Philip+II+of+Spain

[|Philip of spain.mp3] Philip II of Spain was born on May 21, 1527 in Valladolid, Spain. He was the King of Spain (1556–98). Also of Portugal but was known as Philip I, 1580–98). The son of Emperor [|Charles V], Philip received from his father the duchy of Milan (1540), the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily (1554), the Netherlands (1555), and Spain and its overseas empire (1556). He ruled from the Netherlands from 1555 and waged a successful war against France in 1557. From 1559 he ruled from Spain, where he built the palace of El Escorial and encouraged Spain's literary golden age. He was a champion of the Counter-Reformation but failed to put down rebellions in the Netherlands (from 1568) and to conquer England, suffering the defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588). He gained a victory in the Mediterranean with the defeat of the Ottoman offensive at the Battle of Lepanto (1571) and unified the Iberian Peninsula as king of Portugal from 1580. During his reign the Spanish empire attained its greatest power, extent, and influence. http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9439348


 * Cheif defender of Catholic Europe against the Ottoman Turks and the forces of the Protestant Reformation.
 * successfully secured his succession to the throne of Portugal in 1580 and was known as Philip I
 * He married Queen Mary or "Bloody Mary"
 * Was apart of wars with France and England

Furton, E. (Ed.). (2003). Philip II, King of Spain. In //New Catholic Encyclopedia// (2nd ed., Farmington Hills: Vol. 11). Thomson Gale.

=Philip II= tt=29 King of [|Spain], only son of the [|Emperor Charles V], and Isabella of [|Portugal], b. at [|Valladolid], 21 May, 1527; d. at the [|Escorial], 13 Sept., 1598. He was carefully [|educated] in the [|sciences], learned French and Latin, though he never spoke anything but [|Castilian], and also showed much interest in architecture and music. In 1543 he married his cousin, Maria of [|Portugal], who died at the birth of Don Carlos (1545). He was appointed regent of [|Spain] with a council by [|Charles V]. In 1554 he married[|Mary Tudor], Queen of [|England], who was eleven years his senior. This political marriage gave [|Spain] an indirect influence on affairs of [|England], recently restored to [|Catholicism]; but in 1555 Philip was summoned to the Low Countries, and Mary's death in the same year [actually in 1558 -- //Ed.//] severed the connection between the two countries. At a solemn conference held at [|Brussels], 22 Oct., 1555, [|Charles V] ceded to Philip the Low Countries, the crowns of Castille, [|Aragon], and [|Sicily], on 16 Jan., 1556, and the countship of [|Burgundy] on the tenth of June. He even thought of securing for him the imperial crown, but the opposition of his brother Ferdinandcaused him to abandon that project. Having become king, Philip, devoted to [|Catholicism], defended the Faith throughout the world and opposed the progress of [|heresy], and these two things are the key to his whole reign. He did both by means of absolutism. His reign began unpleasantly for a [|Catholic] sovereign. He had signed with [|France] the Treaty of Vaucelles (5 Feb., 1556), but it was soon broken by [|France], which joined [|Paul IV] against him. Like [|Julius II] this [|pope] longed to drive the foreigners out of [|Italy]. Philip had two [|wars] on his hands at the same time, in [|Italy] and in the Low Countries. In [|Italy] the [|Duke of Alva], Viceroy of [|Naples], defeated the [|Duke of Guise] and reduced the [|pope] to such distress that he was forced to make peace. Philip granted this on the most favourable terms and the [|Duke of Alva] was even [|obliged] to ask the [|pope's] pardon for having invaded the [|Pontifical States]. In the Low Countries Philip defeated the French at Saint Quentin (1557) and Gravelines (1558) and afterwards signed the Peace of Cateau-Cambresis (3 April, 1559), which was sealed by his marriage with Elizabeth of Valois, daughter of Henry II. Peace concluded, Philip, who had been detained in the Low Countries, returned to [|Spain]. For more than forty years he directed from his cabinet the affairs of the monarchy. He resided alternately at [|Madrid] which he made the capital of the kingdom and in //villégiatures//, the most famous of which is the [|Escorial], which he built in fulfillment of a [|vow] made at the time of the battle of Saint Quentin. In [|Spain], Philip continued the policy of the [|Catholic]Ferdinand and Isabella. He was merciless in the supression of the [|Lutheran heresy], which had appeared in various parts of the country, notably at Valladolid and Seville. "If my own son were guilty like you", he replied to a gentleman condemned to [|death] for [|heresy] who had reproached him for his cruelty, "I should lead him with my own hands to the stake". He succeeded in exterminating [|Protestantism] in [|Spain], but encountered another enemy no less dangerous. The Moriscoes of the ancient [|Kingdom of Granada] had been conquered, but they remained the implacable enemies of their conquerors, from whom they were separated by religion, language, dress, and manners, and they plotted incessantly with the [|Mussulmans] outside the country. Philip wished to force them to renounce their language and dress, whereupon they revolted and engaged in a bloody struggle against [|Spain] which lasted three years (1567-70) until ended by Don Juan, natural son of [|Charles V]. The defeated Moriscoes were transplanted in great numbers to the interior of the country. Another event of historical importance in Philip's reign was the conquest of [|Portugal] in 1580. After the death of the young King Sebastian at the battle of Alcazar (1578) and that of his successor the aged CardinalHenry (1580), Philip II, who through his mother was a grandson of King Emmanuel, pleaded his title of heir and sent the [|Duke of Alva] to occupy the country. This was the only conquest of the reign. Iberian unity, thus realized, lasted from 1580 to 1640. Other events were the troubles in [|Aragon], which were fomented by AntonioPerez, former secretary of the king. Being pursued for high treason he sought refuge in his native country, and appealed for protection to its //fueros// that he might not be delivered to the [|Castilian]judges, nor to the [|Inquisition]. The inhabitants of Saragossa defended him by force of arms and he succeeded in escaping abroad, but Philip sent an army to punish [|Aragon], infringed on the //fueros// and established absolutism in the [|Kingdom of Aragon], hitherto proud of its freedom (1592). In the Low Countries, where Philip had committed the government to his aunt [some sources say half-sister --//Ed.//], Margaret of [|Parma], the nobles, chafed because of their want of influence, plotted and trumped up grievances. They protested against the presence in the country of several thousands of Spanish soldiers, against [|Cardinal de Granvelle's] influence with the regent, and against the severity of [|Charles V's]decrees against [|heresy]. Philip recalled the Spanish soldiers and the [|Cardinal de Granvelle], but he refused to mitigate the decrees and declared that he did not wish to reign over a nation of [|heretics]. The difficulties with the [|Iconoclasts] having broken out he [|swore] to punish them and sent thither the [|Duke of Alva] with an army, whereupon Margaret of [|Parma] resigned. Alva behaved as though in a conquered country, caused the arrest and execution of Count Egmont and de Hornes, who were accused of complicity with the rebels, created the Council of Troubles, which was popularly styled the "Council of Blood", defeated the Prince of Orange and his brother who had invaded the country with German mercenaries, but could not prevent the "Sea-beggars" from capturing Brille. He followed up his military successes but was recalled in 1573. His successorRequesens could not recover Leyden. Influenced by the Prince of Orange the provinces concluded the "Pacification of Ghent" which regulated the religious situation in the Low Countries without royal intervention. The new governor, Don Juan, upset the calculations of Orange by accepting the "Pacification", and finally the Prince of Orange decided to proclaim Philip'sdeposition by the revolted provinces. The king replied by placing the prince under the ban; shortly afterwards he was slain by an assassin (1584). Nevertheless, the united provinces did not submit and were lost to [|Spain]. Those of the South, however, were recovered one after another by the new governor, AlexanderFarnese, Prince of [|Parma]. But he having died in 1592 and the [|war] becoming more difficult against the rebels, led by the great general Maurice of Nassau, son of William of Orange, Philip II realized that he must change his policy and ceded the Low Countries to his daughter Isabella, whom he espoused to the ArchdukeAlbert of [|Austria], with the provision that the provinces would be returned to [|Spain] in case there were no children by this union (1598). (See [|ALVA]; [|EGMONT]; [|GRANVELLE]; [|NETHERLANDS].) The object of Philip's reign was only partly realized. He had safeguarded the religiousunity of [|Spain] and had exterminated [|heresy] in the southern Low Countries, but the northern Low Countries were lost to him forever. Philip had three enemies to contend with abroad, [|Islam], [|England], and [|France]. [|Islam] was master of the Mediterranean, being in possession of the Balkan Peninsula, [|Asia Minor], [|Egypt], all the coast of northern Africa (Tunis, [|Algiers], [|Morocco]); it had just conquered the [|Island of Cyprus] and laid siege to the Island of Malta (1505), which had valiantly repulsed the assault. Dragut, the Ottoman admiral, was the terror of the Mediterranean. On several occasions Philip had fought against the [|Mussulman] peril, meeting alternately with success and defeat. He therefore eagerly joined the HolyLeague organized by [|Pius V] to resist [|Islam], and which [|Venice]consented to join. The fleet of the League, commanded by Don Juan, brother of Philip II, inflicted on the [|Turkish] fleet the terrible defeat of Lepanto (7 Oct., 1571), the results of which would have been greater had [|Venice] not [|proved] [|false] and if [|Pius V] had not died in 1572. Nevertheless, the [|Turkish] domination of the Mediterranean was ended and in 1578 Philip concluded a treaty with the [|Turks] which lasted till the end of his reign. Relations of intimacy with [|England] had ceased at the death of [|Mary Tudor]. Philip attempted to renew them by his chimerical project of marriage with Elizabeth, who had not yet become the cruel persecutor of [|Catholicism]. When she constituted herself the protectress of [|Protestant]interest. throughout the world and did all in her power to encourage the revolt of the Low Countries, Philip thought of contending with her in her own country by espousing the cause of [|Mary Stuart], but Elizabeth did away with the latter in 1587, and furnished relief to the Low Countries against Philip, who thereupon armed an immense fleet (the Invincible Armada) against [|England]. But being led by an incompetent commander it accomplished nothing and was almost wholly destroyed by storms (1588). This was an irreparable disaster which inaugurated [|Spain's] naval decline. The English corsairs could with impunity pillage her colonies and under Drake even her own coast; in 1596 the Duke of Essex pillaged the flourishing town of Cadiz, and the sceptre of the seas passed from [|Spain] to [|England]. From 1559 Philip II had been at peace with [|France], and had contented himself with urging it to crush out [|heresy]. French intervention in favour of the Low Countries did not cause him to change his attitude, but when at the death of Henry III in 1589 the [|Protestant]Henry of Bourbon became heir to the throne of [|France], Philip II allied himself with the [|Guises], who were at the head of the League, supplied them with money and men, and on several occasions sent to their relief his great general AlexanderFarnese. He even dreamed of obtaining the crown of [|France] for his daughter Isabella, but this daring project was not realized. The conversion of Henry IV (1593). to [|Catholicism] removed the last obstacle to his accession to the Frenchthrone. Apparently Philip II failed to grasp the situation, since he continued for two years more the [|war] against Henry IV, but his fruitless efforts were finally terminated in 1595 by the [|absolution] of Henry IV by [|Clement VIII]. No sovereign has been the object of such diverse judgments. While the [|Spaniards] regarded him as their Solomon and called him "the prudent king" (//el rey prudente//), to [|Protestants] he was the "demon of the south" (//dæmon meridianus//) and most cruel of tyrants. This was because, having constituted himself the defender of [|Catholicism] throughout the world, he encountered innumerable enemies, not to mention such adversaries as AntonioPerez and William of Orange who maligned him so as to justify their treason. Subsequently poets (Schiller in his "Don Carlos"), romance-writers, and publicists repeated these [|calumnies]. As a matter of fact Philip II joined great qualities to great faults. He was industrious, tenacious, devoted to study, serious, simple-mannered, generous to those who served him, the friend and patron of arts. He was a dutiful son, a loving husband and father, whose [|family]worshipped him. His [|piety] was fervent, he had a boundless devotion to the [|Catholic] [|Faith] and was, moreover, a [|zealous] lover of Justice. His stoical strength in adversity and the [|courage] with which he endured the sufferings of his last illness are worthy of admiration. On the other hand he was cold, suspicious, secretive, scrupulous to excess, indecisive and procrastinating, little disposed to clemency or forgetfulness of wrongs. His religion was austere and sombre. He could not understand opposition to [|heresy] except by force. Imbued with [|ideas] of absolutism, as were all the rulers of his time, he was led into acts disapproved by the morallaw. His cabinet policy, always behind-hand with regard to events and ill-informed concerning the [|true] situation, explains his failures to a great extent. To sum up we may cite the opinion of Baumstark: "He was a sinner, as we all are, but he was also a king and a [|Christian] king in the full sense of the term". http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12002a.htm

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Philip II of Spain also known as Philip I of Portugal was born on May 21 1527 in Valladolid, Spain to His parents Isabella of Portugal and Holy Roman Emperor Charles the fifth. Philip was educated in the sciences while showing interest in architecture and music and also learned French and Latin along with Castilian. Philip influence a literary golden age in Spain and under him the Spanish empire attainted its greatest power. In 1543 he married his first wife Mary Manuela of Portugal but she would later die giving birth to Philip’s son Don Carlos. He would get married again in 1554 this time to Mary Tudor Queen of England also well known as “Bloody Mary” for killing almost 300 dissenters at the stake during the Marian Persecutions. This marriage gave Spain an influence on England affairs. After Queen Mary’s death in 1555 Philip was given the Low Countries, the crowns of Castille, Aragon, Sicily and also the count ship of Burgundy, later to be known as the Spanish Netherlands. He was summoned to the Low Countries and faced many problems but Philip defeated the French in 1557 at Saint Quentin and in 1558 defeated the Gravelines. The peace treaty of Caeau-Cambresis was sealed with his marriage with his third wife Elizabeth of Valois the oldest daughter of Henry the second of Spain. Philip then returned to Madrid Spain which he made the city the capital of the kingdom and built the Escorial. Philip was very devoted to Catholicism which would be one of the keys to his reign. Speaking with a man condemned to death for heresy Philip said “If my own son were guilty like you…I should lead him with my own hands to the stake”. His exterminating of Protestantism in Spain earned him the name “the demon of the south”. This devotion led to Philip telling the Moriscoes of the Ancient Kingdom of Granada to change their language and dress. As a result the Moricoes revolted until Don Carlos, Philips son, ended the 3 year struggle and transplanted the Moriscoes to the middle of the country. Also around the same time Philip at the beginning of his reign feared Suleiman the magnificent, the Ottoman Empire and Islamic domination in the Mediterranean. With the Pope and other European powers backing Spain and Philip the Holy League was formed. The Holy League was comprised of Spain, the Republics of Venice and Genoa, the Papal States, the Duchy of Savoy and the Knights of Malta. In 1571 the decisive battle of Lepanto almost the entire Ottoman Fleet was destroyed and also captured the city of Tunis located on the Mediterranean. The Ottoman fleet then rebuilt and re-conquered Tunis in 1974 and a treaty was signed with the Ottomans in 1574 but the Battle of Lepanto had ended the Ottomans complete dominance in the Mediterranean. In 1580 Sebastian of Portugal died on a campaign in Morocco and in 1581 Philip was crowned Philip the first, King of Portugal. Upon taking the Portuguese throne he said one of his famous quotes “ I inherited, I bought, I conquered” a variation of Julius Caesars quote. Philip next turned to England where Queen Elizabeth, a protestant was about to take the throne who most people seemed illegitimate. They claimed that Mary Queen of Scots was the proper heir to the throne but her execution ended that hope for Philip. This led Philip to invade and begin the Anglo-Spanish War 1596. The war would be a fight to a finish but neither Philip the second nor Queen Elizabeth would see the end of the war both dying before its end. At the same time Philip was also with war with France over religion his usual reason for going to war. The war ended with the Treaty of Vervins and the Edict of Nantes which offered toleration for French Protestants. Philip had now successfully reestablished Catholicism in the Low Countries and force to French monarchy to abandon his Protestant ways. Philip the second was a true defender of the catholic faith. IN 1598 Philip died of cancer at El Escorial and was succeeded by his son Philip the third media type="file" key="Philip of spain.mp3"media type="file" key="Philip of spain.mp3"