Philip II (1527-1598) king of Spain from 1556, the only son of the
Emperor Charles V, born in Valladolid. In 1543
he married the Infanta Mary of Portugal, who died in 1546 giving birth
to their ill-fated son, Don Carlos. In 1554 he married Mary I (Mary Tudor)
of England, but spent only 14 months in her country, where the marriage
was not popular. In 1555-1556 his father Charles V abdicated the sovereignty
of Spain, the Netherlands and all Spanish dominions in Italy and the New
World to Philip, who nevertheless remained in Flanders until after his
father's death in 1558. He supported the Spanish Inquisition, which he
saw as a useful instrument both for combating heresy and for extending
his control over his own dominions. He was involved in the war against
France and the papacy (1557-1559) and, in 1560, against the Turks in the
Mediterranean. At home, Philip's government had to meet threats from the
Moriscoes (converted Muslims) of Granada, who rebelled in 1568-1570 and,
more seriously, from the Netherlands, in open revolt from 1573. In 1579
Spain was unable to prevent the seven United Provinces from gaining their
independence. In 1580 Philip succeeded to the Portuguese throne. The increase
in trade-revenue from the New World in the 1480s resulted in a new
prosperity and a more confident expansionist policy. Portugal was annexed
to Spain in 1580, and attempts to re-conquer the northern Netherlands came
close to success. In 1588, the year after Drake's sack of Cadiz, the great
Armada was launched against England, which had lent aid to the United Provinces,
but failed, when storms wrecked a substantial part of the fleet. Philip
died in 1598, leaving his empire divided, demoralized and economically
depressed.
See: Titian. Portrait of Philip II in Armor. Portrait of Philip II.