biography
| name: |
Philip II (of Spain)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1527–98)
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| biography:
| King of Spain (1556–98) and Portugal (as Philip I, 1580–98), born in Valladolid, NWC Spain, the only son of Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal. Following the death of his first wife, Maria of Portugal, at the birth of their son, Don Carlos (1545), he married Mary I of England (1554), becoming joint sovereign of England. Before Mary's death (1558) he had inherited the Habsburg possessions in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the New World. To seal the end of the Valois–Habsburg conflict he married Elizabeth of France, who bore him two daughters. His brief fourth marriage to his cousin Anna of Austria (1570) produced another son, the future Philip III. As the champion of the Counter-Reformation, he tried to destroy infidels and heretics alike. He sought to crush Protestantism, first in the Low Countries (from 1568), then in England and France. The destruction of the Armada (1588) and the continuing revolt of the Netherlands, along with domestic economic problems and internal unrest, suggest a reign marked by failure. However, among his political achievements were the curbing of Ottoman seapower after the Battle of Lepanto (1571) and the conquest of Portugal (1580). |
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