Philip+II+of+Spain



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 * Relation with Madrid**

There are not exactly reasons why Philip II chose [|Madrid] to place the Court. We know that Philip II liked Madrid because the town of Manzanares had everything needed to place the Court. Also, his wife, Isabel didn’t like the city of [|Toledo]. It was very cold on winter and very warm on summer. As Philip II was really in love he decided not to place the Court at Toledo. The urban organization of Madrid leads to all the works necessaries to the accommodation of all the workers. Other important reason was that the Court had had problems with the [|Archbishopric] at Toledo and in Madrid was not placed the Archbishopric. They could easy obtain water. The air was clean and healthy. Philip II extends his reign around the Calle Mayor from 1556 to 1598. By that time, he was very busy trying to solve his foreign policy problems, maybe that’s why he didn’t care very much of Madrid. He focus his attention in two monuments the Monasterio Del [|Escorial] and the [|Palace and gardens of Aranjuez], any of them was in Madrid capital. We begin our travel to the monuments in Madrid with a relation with Philip II in the Puente de Segovia, designed by [|Juan Herrera]. Continuing through Piramides till the Plaza Mayor, this street appeared thank to an expansion ordered by Philip II with the objective of unite the Alcazar with the Monasterio de los Jerónimos. Through a little street we reach the Plaza de la Villa. Also of the same time, the Casa de la Panadería, built in the Plaza Mayor as the principal way of trade of bread in Madrid. We go to the Puerta Del Sol and no very far away the Monasterio de Descalzas Reales, founded by Philip II’s sister, [|Juana of Austria]. To end and a little bit far, the Plaza del Rey, where we can find the Casa de las Siete Chimeneas, ordered to build in the XVI’s century by a Philip II’s huntsman.

**Philip II (King)**

Philip II of Spain was born on the 21st of May 1527 in Valladolid and he was the only son of [|Charles V] the Emperor of the Holy Roman and he died on the 13th of September 1598. Philip’s first marriage was to his cousin Maria of Portugal, who died to years after her marriage, Philip had a son with Maria of Portugal ,Don Carlos.Philip II then marriage with Mary Tutor of England ,She was Catholic but the country was Protestant, Philip II of Spain was unhappy in England and when Mary Tutor of England die he decided to return to Spain. He ruled one of the world's largest empires. He started his reign in 1556,and he was king of Spain, Italy and Burgundy, the Netherlands, Franche-Comté, Naples and the Spanish territories in America .He was lord of Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581


 * Childhood **

During the first seven years of his life, Philip II went to different castles with his mother. In 1534 he went to a house in Salamanca to started his schooling .He left Spain in 1547 and he went to the Netherlands, where the family of his father live .His father wanted him to become more European ,but he was too cold and serious 

The enemies and the later writers said that Philip II was bloodthirsty tyrant,but this was false ,he was hard-working, civil servant and bureaucrat, he sought to direct the destinies of a world empire from the seclusion of his cabinet, devoting infinite time and pains to the minutest administrative details .He never trust even in his most loyal servants. Philip's administration was generally just, but his bureaucratic absolutism, with its disregard for local conditions and privileges, inevitably caused that the people became unhappy. 
 * Character **
 * A curiosity ** 

Paolo Fagolo in 1563 said about Philip II of Spain that he was "slight of stature and round-faced, with pale blue eyes, somewhat prominent lip, and pink skin, but his overall appearance is very attractive." The Ambassador went on to say "He dresses very tastefully, and everything that he does is courteous and gracious."


 * Foreign policy**

Turks

Spain's main enemy in the sea was the [|turks]. The turks were trying to conquer territories in the Mediterranean and Spain spent a lot of time and money fighting against them, a lot of people died or were wounded (injured), and a lot of prisioners were taken. As the turks were also trying to conquer territories from Italy, a [|Holy league] from Spain, Venice and the [|Papal States] was formed. They fought against the turks in the [|Battle of Lepanto], in which the Holy League became victorious. A truce between Spain and the turks was finally declared. Since the battle of Lepanto the turks concentrated on expanding their territories to the east, because it was easier for them.

Portugal
Philip II, taking advantage of the death of the king of portugal, [|Sebastian I], which died without heirs, sent ministers to portugal to convince the portuguese to crown him king of Portugal. He also assembled a very large army. The portuguese didn't want him as king of Portugal, so he sent troops. Portuguese army was weak, so it was absorbed into the kingdom of Spain, but he left Portugal govern itself to avoid a revolution. This situation benefited Spain because Portugal had a lot of colonies around the world and a large fleet.

France
France and Spain had strained relations, and there were a lot of battles because they both wanted to conquer territories in Italy. [|Pope Paul IV] was allied with France because he was against Spain, as Spain was very poweful and he didn't want it to conquer territories in Italy. France and Spain were in a war which was sometimes interrupted by truces, due to economical problems of both countries. By that time, France was involved in the [|French Wars of Religion], so it was not a direct threat to Spain. Bankrupty finally made Philip realise that peace was needed and in 1598, the [|Peace of Vervins] was signed. However, during these fights, Spain had lost a lot of power and had become much weaker than France.

England
At the beggining, relations between Spain and England were good, because Philip II, king of Spain, was married with [|Mary I], queen of England. After the death of Mary I, her sister, [|Elisabeth I], started to rule over England, Philip wanted to marry Elisabeth, but she refused, and the relations between Spain and England got worse, because of their different religions (England was Protestant and Spain was Catholic) and because they both wanted to be the ones to trade with the Indies, and a war started. England became allied with the Netherlands, which wanted the independence from Spain. Philip II sent the [|Spanish Armada], which was defeated by the English navy. The war didn't finish during Philip`s reign, the peace would require new monarchs in a new century.

**Domestic policy**

When Philip II returned to Spain, he faced many constitutional restrictions on his power. At that time, Spain was a union of a number of separate states in which each of them had its own laws against those of the Crown of Castile. And the rulers or local assemblies of those states often overruled Philip, specially in the kingdom of Aragon, where he faced a revolt. He had problems with the large population of Moriscos in Spain, too. As a consequence of a revolt, he had to drive them out from Granada, and they went to other provinces. Taxes were another problem during the reign of Philip II. In a country in which only priests or soldiers were considered as commendable works and trade or manual labor were not well seen, people paid a lot of taxes to help to improve economy in Spain, which was a poor country despite its large number of territories. Taxes were collected by local lords and were enough to finance the empire's military expenses. He also used money earned by exploting the resources of his empire, specially from the New World, but his treasury was still bankrupt sometimes. Also overseas adventures were marked by the decreasing of the flow of silver from American mines and trade of Spanish goods, a large increase in prices and a poor harvest. All this, joined with the defeat of the Armada and plagues, helped to the decline of Spain. Even the union of Portugal to Spain didn't improve the situation. When Philip II died in 1598, Spain had entered into a period of deep crisis.


 * Family**

Philip II of Spain was the son and heir of Charles I of Spain and I[|sabella of Portugal], he had two sisters, [|Mary of Austria] and [|Joan of Austria]. His grandfathers for his father`s side were J[|oanna I of Castille], [|Philip I] and [|Manuel I of Portugal] and [|Mary of Castille] for his mother`s side.

Philip II was married four times and he had five sons and three daughters with different womens.

His first marriage was with[| Mary of Portugal], they were married the 15th of November in 1543. They had one son, [|Charles of Austria], [|Prince of Asturias.]

His second marriage was with [|Mary I of England], they were married in Winchester the 25th of July in 1554. They had no children.

His third marriage was with [|Elizabeth of Valois], the 22th of June in 1559 they were married. They had two daughters, [|Isabel Clara Eugenia], she married with her cousin [|Archduke] [|Albert of Austria.] His second daughter was [|Catalina Micaela] , she was married with [|Charles Emmanue l], [|Duke of Savoy.]

His fourth and last marriage was with [|Anne of Austria], they were married the 12th of November in 1570. They had four sons and one daughter. The first son they had was [|Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias] , who was born the 4th of December in 1571. Carlos Lorenzo was his second son, he was born the 12th of August in 1573. [|Diego Félix, Prince of Asturias], was his third son, he was born the 15th of August in 1575. [|Felipe], Prince of Asturias and future king of Spain also known as Philip III , was his fourth son, he was born the 14th of April in 1578. Mary was his only daughter, she was born the 14th of February in 1580.