Philippine Dynasty | |
---|---|
Country | Portugal |
Parent house | House of Habsburg "Casa de Habsburgo" |
Titles | |
Founded | 25 March 1581 |
Founder | Philip I |
Final ruler | Philip III |
Current head | Extinct |
Deposition | 1 December 1640 |
The Philippine Dynasty, also known as the House of Habsburg in Portugal, was the third royal house of Portugal. It was named after the three Spanish kings who ruled Portugal between 1581 and 1640 in a dynastic union of the two crowns. The three kings, all named Philip (Spanish: Felipe; Portuguese: Filipe, Portuguese pronunciation: [fɨˈlip(ɨ)]), were from the House of Habsburg.
The history of Portugal from the dynastic crisis in 1580 to the House of Braganza monarchs is a period of transition. The Portuguese Empire spice trade was near its height at the start of this period. It continued to enjoy widespread influence after Vasco da Gama had finally reached the East by sailing around Africa in 1497–1498. Vasco da Gama's achievement completed the exploratory efforts inaugurated by Henry the Navigator, and opened an oceanic route for the profitable spice trade into Europe that bypassed the Middle East.
Throughout the 17th century, the increasing predations and surrounding of Portuguese trading posts in the East by the Dutch, English and French, and their rapidly growing intrusion into the Atlantic slave trade, undermined Portugal's near monopoly on the lucrative oceanic spice and slave trades. This sent the Portuguese spice trade into a long decline. To a lesser extent the diversion of wealth from Portugal by the Habsburg monarchy to help support the Catholic side of the Thirty Years' War, also created strains within the union, although Portugal did benefit from Spanish military power in helping to retain Brazil and in disrupting Dutch trade. These events, and those that occurred at the end of the House of Aviz and the period of the Iberian Union, led Portugal to a state of dependency on its colonies, first India and then Brazil.