The reign of Philip II
 Here you have a text about Philip II reign. You have to place the
different parts in the correct order. It is divided in two great
topics: Foreign affairs and national affairs.
1. - National affairs
Internal affairs
The most important affairs were:
1. Rebellion of the Moorish in
Alpujarras
2. Conflicts in Aragon after the
imprisonment of Antonio Perez.
3. The death of the prince Charles.
4. Protestant focus in Spain.
The prince Charles, son of Philip II, showed
evidence of behaviour problems since he was
very young. To avoid conflicts, Philip II
ordered his confinement in the palace where he
died in strange circumstances.
That is the origin of the leyenda negra against
Spain
Besides we could mention the reaction against
the presence of protestants in Valladolid and
Seville. Philip II ordered to finish them as soon
as possible. The Inquisition organized some
autos de fe.
Antonio Perez was the State Secretary and
always was engaged in intrigues. He was
accused of Escobedo’s murder. Perez spent a
long time in prison but he managed to escape
and went to Aragon, where Philip II could not
ask for his detention according to the fueros.
That is why he was accused of heterodox
religious practices so the Inquisition could
arrest him since this institution was the only
one with jurisdiction in the Iberian Kingdoms.
The people in Aragon took it as an offence
because the king had not respected their
institutions and traditions. So there was a revolt
and Antonio Perez escaped to France.
Then Philip II sent the army to pacify the
kingdom and modified the fueros in order to
appoint virreyes that were not from Aragon as
well as the possibility of removing the Justicia
Mayor. Justicia Mayor was a kind of
ombudsman that protected the rights of the
Aragon’s people.
The Moorish revolution in Alpujarras was the
consequence of the religious policy that
forbade the Moorish to speak Arabic and to
maintain their costumes and traditions. This
was the continuation of the policy started since
the Catholic Kings reign.
The Moorish were led by Aben Humeya and
received the Turks support. The revolution was
defeated when Juan de Austria beat the
Moorish. More than 50,000 Moorish died and
the rest were spread all over the country.
However it was an unsolved problem.
2. - Foreign affairs
Philip II inherited some unsolved conflicts
during his father’s reign:
-
The war with France.
The confrontation with the Turks.
The conflict with the United Provinces
reappeared because the protestant had alliances
with France and England.
Phillip II sent there his best representatives:
Duque de Alba and his brother Juan de Austria.
He spent a lot of money to finance several
campaigns without solving the situation
definitely.
Finally, he ceded these territories to his
daughter Isabel Clara Eugenia, married to
Alberto of Austria.
Other foreign affairs were:
- The war with England.
- The revolution of the United
Provinces
- The incorporation of Portugal to the
Spanish Monarchy.
When Don Sebastian, king of Portugal, died
without succession in the battle of
Alcazaquivir, Portugal was incorporated to the
Spanish Monarchy in 1580. Then, all the
Portuguese colonies in America, Asia and
Africa belonged to Spain.
The war with France continued during the first
part of reign. The Spanish army defeated the
French in the battle of San Quintin. As a
consequence of the Treaty of Cateu –
Cambresis signed in 1559 peace between Spain
and France was restored until the end of the
century.
When Henry III of France died without
succession, Philip II wanted one of his
daughters to occupy the French throne. That is
why Spain invaded France but was defeated in
1594. Therefore, Phillip II accepted Henry IV
and signed the Treaty of Vervins in 1598 to
reduce the international conflicts in which
Spain was immersed.
Philip II wanted an alliance with England so he
married Mary I. However, the Queen died soon
and Elisabeth I succeeded her sister. Elisabeth I
supported the rebels in the United Provinces
and the conflict between both countries arose.
Philip II organised the Armada to conquest
England but it was defeated by the English
navy as well as the stormy weather that
dispersed the fleet.
With this disaster, Spain lost the entire navy.
The Turks gained influence in the
Mediterranean area so Philip II tried to hinder
their advance. He singed an alliance with the
Pope and the Venetian Republic...
They prepared a squadron led by Juan de
Austria. The Turks were defeated in the battle
of Lepanto. In this battle, Miguel de Cervantes
lost his arm.
 Once you have ordered the text, relate these facts with its
correspondent paragraph.
This episode inspired Verdi to composed his famous opera titled Don Carlo
The monastery of El Escorial was built to commemorate the triumph against the French
As a consequence of this event, it was said that “ the Spanish empire was so extensive
that the sun never set”
The disaster was so dramatic that Philip II said that he did not send the squadron
to fight against the tempest but the men”
Cervantes lost his left arm in this battle so he was called “El manco de …………….”
Due to the Spanish repression, the Dutch threaten their
children saying be quiet of the Duke of Alba will come.
 Explain the meaning of the expressions:
- “Un imperio en el que nunca se ponía el sol”
- “He mandado mi escuadra para luchar contra los hombres no contra
los elementos”.