page_title: Philippine dynasty
section_title: The continuity in the administrative system
hierarchical_section_title: Philippine dynasty / The continuity in the administrative system
caption_attribution_description: Dinasty_Gabsburg_(Spain)_family_tree
context_page_description: 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, were from the House of Habsburg.
  The history of Portugal from the dynastic crisis in 1580 to the House of Braganza monarchs was a period of transition. At its beginning, the Portuguese Empire spice trade was near its height. 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 beleaguering 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.
context_section_description: Due to complexity in the management of government affairs, the Spanish Monarch established auxiliary bodies called Councils (Consejos), dedicated to providing advice toward resolution of problems. The Councils needed a permanent seat, and so King Philip II of Spain established in 1562 the permanent capital in Madrid, seat of the Royal Court and of the administrative staff. During a brief period (1601–1606), the whole administrative staff held court in Valladolid.
  Administrative correspondence originated from different Councils and was delivered by each Council Secretary to Madrid for the attention of the Crown. The king would later assemble the secretaries to request the Council's opinion. The meetings of the Councils took place in the royal palace, and they did not count on the presence of the king habitually. In this polisynodial system stood out for its importance, the Consejo de Estado (Council of State).
  Relating to the particular government of the kingdom of Portugal itself. During the union of the kingdom of Portugal to the Spanish monarchy, the Spanish Habsburgs on the whole respected the pledges made at Thomar in 1581 to allow considerable Portuguese autonomy and to respected the territories of its empire. Public offices were reserved for Portuguese subjects at home and overseas. The king was represented at Lisbon sometimes by a governor and sometimes by a viceroy. So, Spain left the administration of Portugal and its empire largely to the Portuguese themselves, under general supervision from Madrid channeled through a viceroy in Lisbon. Important matters, however, were referred to Madrid, where they came before the Council of Portugal. In the kingdom of Portugal, the polisynodial system is reinforced:
  Council of State. The Conselho de Estado of Lisbon is the King's private Council, entrusted of debating major issues related to the Crown, especially foreign policy. The counselors would send their remarks to the king, and the King consulted them through his Viceroy. Although the Conselho de Estado of Lisbon worked as the great adviser Council to the King's delegate, this Council of State was without clearly defined administrative powers and actually it did not perform relevant roles of coordination. The Spanish kings maintained the system of two secretaries of state, one for the kingdom and the other for "India", that is to say, for the colonies, despite several conflicts over jurisdiction, until the creation of the Conselho da India in 1604.
  In the same way, Spanish kings retained the Mesa da Consciência e Ordens, which was both tribunal and as a council for religious affairs and was responsible for administering ecclesiastical appointments and for the property of the military orders in the colonies as well as in the home country.
  Portuguese Inquisition remained independent from the Mesa da Consciência e Ordens. There were three major courts in Lisbon, Coimbra and Évora.
  Also preserved was the Desembargo do Paço. The pinnacle of the entire Portuguese judicial system was the Desembargo do Paço or Royal Board of Justice in Lisbon. This board, the highest court in the kingdom, controlled the appointment of all magistrates and judges and oversaw the Casa de Supplicação or Court of Appeals in Lisbon, as well as the high courts in the Portuguese overseas territories. The first function of the Desembargo do Paço was to control the recruitment of the magistrates (leitura de bachareis) and to monitor them in the exercise of their charge. Its control spread to the whole of the juridical professions. The Desembargo do Paço had to  arbitrate conflicts between other courts of the kingdom. This court granted dispensations, acts of legitimization and other relevant issues about the justice and the grace, and which on occasions advised the king on political and economic as well as judicial matters.  Moreover, a commission of jurists set up to reform the legal system produced a new code for Portugal, the Ordenações filipinas, promulgated in 1603.
  The Casa de Supplicação and the Casa do Civel, both are two royal courts of appeal 
caption: Spanish Habsburgs' family tree and connection with Portugal royal house of Aviz
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