanish-Dutch naval battle off the coast of Dover. Having presented himself as the Sovereign of the Seas, this was a sharp strike against Charles' honour, and things were soon to get worse.


Many miles away in Madrid, King Philip IV's greatest problem was the intractable Dutch, followed by the equally intractable Catalans. Even after Count Olivares had asked them really nicely, the Catalans had not agreed to aid and supply the defending Spanish garrisons, and matters came to a head thanks in no small measure to Olivares' heavy-handed responses. Olivares may have been trying to make a point about the King's authority - a move Charles would surely have sympathised with - but his approach caused the very disaster he had longed to avoid.


By autumn 1640, both Spain and Britain were wracked by conflict and division, as the Thirty Years' War's actor looked on, and asked whether it was really fair on historians to open yet more fronts to this multi-layered conflict. Fair or not, here we delve into these issues, so I hope you'll join me!


**DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW THESE LINKS!**

1) To support the podcast financially in return for some extra audio content, check out Patreon!

2) To find a community of history friends, look at our Facebook page and group!

3) To keep up to date with us, follow us on Twitter!

4) Matchlock and the Embassy, our new historical fiction novel, is out NOW! Get it here

5) Researcher? Student? Podcaster? Use Perlego to access a massive online library of books, and get a week for free!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(744)

Goodbye For Now

Goodbye For Now

Between working full time and the impending arrival of baby WDF, I would be lying if I pretended as if nothing was going to change. It is, in fact, time to accept that I am only one man. But that's ok...

6 Okt 202514min

#70: July Crisis Q&A

#70: July Crisis Q&A

During this series we have encountered a wide variety of fascinating characters and controversial decisions, but even though the story of why the world went to war in 1914 is finally finished, that do...

30 Jul 202558min

State of the Podcast Address 21 July 2025

State of the Podcast Address 21 July 2025

It's been a while since I last checked in with you, and I've been sitting on some incredible news for a while now. If you'd like to know how things are about to change, then make sure you listen in! H...

21 Jul 202529min

#69: The First World War - Whose Fault Is It Anyway? Part 3

#69: The First World War - Whose Fault Is It Anyway? Part 3

In our final part, we bring this saga of a series to an end by focusing our attention on the most focused on country of all - Germany. We know what Germany did from 1 August, from the declarations of ...

21 Jul 202549min

#68: The First World War - Whose Fault Is It Anyway? Part 2

#68: The First World War - Whose Fault Is It Anyway? Part 2

For generations, examinations of the First World War excluded arguably the most important actor - Russia. In this episode, we will hone in on the Tsar's court and his ministers. We will analyse their ...

14 Jul 202537min

#67: The First World War - Whose Fault Is It Anyway? Part 1

#67: The First World War - Whose Fault Is It Anyway? Part 1

By now we've seen the absolute worst that Europe had to offer in 1914. We've seen naive statesmen, misinformed statesmen, distrustful statesmen, desperate statesmen, and everything in between. But whe...

7 Jul 202545min

The Unreality of Realism w/ Alexander von Sternberg

The Unreality of Realism w/ Alexander von Sternberg

Something special for you here - Alex and I had a great conversation about realism in international relations on his History Impossible podcast, and he was good enough to let me publish it on my feed....

3 Jul 20252h 18min

#66: The July Crisis - Conclusion

#66: The July Crisis - Conclusion

What have we learned after 65 episodes of background, analysis, and day-to-day coverage of the most consequential diplomatic failure in human history? What can we say about those responsible for what ...

30 Jun 202541min

Populært innen Historie

rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
rss-katastrofe
historier-som-endret-norge
rss-benadet
historier-som-endret-verden
aftenposten-historie
henrettelsespodden
med-egne-oyne
rss-historiske-romanser-svik-drap-og-kjarlighet
rss-frontkjemperne
sektledere
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
rss-nadelose-nordmenn-gestapo
taakeprat
rss-gamle-greier
lille-helvete
liberal-halvtime
historiepodden
rss-historier-fra-gudbrandsdalen
rss-bisarr-historie