n Spain and her "sinews of war" lay 3000 miles of ocean.
To hold the colonies themselves, to guard the plate fleets against
French, Dutch, and English raiders, to protect her own coastline
and maintain communications with her possessions in Italy and the
Low Countries, to wage war against the Turk in the Mediterranean,
Spain felt the need of a navy. Indeed, in view of these varied
motives for maritime strength, it is surprising that Spain depended
so largely on impressed merchant vessels, and had made only the
beginnings of a royal navy at the time of the Grand Armada.[1]
Not primarily a nation of traders or sailors, she had, by grudging
assistance to the greatest of sea explorers, fallen into a rich
colonial empire, to secure and make the most of which called for
sea power.

[Footnote 1: "For the kings of England have for many years been
at the charge to build and furnish a navy of powerful ships for
their own defense, and for the wars only; whereas the French, the
Spaniards, the Portugals, and the Hollanders (till of late) have
had no proper fleet belonging to their princes or state." Sir Walter
Raleigh, A DISCOURSE OF THE INVENTION OF SHIPS.]

It is possible, however, to lay undue stress on the factor just
mentioned in accounting for both the rise and the decay of Spain.
Her ascendancy in Europe in the 16th century was due chiefly to
the immense territories united with her under Charles the Fifth
(1500-1558), who inherited Spain, Burgundy, and the Low Countries,
and added Austria with her German and Italian provinces by his
accession to the imperial throne. Under Charles's powerful leadership
Spain became the greatest nation in Europe; but at the same time her
resources in men and wealth were exhausted in the almost constant
warfare of his long reign. The treasures of America flowed through
the land like water, in the expressive figure of a German historian,
"not fertilizing it but laying it waste, and leaving sharper dearth
behind."[2] The revenues of the plate fleet were pledged to German
or Genoese bankers even before they reached the country, and were
expended in the purchase of foreign luxuries or in waging imperial
wars, rather than in the encouragement of home agriculture, trade,
and industry. While the vast possessions of church and nobility
escaped taxation, the people were burdened with levies on the movement
and sale of commodities and on the common necessities of life.
Prohibition of imports to keep go