Philip II
May 21, 1527 – Sep. 13, 1598
King of Spain, Defender of the Church
by Rit Nosotro First Published:: 2003( )
King Philip II of Spain believed he had two duties in life: to extend the Spanish Empire and to promote the Roman Catholic faith. Instead, Philip crippled Spain with an overwhelmingly inefficient bureaucracy and turned the Spanish church into an oppressive regime that was feared and distrusted. Philip learned his policy from his father, Emperor Charles V. He also inherited a powerful leviathan of an empire, complete with an efficient army and a number of colonies and territories. However, Philip loved paperwork and dispatches. By the end of his rule, Spain was drained and weakened, ignorance was prevalent and the corrupted Church controlled even the king himself.
Six years after Cortez conquered the Aztecs, Philip was born in Valladolid, Spain on May 21, 1527 to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal. His mother died when he was young, and his father was often gone because of his extensive political duties. Charles did, however, write many letters to Philip, which had a great influence on him. It was from these letters that Philip learned to be cautious and skeptical, but also long-suffering and persistent. From childhood, Philip was taught his duty to the Roman Catholic faith, which remained an important influence on him for the rest of his life.
Philip was never as interested in anything martial as he was in reading and writing. Ironically, his tutor - Dr. Juan Martinez Pedernales - was not a very good teacher, although his instructor in the arts of war - Don Juan de Zuniga - was. As a result, Philip excelled in neither aspect of his studies. Whereas his father had been an able scholar, especially in linguistics, Philip spoke only Castilian, though he had studied both Latin and French.
In 1543, when Philip was sixteen, his father arranged his marriage to Maria of Portugal. Two years later, Maria died giving birth to Philip's first son - the infamous Don Carlos. Don Carlos apparently inherited the insanity that ran in the Portuguese royal family. To make matters worse, he grew up spoiled and became aggressive and wild, at one point even considering murdering his father, Philip, as well as the high-ranking Duke of Alva. Carlos brought much grief to Philip; finally, he could be controlled no longer. Philip had him imprisoned, and while some suspect that Philip ordered his execution, it is far more likely that Don Carlos committed suicide.
In 1554, nine years after his first wife died in childbirth, Philip married Mary I of England. His father had already given the duchy of Milan, and the Netherlands to Philip, and this year he also made Philip the King of Naples. The marriage with Mary was meant to strengthen Catholicism in England, as well as intimidate France by surrounding her with a union of the Netherlands, England, and Spain. While Philip was in England, he also gained control over much of Italy. However, neither Italy nor England appreciated his control. The various states in Italy had previously enjoyed a large amount of freedom and were reluctant to submit to a heavier yoke. Although Philip tried to avoid openly interfering with England's government, the English had never been friendly with Spain and resented the union between the two monarchs.
Philip remained in England for less than two years. The English were not welcoming to him, and he was needed elsewhere by his father, who was still the Holy Roman Emperor. By this time, it was apparent that Mary would bear him no heir, and so the union between England and Spain was now impossible. Philip left for Flanders, where he received the Flemish kingship. In 1558, Mary of England died. The new Queen, Elizabeth, would not consent to marry Philip, and any support Philip had had among the English quickly faded.
In the next two years, Philip became perhaps the most important monarch in Europe. He had finally secured Italy from French threats. He ruled Spain, Italy, the Low Countries, various smaller European states, as well as territories such as Mexico and Peru in the New World. He was now in the middle of various political schemes including trying to prevent France, a Catholic ally now, from attacking England on behalf of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. In 1559, Philip married Elizabeth of France, who had been enjoined by her mother, Catharine, to influence Philip as much as possible in favor of French interests, but he capably avoided any schemes that benefited France more than himself, especially since he deeply disliked his new mother-in-law.
At this time, Protestant sympathy was building up in the Low Countries and Italy. Ever a champion of Catholicism, Philip carried the Spanish Inquisition into both places. In Italy, the Inquisition was strongly resisted and thus made quite powerless. These failures rankled, and Philip commenced the Inquisition in the Low Countries with a vengeance. This action resulted in strong opposition from both Protestants and Catholics, ultimately leading to the independence of the northern provinces in 1579. Proverbs 19:2 says, "It is not good to have zeal without knowledge.." Philip's ardor for God was not based on truth, and so caused more harm than good.
England was quick to befriend the Netherlands, with Elizabeth accepting its leadership in 1585. This alliance of Protestants made Philip nervous, though he did not want to resort to open war, especially as Spain was already in debt. However, English pirates such as Francis Drake were also costing Philip a great deal, and his advisors convinced him that attacking England would be less expensive than sustaining the costs of these pirates.
Finally, Philip began to collect the money needed to build an armada of ships. Mary Stuart was executed in 1587, so Philip decided to invade in England in the name of his daughter, the Infanta Isabel. When Elizabeth and her advisors heard of Philip's plans, they also gathered together a fleet, which attacked the harbor at Cadiz and destroyed all of the ships there. Fortunately for Philip, most of the fleet was in the Tagus. However, one trouble followed another. The competent admiral who was to command the Armada died in early 1588. Philip then chose the Duke of Medina Sidonia to lead the fleet, though the Duke pleaded his incompetence, begging to be released from the duty. When the rest of the Armada finally struggled in sight of England, it was trounced by the quicker English ships and then battered by storms. Thus, Philip's attempt to take England for Spain and for the Church had failed once again.
Spain was the nation most damaged by Philip's policies and religious zeal. Philip taxed his country to the utmost in order to pay for his multitude of wars and campaigns. By placing high taxes on imported luxury goods, he inadvertently encouraged smuggling. His reinstatement of the Inquisition quashed education and learning. Far from making Spain a nation of pure religion, the Inquisition turned religion into a series of rules that could still be compatible with a dissolute lifestyle. Philip's monstrous palace and monastary at Escorial had consumed much of Spanish wealth. It was here that Philip died in 1598, leaving Spain years behind most other western European nations in education, technology, and freedom of religion. This was the legacy of Philip II.
Commentary:
As Philip II believed and practiced, God had put him in power and sustained him. This was also the belief of protestant England as based in Romans 13:1,2, that all governments are established by God. As the European continent grew stronger through the various power struggles with each other, they had been no match for the Turks who ruled the eastern Mediterranean Sea, until 1571. That year a Christian coalition stopped infighting long enough to beat back a Turkish fleet at Lepanto. The brother of Philip II, League Admiral Don Jaun, ended Turkish domination and Islamic pressure to regain a foothold in Europe which had been so dramatically lost at Grenada, Spain in 1498 due to the efforts of Philip's great grandparents, Ferdinand and Isabella.
Bibliography
Jokinen, Anniina. "Philip II, King of Spain (1527-1598)." September 28, 2006.http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/philip2.htm (accessed October 27, 2008).
Haugaard, Brad. "Biography of Philip II." http://www.sacklunch.net/biography/P/PhilipII.html (accessed October 27, 2008).
Kurth, Godefroid. "Philip II." 1911.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12002a.htm (accessed October 27, 2008).
Hume, Martin. "Spain Under Philip II." http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/cmh/cmh315.html (accessed October 28, 2008).
