Person1527 – 1598
Philip II of Spain
Also called: Felipe II
King of Spain (r. 1556–1598), son of Charles V, who won at Lepanto and united Portugal with Spain but faced the Dutch Revolt and the defeat of his Armada
Where they went
3 related events
- 1
In 1568 the largely Calvinist northern provinces of the Netherlands, ruled by Philip II of Spain, rose up under William of Orange; they declared independence in 1581 and won recognition at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
- 2
On 7 October 1571 the fleet of the Holy League of Spain, Venice and the Papal States crushed the Ottoman fleet off Lepanto in Greece — seen as the moment Ottoman expansion in the Mediterranean was checked.
- 3
In 1588 the great fleet (the “Invincible Armada”) that Philip II of Spain sent against England was checked by the English navy in the Channel and then wrecked by storms — a starting point for England’s rise as a sea power.
People who appear alongside
- William the Silent1533 – 1584
William I, Prince of Orange — the “Father of the Fatherland” who led the Dutch Revolt and was assassinated at Delft in 1584
- Elizabeth I1533 – 1603
Last Tudor queen of England (r. 1558–1603), who re-established the Church of England, defeated the Spanish Armada and chartered the East India Company
Themes this person appears in
- Reformation and Absolutism1517 – 1796
From Luther’s Ninety-five Theses to Catherine the Great — the wars of religion of a divided Christendom ended at Westphalia, and absolute monarchs armed with divine right, standing armies, bureaucracies and mercantilism, followed by the enlightened despots of eastern Europe, contended for the balance of power among sovereign states