Decadence

 On the other hand, it doesn't seem disputable that the Hapsburgs were "decadent," that things weren't going too well for them in the later part of the 17th century. The so called "siglo de oro" was over. The last major author was Calderón, who died in 1681.  Quevedo, much earlier, denounced decadence in "Miré los muros de la patria mía." We see a cultural critique, in the baroque period, of this decadence, in the picaresque novel, for example. It won't do to say that other nations had their problems too, or that the entire bad reputation of the Hapsburgs rests on propaganda from other countries.  That just sounds like defensiveness.