ABSTRACT
The mindset, or mentality, of many Spanish policy-makers was informed by a sense of divine providence and protection. Spanish policy-makers were also able to distinguish between promoting Catholicism in a measured way and extreme measures which might rebound against Catholicism, including for example those of James II in England before 1688. Cf. C. F. Scott, Don Pedro Ronquillo and British-Spanish Relations, passim. The king's foreign policy decisions usually followed a consult of the Council of State, the most important body in Spain's distinctive conciliar system of government. Just what constituted a religious foreign policy is a complex matter, not least for the Spain of His Catholic Majesty, Carlos II. Carlos II and his ministers were equally ready to use whatever weapon was to hand against Louis XIV. The Spanish Monarchy was, a polity in which religion was still a major cement and source of identity, and in which religion helped to shape foreign and imperial policy.
