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Philip II of Spain

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   Philip II of Spain.
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   Philip II of Spain.

                                   CAPTION: Spanish and Portuguese Royalty
                                                         House of Habsburg


                                   Charles I
     Children
        Felipe, Prince of Asturias (future Philip II)
         Infanta Maria, Holy Roman Empress
         Infanta Juana, Crown Princess of Portugal
         Infante Juan (natural son)
         Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Florence, Duchess of Parma (natural
     daughter)
                           Philip II (I of Portugal)
     Children include
         Carlos, Prince of Asturias
         Infanta Isabella, Archduchess of Austria
         Infanta Catalina, Archduchess of Austria, Duchess of Savoy
         Felipe, Prince of Asturias (future Philip III)
                          Philip III (II of Portugal)
     Children include
         Infanta Ana, Queen of France
         Felipe, Prince of Asturias (future Philip IV)
         Infanta Maria Ana, Holy Roman Empress
         Infante Carlos
         Cardinal-Infante Fernando
                          Philip IV (III of Portugal)
     Children include
         Baltasar Carlos, Prince of Asturias
         Infanta Maria Theresa, Queen of France
         Infanta Margarita, Holy Roman Empress
         Infante Carlos (future Charles II)
                                  Charles II

   Philip II (Spanish: Felipe II de Habsburgo; Portuguese: Filipe I) ( May
   21, 1527 – September 13, 1598) was the first official King of Spain
   from 1556 until 1598, king of Naples and Sicily from 1554 until 1598,
   King of England (co-regent with Mary I) from 1554 to 1558, King of
   Portugal and the Algarves (as Philip I) from 1580 until 1598 and King
   of Chile from 1554 until 1556. He was born at Valladolid and was the
   only legitimate son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

Revolt in the Netherlands

   The Estates General of the seven United Provinces passed an Oath of
   Abjuration of the Spanish king, who was also Sovereign of the
   Netherlands, in 1581 following the Union of Utrecht of 1579. It should
   be noted that the Netherlands were at this time a personal union under
   King Philip as he was lord of each separate Dutch Province (e.g. Duke
   of Guelre and Count of Holland) The rebel leader, William I, Prince of
   Orange (William the Silent) was outlawed by Philip, and assassinated in
   1584 by a Catholic fanatic after Philip had offered a reward of 25,000
   crowns to anyone who killed William the Silent, calling him a 'pest on
   the whole of Christianity and the enemy of the human race'.
   Nevertheless, the Dutch forces continued to fight on, and increasingly
   used their substantial naval resources to plunder Spanish ships and
   blockade the Spanish-controlled southern provinces.

Economic troubles

   Aside from draining state revenues for failed overseas adventurism, the
   domestic policies of Philip II further burdened Spain, that would, in
   the following century, contribute to its decline. For one, far too much
   power was concentrated in Philip's hands. Unlike England, Spain was
   subject to separate assemblies: the Cortes in Castile along with the
   assembly in Navarre and three for each of the three regions of Aragon,
   each of which jealously guarded their traditional rights and laws
   inherited from the time they were separate kingdoms. This made Spain
   and its possessions cumbersome to rule. While France was divided by
   regional states, it had a single Estates-General. The lack of a viable
   supreme assembly would lead to a great deal of power being concentrated
   in Philip's hands, but this was made necessary by the constant conflict
   between different authorities that required his direct intervention as
   the final arbiter. To deal with the difficulties arising from this
   situation authority was administered by local agents appointed by the
   crown and viceroys carried out instructions of the crown. Philip, a
   compulsive micro-manager, presided over specialized councils for state
   affairs, finance, war, and the Inquisition. A distrustful sovereign,
   Philip played royal bureaucrats against each other, leading to a system
   of checks and balances that would manage state affairs in a very
   inefficient manner, sometimes damaging state business (leading to the
   Perez affair - see Antonio Perez). Calls to move capital to Lisbon from
   the Castilian stronghold of Madrid — the new capital Philip established
   following the move from Valladolid — could have perhaps lead to a
   degree of decentralization, but Philip adamantly opposed such efforts.

   Philip's regime severely neglected farming in favour of sheep ranching,
   thus forcing Spain to import large amounts of grain and other foods by
   the mid-1560s. Presiding over a sharply divided conservative class
   structure, the Church and the upper classes were exempt from taxation
   (to be expected, considering their lack of parliamentary powers) while
   the tax burden fell disproportionately on the classes engaged in trade,
   commerce, and industry.

   Due to the inefficiencies of the Spanish state structure, industry was
   also greatly over-burdened by government regulations, though this was
   the common defect of all governments of the times. The dispersal of the
   Moriscos from Granada (motivated by the fear they might support a
   Muslim invasion) had serious negative economic effects, particularly in
   the region it affected.

   Inflation throughout Europe in the sixteenth century was a broad and
   complex phenomenon, but the flood of bullion from Americas was the main
   cause of it in Spain. Under Philip's reign, Spain saw a fivefold
   increase in prices. Due to inflation and a high tax burden for Spanish
   manufacturers and merchants Spanish industry was harmed and Spain’s
   riches were frittered away on imported manufactured goods by an
   opulent, status-obsessed aristocracy and Philip's wars. Increasingly
   the country became dependent on the revenues flowing in from the
   mercantile empire in the Americas, leading to Spain's first bankruptcy
   ( moratorium) in 1557 due to the rising costs of military efforts.
   Dependent on sales taxes from Castile and the Netherlands, Spain's tax
   base, which excluded the nobility and the wealthy church, had far too
   narrow a base to support Philip's grand plans. Philip became
   increasingly dependent on loans from foreign bankers, particularly in
   Genoa and Augsburg. By the end of his reign, interest payments on these
   loans alone would account for 40% of state revenue.

Philip becomes King of Portugal

   Philip became King of Portugal, and the success of colonization in
   America improved his financial position, enabling him to show greater
   aggression towards his enemies. In 1580, the direct line of the
   Portuguese royal family ended when Sebastian of Portugal died following
   a disastrous campaign in Morocco. His death gave Philip, his uncle, the
   pretext for claiming the throne through his mother, who was also a
   Portuguese princess (see struggle for the throne of Portugal). As a
   matter of fact, Philip had been brought up by Portuguese courtesans
   during his early life and spoke Portuguese as his native tongue until
   the death of his mother. He met little resistance in Lisbon, and his
   power helped him to seize the throne, which would be kept a personal
   union for sixty years. Philip famously remarked upon his acquisition of
   the Portuguese throne: "I inherited, I bought, I conquered", a
   variation on Julius Caesar and Veni, Vidi, Vici. Thus, Philip added to
   his possessions a vast colonial empire in Africa, Brazil, and the East
   Indies, seeing a flood of new revenues coming to the Habsburg crown. In
   the ruling of Portugal however, Philip showed tact, trimming his beard
   and wearing clothes in the Portuguese style, and ruling from Lisbon for
   the next couple of years, leaving Portuguese privileges and forals
   alone.

Turkish threat in the Mediterranean

   In the early part of his reign, Philip was concerned with the rising
   power of the Ottoman Empire under Suleyman the Magnificent. Fear of
   Islamic domination in the Mediterranean caused him to pursue an
   aggressive foreign policy.

   In 1558 Turkish admiral Piyale Pasha captured the Balearic Islands,
   especially inflicting great damage on Minorca and enslaving many, while
   raiding the coasts of the Spanish mainland. Philip appealed to the Pope
   and other powers in Europe to bring an end to the rising Ottoman
   threat. Since his father's losses against the Ottomans and against
   Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha in 1541, the major European sea powers in
   the Mediterranean, namely Spain and Venice, became hesitant in
   confronting the Ottomans. The myth of "Turkish invincibility" was
   becoming a popular story, causing fear and panic among the people.

   In 1560 Philip II organized a Holy League between Spain and the
   Republic of Venice, the Republic of Genoa, the Papal States, the Duchy
   of Savoy and the Knights of Malta. The joint fleet was assembled at
   Messina and consisted of 200 ships and 30,000 soldiers under the
   command of Giovanni Andrea Doria, nephew of the famous Genoese admiral
   Andrea Doria who had lost three major battles against the Turks in
   1538, 1541 and 1552.

   On March 12, 1560, the Holy League captured the island of Djerba which
   had a strategic location and could control the sea routes between
   Algiers and Tripoli. As a response, Suleiman the Magnificent sent an
   Ottoman fleet of 120 ships under the command of Piyale Pasha, which
   arrived at Djerba on May 9, 1560. The battle lasted until May 14, 1560,
   and the forces of Piyale Pasha and Turgut Reis (who joined Piyale Pasha
   on the third day of the battle) had an overwhelming victory at the
   Battle of Djerba. The Holy League lost more than 60 galleys and 20,000
   men, and Giovanni Andrea Doria could barely escape with a small vessel.
   The Ottomans retook the Fortress of Djerba, whose Spanish commander, D.
   Alvaro de Sande, attempted to escape with a ship but was followed and
   eventually captured by Turgut Reis. In 1596 Ottoman forces took control
   of Tunis that had been nominally a Spanish protectorate since its
   conquest by Charles I in 1535 at the behest of Mulay Hassan.

   The grave threat posed by the increasing Ottoman domination of the
   Mediterranean was reversed in one of history's most decisive battles,
   with the destruction of nearly the entire Ottoman fleet at the Battle
   of Lepanto in 1571, by the Holy League under the command of Philip's
   half brother, Don John of Austria. A fleet sent by Philip, again
   commanded by Don John, reconquered Tunis from the Ottomans in 1573.
   However, the Turks soon rebuilt their fleet and in 1574 Uluç Ali Reis
   managed to recapture Tunis with a force of 250 galleys and a siege
   which lasted 40 days.

   In 1585 a peace treaty was signed with the Ottomans.

War with England

   Spanish hegemony and the Counter-Reformation achieved a clear boost
   when Philip married Mary Tudor — a Catholic — in 1554 (the older
   daughter of Henry VIII, and his father's first cousin). However, they
   had no children (a child would have been heir to all but France); Queen
   Mary, or "Bloody Mary" as she was known by English Protestants, died in
   1558 before the union could revitalize the Catholic Church in England.

   The throne went to the formidable Elizabeth, the Protestant daughter of
   Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. This union was deemed illegitimate by
   English Catholics, who did not recognize divorce and who claimed that
   Mary Queen of Scots, the Catholic great-granddaughter of Henry VII, was
   the legitimate heir to the throne.

   The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587 ended Philip's hopes of
   placing a Catholic on the English throne. He turned instead to more
   direct plans to return England to Catholicism by invasion. His
   opportunity came when England provided support for the Dutch rebels. In
   1588 he sent a fleet of vessels, Spanish Armada, to lead an invasion.
   However, a so-called "Protestant Wind" thwarted Spanish ambitions,
   enabling the small, deftly maneuverable English ships to defeat the
   larger and less-maneuverable Spanish ships. Eventually, three more
   Armadas were deployed; two were sent to England ( 1596 and 1597), both
   of which also failed; the third (1599) was diverted to the Azores and
   Canarie Islands to fend off raids there. This Anglo-Spanish war
   (1585-1604) would be fought to a grinding end, but not until both
   Philip II (d. 1598) and Elizabeth I (d. 1603) were dead.

   The stunning defeat of the Spanish Armada gave great heart to the
   Protestant cause across Europe. Many Spaniards blamed the admiral of
   the Armada for its failure, but Philip was not among them. The Spanish
   navy was rebuilt, and intelligence networks were improved. An example
   of the character of Philip II can be given by the fact that he
   personally saw that the wounded of this expedition were treated and
   received a pension, which was unusual for the time.

   While the invasion had been averted, England was unable to take
   advantage of this success. An attempt to use her newfound advantage at
   sea with a counter armada the following year failed disastrously.
   Likewise, English buccaneering and attempts to seize territories in the
   Caribbean (though Cadiz was destroyed by an Anglo-Dutch force in a
   failed raid to seize the treasure fleet) were defeated by Spain's
   rebuilt navy and her intelligence networks.

   Even though Philip was bankrupt by 1596, (for the fourth time, after
   France had declared war on Spain) in the last decade of his life more
   silver and gold was shipped safely to Spain than ever before. This
   allowed Spain to continue military efforts.

War with France

   From 1590 to 1598 Philip was also at war against Henry IV of France,
   joining with the Papacy and the Duke of Guise in the Catholic League
   during the French Wars of Religion. Philip's interventions in the
   fighting - sending Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma to relieve the
   siege of Paris in 1590, and again into Rouen in 1592 - to aid the
   Catholic faction, was disastrous in terms of the Dutch Revolt, allowing
   the Dutch forces opportunities time to regroup and refortify their
   defenses. Henry IV of France was also able to use his propagandists to
   identify the Catholic faction with a foreign enemy (Philip and Spain).
   In 1593, Henry agreed to convert to Catholicism; this caused most
   French Catholics to rally to his side against the Spanish forces. In
   June 1595 the redoubtable French king defeated the Spanish supported
   Holy League in Fontaine-Francaise in Burgundy and reconquered Amiens
   from the overstretched Spanish forces in September 1597. The 1598
   Treaty of Vervins was largely a restatement of the 1559 Peace of
   Cateau-Cambrésis; meanwhile, Henry issued the Edict of Nantes, which
   offered a high degree of religious toleration for French Protestants.
   The military intervention in France thus ended in a disappointing
   fashion for Philip, as it failed to either oust Henry from the throne
   or suppress Protestantism in France. However, the conversion of Henry
   also ensured that Catholicism would remain France's majority faith.

Legacy

   Under Philip II Spain reached the peak of its power but also met its
   limits. Having nearly reconquered the rebellious Netherlands, Philip's
   unyielding attitude led to their loss, this time permanently, as his
   wars expanded in scope and complexity. So in spite of the great and
   increasing quantities of gold and silver flowing into his coffers from
   the American mines, the riches of the Portuguese spice trade and the
   enthusiastic support of the Habsburg dominions for the
   Counter-Reformation he would never succeed in suppressing
   Protestantantism or defeating the Dutch rebellion. Early in his reign
   the Dutch may have laid down their weapons if he had desisted in trying
   to suppress Protestantism, but his devotion to Roman Catholicism and
   the principle of cuius regio, eius religio, as laid down by his father,
   would not permit him. He was a fervent Roman Catholic, and exhibited
   the typical 16th century disdain for religious heterodoxy.

   Philip's wars against what he perceived to be heresies led not only to
   the persecution of Protestants, but also to the harsh treatment of the
   Moriscos, causing a massive local uprising in 1568. The damage of these
   endless wars would ultimately undermine the Spanish Habsburg empire
   after his passing. His endless meddling in details, inability to
   prioritise and failure to effectively delegate authority hamstrung his
   government and led to the creation of a cumbersome and overly
   centralised bureaucracy. Under the weak leadership of his successors it
   would drift towards disaster. Yet such was the strength of the system
   he and his father had built this did not start to become clearly
   apparent until a generation after his death.

   However Philip II's reign cannot simply be characterised as a failure.
   He consolidated Spain's overseas empire, succeeded in massively
   increasing the importation of silver in the face of English, Dutch and
   French privateering, and ended the major threat posed to Europe by the
   Ottoman navy (though periphery clashes would be ongoing throughout his
   reign). He succeeded in uniting Portugal and Spain through personal
   union. He dealt successfully with a crisis that could have led to the
   secession of Aragon. His efforts also contributed substantially to the
   success of the Catholic Reformation in checking the religious tide of
   Protestantism in Northern Europe. Philip was a complex man, and though
   given to suspicion of members of his court, was not the cruel tyrant
   that he has been painted by his opponents. Philip was known to
   intervene personally on behalf of the humblest of his subjects. Above
   all a man of duty; he was also trapped by it.

   He died in 1598 and was succeeded by his son, King Philip III. Philip
   II's enemies (generally Protestant propagandists) were instrumental in
   the creation of the Black Legend of Spain, which painted the king as a
   merciless, bloodthirsty tyrant and the Spanish empire as being built
   upon greed, deception, and destruction.

Family

Ancestors

   CAPTION: Philip's ancestors in three generations

   Philip II of
   Spain/Philip I of Portugal Father:
   Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Paternal Grandfather:
   Philip I of Castile Paternal Great-Grandfather:
   Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
   Paternal Great-grandmother:
   Mary of Burgundy
   Paternal Grandmother:
   Joanna of Castile Paternal Great-Grandfather:
   Ferdinand II of Aragon
   Paternal Great-Grandmother:
   Isabella of Castile
   Mother:
   Isabella of Portugal Maternal Grandfather:
   Manuel I of Portugal Maternal Great-Grandfather:
   Infante Fernando, Duke of Viseu
   Maternal Great-Grandmother:
   Beatriz of Portugal
   Maternal Grandmother:
   Maria of Aragon (sister of Joanna) Maternal Great-grandfather:
   Ferdinand II of Aragon
   Maternal Great-Grandmother:
   Isabella of Castile

Marriage and issue

     * His first marriage ( 1543) was to his cousin Princess Maria of
       Portugal, who provided him with a son, Don Carlos of Spain ( 1545–
       1568). Maria died in 1545.

     * Philip sought an alliance with the Kingdom of England, marrying the
       Catholic Queen Mary I of England in 1554. On occasion of the
       marriage, he was created King of Chile by his father and received
       the Kingdom of Naples and the title of King of Jerusalem which came
       with it, from him. Under the terms of the marriage, Philip became
       King Consort during the lifetime of his spouse. The marriage was
       unpopular with her subjects, and was a purely political alliance as
       far as Philip was concerned. On January 16, 1556, Philip succeeded
       to the throne of Spain, as a result of his father's abdication, but
       he did not choose to reside in the country until his father's death
       two years later. After Mary died childless in 1558, Philip showed
       an interest in marrying her Protestant younger half-sister, Queen
       Elizabeth I of England, but this plan fell through, for a number of
       reasons.

     * In 1559 the 60-year war with France ended with the signing of the
       Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis. A key element in the peace negotiations
       was Philip's marriage to Princess Elisabeth of Valois, daughter of
       Henry II of France, who had originally been promised to Philip's
       son, Carlos. Philip and Carlos were never particularly close, and
       when Philip suspected his son of conspiring against him, he had him
       imprisoned in his room. When the prince died shortly thereafter,
       from starving himself to death in protest, Philip's enemies accused
       him of having ordered Carlos's murder. Elisabeth ( 1545- 1568) did
       not provide Philip with a son, but did give him two daughters,
       Isabella Clara Eugenia and Catalina Micaela.

     * Philip's fourth marriage was to his niece Anna, daughter of the
       great emperor Maximilian II, who provided him with an heir, Philip
       III.

Philip in Fiction

   Philip II is a central character in Friedrich Schiller's play Don
   Carlos. He will be played by Jordi Molla in Shekhar Kapur's 2007 film
   Golden Age.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spain"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
