How could a king known for his prudence lead the ‘invincible’ Spanish Armada to its most humiliating defeat? Let’s find out.Philip II was born in 1527 to Charles I of Spain (Holy Roman Emperor) and Isabella of Portugal. When he was crowned King of Spain in 1556, he already had experience running the country, having served intermittently as his father’s regent since 1543. During this time, he dutifully followed his father’s advice.
Philip II of Spain’s policies
His accession marked a fundamental political continuity, for Charles I had given him instructions on how to govern, and he dutifully followed them:
Fig. 1: Portrait of King Philip II of Spain.
Philips II’s marriages
Philip entered into four marriages in the course of his life:
She died in 1545, shortly after the birth of their son Don Carlos.
This marriage made him joint sovereign of England until she died in 1558.
This marriage with the daughter of Henry II of France was the result of an agreement called the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis, which ended the wars against Spain and France. They had two daughters: Isabella Clara Eugenia and Catherine Micaela. Elizabeth died in 1568.
Anna was the daughter of Emperor Maximilian II. Philip and Anna produced one surviving son, Philip III. Then Anna died in 1580.
Philip II’s empire
Like his father, Philip was set to inherit a large empire. He received the duchy of Milan from his father in 1540, then the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily in 1554. In 1556, he received the title of the Duke of Burgundy and King of Spain.
However, he did not inherit the Holy Roman Empire, which went to Charles V’s brother Ferdinand I instead. This initial setback was arguably beneficial to Philip, considering his father’s issues trying to rule an entire empire. Furthermore, Philip would likely have encountered problems in Germany. He was unpopular with German nobles due to his poor language skills and reserved personality.
Fig. 2: Philip II’s family tree
FThe Prudent King
He inherited titles and a weak financial position because his father had spent a lot of money on foreign wars. Philip had to declare bankruptcy already in the first year of his reign, and during his whole career, he had to work hard to get the financial problems under control.He was sometimes called the prudent or paper king because he was meticulous in all his decisions and worked slowly, often to Spain’s detriment.But Philip’s reign also restored stability to Spain after Charles I’s absenteeism and neglect of the country. The rule is associated with prosperity and Spanish culture (sometimes called the Golden Age), as Spain’s colonial expansion began to have a noticeable impact on Spanish society.
What opposition did Philip II face in Spain?
Unlike Charles, Philip spent almost his entire reign in the Iberian Peninsula. However, this did not prevent opposition to him in his homeland. Philip ruled from Madrid in the monastic palace of El Escorial, and his subjects outside Castile never saw him, which fostered resentment and criticism.
Antonio Pérez
From 1573 onward, Philip relied heavily on his advisor Pérez for advice and policy. However, Pérez caused disputes in the government by arguing about policy with Don Juan, Philip’s half-brother and governor of the Netherlands, and his secretary, Juan de Escobedo. Pérez portrayed Don Juan in a negative light to Philip in order to turn him against him, prompting Philip to block Don Juan’s plans for Flanders.
Assassination
When Escobedo was sent to Madrid to investigate why all of Don Juan’s plans were blocked, he realised this and threatened Pérez. As a result, he was murdered in the open street in 1578; Pérez was immediately suspected of having been involved.Philip’s unwillingness to discipline Pérez caused unrest among Escobedo’s family and the King’s private secretary, Mateo Vázquez, briefly threatening the stability of his government. In 1579, Philip read Don Juan’s personal papers, recognised Pérez’s deceit, and had him imprisoned.
Consequences
The crisis was averted, but Philip’s distrust of his servants and advisors remained throughout his reign. Pérez would cause problems again in the later years of Philip’s reign during the Revolt of Aragon.
The Morisco Uprising (1568-1570)
During his reign, Philip II was increasingly concerned about the Moors in Granada and their attempts to rebel against him.
Background
The Emirate of Granada was one of the last Moorish kingdoms in Spain until Ferdinand II conquered it in 1492. Many Muslim inhabitants remained but were forced to convert to Catholicism. These converts were known as Moriscos. They had been formally baptised into Catholicism but retained their culture, and many still practised their faith in secret.
Moors are the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, and Malta.
Uprising
In 1566, Philip banned the expressions of Moorish culture, which naturally aroused antipathy. On Christmas Eve 1568, this antipathy erupted in a rebellion against Philip. A deadly two-year rebellion ensued, supported by the Ottomans until it was crushed in 1570.
Consequences
Philip issued a decree expelling some 50,000 Moors from Granada to be settled in Léon and other surrounding cities. This expulsion was harsh, and more than a quarter died during the process.
Philip’s brutal suppression of the uprising showed his lack of tolerance for anyone he considered a heretic or a threat to the Catholic religion.
The Revolt of Aragon (1591–92)
The kingdoms of Aragon and Castile were united under the rule of Ferdinand and Isabella but remained independent with different languages, forms of government and cultures. The nobility of Aragon detested the Castilian nobility and was concerned that Philip would try to impose Castilian culture on Aragon, as it was traditionally the preferred kingdom. The people of Aragon were proud of their heritage, language and traditional rights (fueros) and did not want Castilian values to override them.
Fueros were the laws of the non-Castilian areas of Spain.
Marquis of Almenara
In the 1580s, Aragon had lost control of Aragon and needed to restore its power. He sent the Marquis of Almenara there as viceroy to settle a dispute between the king’s most important minister, the Duke of Villahermosa, and one of Aragon’s most powerful nobles, the Count of Chincon. The people of Aragon did not receive this decision and saw it as an attempt to assert Castilian supremacy in the kingdom.
Viceroy was the title given to someone who governs a country or province as a representative of the king/queen.
Pérez
In 1590, Philip’s disgraced former advisor Pérez broke out of prison and fled to Aragon, where he was relatively safe because of his Aragonese family. When Philip tried to transfer Pérez to a court where Aragon had less control, a Zaragoza mob freed him and beat Almenara so severely that he died of injuries.
Intervention
After another attempt to transfer Pérez resulted in a mob liberation, Philip sent an armed force of 12,000 men to intervene in 1591. Philip’s men executed the Justicia of Aragon, Lanuza, and in 1592 the fighting ended when an amnesty was agreed upon.
Amnesty is an official pardon that forgives people for a crime they have been accused of.
Consequences
Philip quickly put down the rebellion, proving his ability to control internal affairs in the last years of his reign. It was also criticised as unnecessary use of force, which increased Aragon’s distrust of Castile and led to Aragon remaining autonomous. Pérez fled to England, where he spread propaganda about Philip.
Autonomous means existing independently and having the power to govern itself.
Religion under Philip II
Philip, like his predecessors, was passionately religious. He was convinced that Catholicism had to be protected in Europe, stating:
I would prefer to lose all my dominions and a hundred lives if I had them because I do not wish to be lord over heretics.¹
The idea of protection against Protestantism mainly motivated his involvement in foreign wars.
Religious threats under Philip
Under Philip, the Spanish Inquisition continued to eradicate heretics in Spain, focusing mainly on Jews and Muslims. However, the threat of Protestantism had grown stronger during the reign of Charles I and into Philip’s reign.
You might face an exam question of this sort:
‘The religious policies of Philip II were ill-conceived and ineffective. Evaluate the accuracy of this view.’
You need to evaluate the effectiveness of his religious policies by comparing his successes and failures and then come to your conclusion using them as evidence. You might also distinguish between policies that were doomed to fail and those that were poorly executed. Here are some arguments you could make.
For (ineffective policies) | Against (effective policies) |
- His persecution of Jews, Muslims, and Protestants fueled resentment and led to underground dissent.
- His religious zeal drove him to wage costly and counterproductive wars against France, England, and the Mediterranean.
- His religious policies in the Netherlands made him highly unpopular and led to the Eighty Years War, which culminated in Dutch independence from Spain.
- He continued the Spanish Inquisition, which was largely ineffective in enforcing conformity.
| - Whilst it failed to suppress Protestantism in the Netherlands, Spain remained virtually free from any influence of the Reformation. Whilst many other countries were embroiled in internal religious wars, Spain was able to focus on foreign policy.
- His policies established Catholicism as the only true religion in Spain and the American Empire.
- The rest of Europe recognised Spain as a leading Catholic power.
- In Spain, the Crown retained complete control over the Church.
|
What was Philip II’s foreign policy?
Philip continued to engage in wars that had dominated his father’s reign. He fought in Italy against the Valois monarchy of France and in North Africa against the Ottomans in the 1550s and 1590s. Philip saw himself as the protector of Catholicism in Europe and intervened in states that had turned to Protestantism. These wars led to increasing financial difficulties in Spain. The high taxes led to a social division between the rich and workers who did not receive wages.
War with the Ottoman Empire and the Battle of Lepanto
Spain had been waging a major naval war against the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean for decades. Charles V had fought against the Ottoman Empire’s expansion in the Mediterranean, and Philip continued his father’s work. After a defeat by the Ottomans in 1560, Philip overhauled his forces and created a far more effective fleet.
Battle of Lepanto
Philip reaped the rewards of this new, improved fleet at the Battle of Lepanto in the Gulf of Patras off western Greece in 1571. The Christian forces successfully defeated the Ottoman forces in what was considered a pivotal moment in history.
Consequences
The battle and the success of the Christian army were often portrayed as a complete triumph for Philip II. He ceded control of the western Mediterranean to Spain and opened the shipping routes. However, some historians believe that this view is exaggerated. Ottoman policy in the Mediterranean changed from aggression to defence after Lepanto. Still, historians such as Kate Fleet argue that this was due more to concerns about Hungary and Iran than to defeat.²
The French Wars of Religion (1562–98)
The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis and Philip’s marriage to Elizabeth of Valois ended the Franco-Spanish wars over Italy. However, a new problem emerged in a religious civil war in France.
Philip, driven by the need to eradicate heresy in Europe, intervened in the French Wars of Religion (1562-1598), which were fought between French Catholics (the Catholic League) and Protestants (the Huguenots). He financed the efforts of the French Catholics against Henry IV.
These efforts were unsuccessful, and Spain failed to suppress Protestantism in France.
Nevertheless, the intervention was not entirely without success. Henry IV eventually converted to Catholicism, and the wars ended in 1598.
The Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648)
Beginning in 1568, Philip faced a rebellion in the Netherlands. Protestantism was gaining ground in the Netherlands, which was still under Spanish (Catholic) rule and had been handed over to Philip by Charles II. High taxation for the wars of the Holy Roman Empire and the rising popularity of Protestantism led to growing dissatisfaction with Spanish rule in the Netherlands. In 1568, the Dutch revolted against Spanish rule.
The revolt was violently put down, heretics were killed, and the Protestant Prince William of Orange was assassinated. This marked the beginning of the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648). England’s support for the Dutch and continued piracy against Spanish ships also drove Spain into war with England in 1585.
Philip II was known as the ‘Black Legend’ in Protestant lands, a monster of bigotry, ambition, lust, and cruelty. It is questionable to what extent this is true. It is likely that Philip’s II enemies, such as Pérez, and supporters of Protestantism, spread this rumour.
The Anglo-Spanish War and the defeat of the Spanish Armada (1585–1604)
Also, out of concern for Protestantism in Europe, Philip later went to war with England to reintroduce Catholicism in 1585. The conflict was intermittent but lengthy and costly to Spain until Philip’s son, Philip III, ended it in 1604.
The war ended with the infamous defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Despite Spain’s naval strength, England pushed off the sea ships and forced them to retreat.
Although considered a major defeat, it probably did not destroy Spain’s reputation but instead strengthened England’s. The defeat of the Spanish Armada was a minor setback for Philip, and Spain remained a military superpower for another century.
Philip of Spain’s legacy
Philip died of cancer on September 13, 1598, in the palace of El Escorial. His son, Philip II, succeeded him and became the next king of Spain.
Philip II of Spain’s accomplishments
His supporters remembered Philip as a great king of Spain who repelled Protestant threats, expanded Spain’s power, and centralised the government. His critics remembered him as idle and despotic. Philip is credited with creating a Spain at the height of power, although indigenous peoples in the Americas and the poor paid the price. In what follows, we will outline the achievements and failures of his reign:
Achievements
- He defeated the Ottoman offensive in the Mediterranean at the Battle of Lepanto (1571).
- He completed the unification effort in the Iberian Peninsula.
- He successfully preserved the southern Netherlands.
- He suppressed the Morisco uprising.
- Spain remained a military superpower.
Failures
- His prudence was criticised as impeding progress.
- While suppressing the revolt in Aragon, he was criticised for his unnecessary use of force, which widened the gap between Aragon and Castile.
- His foreign wars led to high taxes in Spain and social divisions.
- He failed to suppress Protestantism in France.
- He failed in suppressing Protestantism in the Netherlands.
- He led the Spanish Armada to defeat.
Philip II of Spain - Key takeaways
- Philip II became King of Spain in 1556 but already had experience in running the country, having served intermittently as regent to his father Charles I since 1543.
- He inherited a large empire and received the Duchy of Milan from his father in 1540, then the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily in 1554. In 1556 he received the title of Duke of Burgundy and King of Spain. However, he did not become Holy Roman Emperor.
- He was sometimes called the prudent or paper king because he was meticulous in all decisions and worked slowly, often to the detriment of Spain.
- The reign is associated with prosperity and Spanish culture (sometimes referred to as the Golden Age), as Spain’s colonial expansion began to have a noticeable impact on Spanish society.
- Throughout his reign, he faced internal opposition, including from his advisor Antonio Perez, the Moriscos (in the Morisco Revolt), and Aragon (in the Aragon Revolt).
- He was fervently religious and sought to ‘protect’ Spain against the threat of Protestantism.
- He participated in several foreign conflicts, notably the war with the Ottoman Empire, the French Wars of Religion, the Eighty Years’ War, and the Anglo-Spanish War.
- During his reign, England infamously defeated the Spanish Armada, which strengthened England’s reputation more than it harmed Spain’s.
1. Henry Kamen,
Spain, 1469-1714: A society of conflict, 2005.
2. Kate Fleet, The rise of the Ottomans. In M. Fierro (Ed.), The New Cambridge History of Islam, 2005.
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