Philip II’s Reign: Religious Conflicts and Imperial Expansion
Philip II (1556-1598): Religious Politics and Internal Policy
With Philip away, the last remnants of Erasmus were removed, imposing rigid political orthodoxy. Actions were taken against the enlightened faith, heretics, and suspected Lutherans. He increased the power of the Inquisition and the censorship of books. Spaniards were forbidden to study outside of Spain, except at the University of Bologna. Even the Archbishop of Toledo, Carranza, was indicted and served years in prison until the Pope called for him, and he was sent to Italy. Besides, Philip rigorously imposed the rules of the Council of Trent, forcing bishops to live in their dioceses and creating seminaries, giving priority to religious education and those favoring more active orders. Though the king himself was suspicious of the Jesuit company, it progressed well thanks to favors from the company of their relatives.
The Moorish Revolt
Until 1560, the Moorish kingdom of Granada was able to escape the harsh commands of the crown on its assimilation. However, since that decade, Philip imposed a rigid policy of Christianization in the framework of the Council of Trent. This was coupled with an economic crisis, especially in the silk business. At one point, a Muslim revolt began, consolidating in the Sierra de las Alpujarras. The Moors even elected a king and benefited from three factors:
- The roughness of the terrain
- The lack of troops in the initial absence of the peninsula
- The lack of a single Christian command by Philip
Finally, Philip gathered an army and placed it under the authority of his brother, Don John of Austria. The Moors were defeated, and thousands were deported to the interior of Castile. The hope that they would be assimilated was in vain.
The Great Scandals of the Reign
A. The Case of Prince Charles
From his first marriage, Philip had a son named Charles, whose boyhood showed large disparities. A major crash that nearly cost him his life increased his madness. The prince conceived a morbid hatred toward his father; he even claimed a trip to Flanders to join his father’s enemies. Finally, the king was summoned to the palace, and there, Charles gave a series of contradictory excesses. His death in suspicious circumstances gave rise to unfounded rumors that he was murdered by his father.
B. Antonio Perez
This man inherited from his father one of the most important secretary positions. Perez won the confidence of the king to the point where he was given signed blank papers. Perez used this confidence to become a traitor, selling state secrets with the aid of the Princess of Eboli. Perez made the mistake of persuading the king to kill a friend of Don John of Austria. Then, Philip found that he was betrayed. He investigated and found that Perez was a burglar and put him in jail. But Perez escaped, taking refuge in his native kingdom of Aragon. The king could not proceed against him through the courts, so he prosecuted him through the Holy Inquisition, which put him in prison in Zaragoza. The people revolted, killed the viceroy, released the prisoner, and challenged Felipe. Perez fled to France while Aragon was invaded by a real army. The Justice was executed, and Aragonese charters were modified.
The Tax Burden
When he came to the throne, Felipe’s revenues were committed for several years. Unable to obtain new loans, he went bankrupt. Actually, what the king did was negotiate with bankers a change in the floating debt, which would rise to console her. The solution was not completely successful; the debts continued to rise, and in the 70s, a new bankruptcy was decreed. The king thought that he would be delivered from the Genoese bankers but again had to call them. Although Felipe was receiving massive amounts of American silver, it was not enough, and he imposed new taxes:
- The Church billed subsidy and the toilet
- A whole population is taxing the millions took the meat, oil, wine, and vinegar
A third bankruptcy occurred in 1596.
Felipe II: Foreign Policy
France
The truce between France and Spain soon broke, and war resumed with a very strong attack by Philippine troops on northern France. Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, a general of Philip II, defeated the French at Saint Quentin, then came back to beat the Anglo-Spanish at Gravelines. The French king, Henry II, then accepted the peace of Cateau-Cambrésis, abandoning Italy, recovering Calais, and getting the marriage of his daughter Elizabeth to Philip II. Later, France called religious wars between Catholics and Huguenots. Philip supported the Catholics with arms, money, and finally with an army that defended Paris. When Henry IV became a Catholic, Philip declared war, which was not too enthusiastic and ended in peace at Vernins.
England
After the death of his wife, Mary Tudor, Philip was no longer king consort of England. The new Queen, Elizabeth, whom Philip had asked to marry without being accessed. For years, Elizabeth and Philip exchanged friendly letters, but gradually, enmity began between them for different reasons:
- The English pirate activity, which Isabel herself financed as a private individual.
- Support for the rebels in the Netherlands and the French Huguenots.
- The arrest and subsequent execution of the Queen of Scots, Mary Stuart.
When relations were strained in an irremediable way, Philip prepared a Great Armada. About 130 ships left the peninsula; they reached the Channel but could not board the British. Alexander Farnese’s thirds were more technologically advanced, beating Spanish ships that had to march north disorderly and go around the British Isles. Only 65 boats returned. Later, the British attempted to build on their success on the peninsula itself but failed in Coruña and Lisbon, but managed to burn Cadiz. Also, in America, the terrible pirate Drake failed and died on his last piratical attempt.
The Netherlands
A little king, Philip met with growing discontent in the Holland area, both political and religious. Calvinism was spreading a lot in this region, and this coincided with the implementation of the decrees of Trent, which was received as a provocation. The rebellion began with an iconoclastic movement that destroyed much of the churches in the region. The rebels could be controlled by Margaret of Savoy and the local nobility, but King Philip decided to send troops under the Duke of Alba. The army left Italy and arrived in Flanders by the so-called Spanish road. The Duke made his own way and ordered the court of the riots to execute hundreds of people. The Duke also imposed a very heavy tax on sales or purchases. That brutality, far from calming the insurgency, flared it, and a long war of 80 years began. The failure caused Felipe to change tactics; he then sent Requesens with instructions for peace, but his death and the lack of pay caused the thirds to rampage and loot Antwerp. That’s when most of the area asked Philip to pull the thirds. The dissensions between north and south led to the return of thirds under Don John of Austria. At the untimely death of this, the army was commanded by Alexander Farnese; he managed more success with another than with the lead but could not retrieve the Netherlands. When he died, Philip left Belgium to his daughter, Isabel Clara Eugenia, and her husband.
The Turks
Early in his reign, Philip began a naval rearmament program in the Mediterranean. The Turks attacked Christianity, challenged the island of Malta, but were driven back with heavy losses. Then, Philip, the Pope (Pius V), and Venice agreed in the Holy League to attack the Ottomans. The joint squadron under Don John of Austria worked in the Turkish and found in the Gulf of Lepanto, a battle locked Christians prevailed thanks to their superior firepower. But the great victory of Lepanto had no lasting consequences, and then Spain and Turkey signed a truce.
Portugal
King Sebastian died in his African crusade, and the kingdom passed to his uncle, the old Cardinal Don Henry. He tried unsuccessfully to breed, and in his will, he acknowledged Philip II as King. Although the courts recognized Philip, the king preferred the bastard Don Antonio, and Felipe used force: a fleet and troops blocked Lisbon. Alba entered through Extremadura and looted the suburbs of Lisbon. Philip was recognized by almost all and stayed in Lisbon for nearly two years.