Philip II of Spain

Monarch at the height of Habsburg Spain, ruling an empire spanning Europe, the Americas and Asia, and also King of Portugal from 1580.

Life

Imperial heir

Philip II, the son of Charles I, grew up in Castile and received rigorous religious and political training from childhood. He married Queen Mary I of England, and when his father abdicated in 1556 he inherited Spain, the Netherlands, the Italian territories and the American colonies, while the Holy Roman imperial title went to his uncle Ferdinand. He made Madrid his permanent capital and built the Escorial palace nearby.

Defender of Catholicism

He diligently pored over state papers, earning the name "the Paper King," and saw himself as the defender of the Catholic Church. In 1571 the Holy League he helped form defeated the Ottoman fleet at Lepanto; in 1580 he claimed the Portuguese throne by blood and seized it by force; and the Philippine Islands were named after him. Yet religious and tax conflicts in the Netherlands grew into a protracted revolt, and in 1588 the Spanish Armada sent against England met with disaster.

Black Legend

American silver could not cover the costs of year after year of war, and the crown defaulted on its debts several times during his reign. In Protestant historiography he was long portrayed as a religious persecutor, the so-called "Black Legend," while traditional Spanish historiography stresses his diligence and piety. Researchers today tend to see him as a bureaucratic monarch trapped by overexpansion.

Legacy

Under Philip II of Spain, Spanish territory spanned Europe, the Americas and Asia and was called the "Empire on which the sun never sets," and he himself was the most powerful monarch in 16th-century Europe. He staunchly defended Catholicism and was deeply embroiled in the religious and political conflicts of the Netherlands, France and England, but prolonged warfare overburdened state finances, and the crown defaulted and went bankrupt several times. Protestant historiography cast him as a gloomy persecutor, while modern research pays more attention to his diligent but overly centralized style of government.

Major works & achievements

• Defeated the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571
• 1580: also took the throne of Portugal
• Built El Escorial
• The Philippine Islands are named after him

Did you know? He married four times; his second wife was Mary I, Queen of England.

Key dates

• 1527Born in Valladolid
• 1554Marries Mary I, Queen of England
• 1556Succeeds as King of Spain
• 1563Begins building El Escorial
• 1568Dutch Revolt breaks out
• 1571The Holy League wins the Battle of Lepanto
• 1580Also takes the Portuguese throne
• 1598Died at El Escorial