FOREIGN POLICY

Characterized by its wars against:

-France

-Netherlands

-Turkish Empire and England. 

 

 Philip II maintained the wars with France, for French support to the Flemish rebels, obtaining a great victory in the Battle of San Quentin, fought on 10 August 1557. He built the monastery of El Escorial, a building with a plan in the form of a grill.

The peace of Cateau-Cambrésis was signed in 1559, a treaty in which France recognized Spanish supremacy, Spanish interests in Italy were favored and the marriage was agreed with Isabel de Valois, Queen of Spain.

 In 1568, in the northern provinces of the Low Countries, where Calvinism had spread, the population rose up against the king. Felipe II sent the Duke of Alba, who carried out a harsh military campaign but did not manage to contain the war.

He was replaced by Alexander Farnese, who maintained control of the southern provinces (Flanders), although the northern territories ( Unites Provinces) proclaimed their indepedence from the Spanish Crown in 1581. The war lasted until 1648.

 

Felipe II organised the Holy League in order to end Ottoman control over the Mediterranean sea. This was an alliance between Spain, Venice and the Pope. A Christian fleet was formed to fight against the Ottoman forces, which was commanded by John of Austria. In the naval Battle of Lepanto (1571), the Ottomans were defeated and ceased to be threat.

 Battle of Lepanto

Queen Elizabeth I of England supported the practices of the English pirates, who acted against the interests of Spain in the Americas. In addition, Elizabeth was an Anglican and defended the Protestants rebels in the Low Countries against the king of Spain. Felipe II formed a powerfull fleet known as the Armada. Its objetive was to transport troops from Portugal and Flanders, invade England and depose the queen. However, the Spanish fleet was defeated by English attacks of the British Isles.

The Great Armada

 

DOMESTIC POLICY

 During his reign he faced many internal problems:

• Including his son Carlos.
•  His secretary Antonio Pérez.
•  The war of the Alpujarras. 

 It also ended Protestant hotspots in Spain, located mainly in Valladolid and Seville.

The edict limited the religious, linguistic and cultural freedoms of the Moorish population. This provoked a rebellion by the moors of the Alpujarras, which John of Austria militarily reduced.

The relationship between Aragon and the crown was somewhat deteriorated.When Antonio Perez fled to Saragossa, and was protected by the protection of the fueros of aragon, Philip II attempted to prosecute Antonio Pérez by the court of the Inquisition to avoid the justice of aragon . This provoked a revolt in Zaragoza that Philip II reduced using force, decapitating the Justice Juan de Lanuza and Urrea and eliminating the laws and privileges of Aragon in order to be able to execute him.

 Pendón real de Felipe II, Military Government of Barcelona

BIOGRAPHY

-Felipe II of Spain, called «the Prudent» was born in Valladolid, May 21 of 1527. He was king of Spain
from January 15 of 1556 until his death. He was also king of England and Ireland in his marriage to Maria I, between 1554 and 1558. 

-Son and heir of Carlos I of Spain and Isabel of Portugal. He died on September 13 of 1598 at the age of 71, in the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, for which he was taken from Madrid in a chair-lounger made for that purpose.

-Since his death he was presented by his defenders as an archetype of virtues, and by his enemies as an extremely fanatical and despotic person. 

-Between the white legend or pink and black legend was favored by his own actions, since he refused to publish his biographies in life and ordered the destruction of his correspondence. 

-The Anglo-Saxon and Protestant historiography has described it as a fanatical, criminal, imperialist and genocidal being, minimizing its victories and magnifying its excess defeats. It is enough as an example the loss of a part of the Grande and Felicísima Armada - called by its enemies the Invincible Armada .