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[[Image:over specialized councils for state affairs, finance, war, and the Philip's regime severely 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 ([[his financial position, enabling him to show greater aggression towards his enemies. In 1580, the direct line of the Portuguese royal family 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 [[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, 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 with the destruction of the 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

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.

References

• Collin, Martin (2002). The Spanish Armada. Manchester University Press. ISBN 1-901341-14-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

• Henry Kamen "Philip of Spain"
• The Grand Strategy of Philip II"
• Philip II "Renaissance Man"
• Philip II of Spain (King of England)

See also

• Anglo-Spanish War (1585)
• Black Legend
• Counter-Reformation
• Eighty Years' War
• List of Spanish monarchs
• List of Portuguese monarchs
• Spanish Empire

• 1526 births
• 1598 deaths
• Spanish monarchs
• Portuguese monarchs
• Kings of Sicily
• Monarchs of Naples
• Kings consort
• Counter Reformation
• Eighty Years' War people
• Dukes of Brabant
• Dukes of Guelders
• Dukes of Milan
• Counts of Flanders
• Counts of Hainaut
• Counts of Holland
• Princes of Asturias
• House of Aviz
• House of Habsburg
• House of Tudor
• House of Valois
• Knights of the Garter
• Knights of the Golden Fleece