Encyclopedia
Philip II was the first official
King of Spain from 1556 until 1598,
king of Naples and Sicily from 1554 until 1598,
King of England from 1554 to 1558,
King of Portugal and the Algarves 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 and
Isabella, the daughter of king
Manuel I of Portugal, to survive childhood.
Reign
Empire
During Philip II's reign the
Philippine Islands were conquered and named for him and a
North American colony was established in
Florida. Trade across the Pacific between Asia and America, that would be carried by the famed
Manila galleons for nearly three centuries, was initiated in 1565.
But his reign was troubled by financial instability and threatened by
Muslim invasion, and other conflicts such as the
secession of the Netherlands, and wars with France and England. Philip also faced various rebellions against his rule within mainland
Spain, most notably the Morisco Revolt of 1568, and the
Aragonese revolt following the Antonio Perez affair, as Philip attempted to arrest him through use of the
Inquisition, thereby breaching the
fueros of
Aragon.
Spain's long conflict in the Netherlands , the defeat of its
Armada in 1588, and the economic strain of supporting so many wars with an inconsistent revenue stream forced Philip to maintain heavy taxation on too narrow a tax base. In the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands, Philip II continued the policies of heavy taxation since Charles V. Like Charles V, he continued to exclude local nobility from administration, preferring the use of a Castilian Consulta, maintained an army of occupation, and upheld an
Inquisition to stop the advance of
Calvinism.
Revolt in the Netherlands
Following the 1566
Calvinist revolt, Philip II set out to stamp out treason and heresy. Issuing a new sales tax of roughly ten percent to pay for the required military expenditures , the situation in the Netherlands only worsened. The region fell under open revolt once again in 1568 under
William the Silent of the House of Orange, crushed by the brutal Spanish Fury led by the
Duke of Alba, who convened the council of troubles , to condemn thousands to death and confiscate land. Following the Pacification of
Ghent in 1576, however, the disillusioned and malnourished Spanish troops mutinied. The Dutch Calvinists declared that Spanish soldiers must be expelled and to be governed by the Estates General. But the Spanish took advantage of the strong religious, cultural and linguistic variation between the southern and northern provinces, playing local aristocrats against each other and recapturing the Southern provinces. Secure behind the "Great Rivers" of the
Rhine delta, the north of the Netherlands emerged as the
United Provinces.
The seven United Provinces eventually declared their independence from the Spanish king in 1581 following the
Union of Utrecht of 1579, their leader,
William I, Prince of Orange was outlawed by Philip, and assassinated in 1584 by a Catholic fanatic. 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 . 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 favor 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 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 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 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 Portuguese royal family ended when
Sebastian of Portugal died following a disastrous campaign in
Morocco, giving Philip the pretext to claim the throne through his mother, who was also a Portuguese princess . As a matter of fact, Philip was brought up by Portuguese courtisans during his early life and spoke Portuguese as main language until the death of his mother. He met little resistance in Lisbon, and his power helped him seizing 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.
War with England
Spanish hegemony and the
Counter-Reformation achieved a clear boost when Philip married Mary Tudor — a Catholic — in 1554 . However, they had no children ;
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 manoeuverable English ships to defeat the larger and less-manoeurverable Spanish ships. Eventually, three more Armadas were deployed; two were sent to England , both of which also failed; the third was diverted to the Azores and Canarie Islands to fend off raids there. This Anglo-Spanish war would be fought to a grinding end, but not until both Philip II and Elizabeth I 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 were defeated by Spain's rebuilt navy and her intelligence networks.
Even though Philip was bankrupt by 1596, 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 he 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 . 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 Phillip, 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 the Protestant revolt 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 showed none of the imaginative flexibility and grasp of reality that was shown by his French counterpart, Henri IV. He never seems to have been troubled overmuch by the contradiction of demanding tolerance in Protestant lands for Catholics when showing none to Protestants in territories for which he claimed sovereignty. These wars against the heresies led not only to the persecution of Protestants, but also to the harsh treatment of the Moriscos, causing local insurgencies and economic damage in Spain itself. The damage of these endless wars would ultimately undermine the Spanish Habsburg empire after his passing. His endless meddling in details 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 uninterested successors it would drift towards disaster. Yet such was the strength of the system he and his father had built this would 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 greatly increasing the importation of silver in the face of English, Dutch and French bucaneering, and ended the threat posed to Europe by the Ottoman navy . 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 Counter-Reformation in staunching the collapse of the Roman Catholic faith. Philip was a complex man, and though given to suspicion of members of his court, was not the cruel tyrant that has been painted of him 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 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 was to his cousin Princess Maria of Portugal, who provided him with a son, Don Carlos of Spain . 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 a 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 did not provide Philip with a son, but did give him two daughters,
Isabella Clara Eugenia and Catalina Micaela.
Philip in Fiction
Philip II is a character in Friedrich Schiller's novel Don Carlos. Philip II is also a character in
Charles de Coster's novel, The Legend of Thyl Ulenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak.
References
External links
See also
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
Antonio, Prior of Crato| width="40%" align="center" |
King of Portugal1580–1598
| width="30%" align="center" rowspan="3" | Succeeded by:
Philip III/II|-
| width="30%" align="center" rowspan="4" | Preceded by:
Charles I| width="40%" align="center" |
King of Naples1554–1598
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King of Spain and Sicily1556–1598
|-
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Duke of Brabant, Guelders, Limburg, Lothier and Luxembourg
Count of Artois, Burgundy, Flanders, Hainaut and Namur1556–1598
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
Isabella and Albert|-
| width="40%" align="center" |
Count of Holland, Zeeland and Zutphen1556–1581
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lost to the United Provinces
