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Isabella Of Castile

Isabella of Castile

Isabella of Castile (April 22, 1451 – November 26, 1504) was queen of Castile and Leon. She and her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon, laid the foundation for the political unification of Spain under their great-grandson, Philip II.

Name

The version of her name was Ysabel or Isabel, which traces etymologically to Hebrew Elishabaoth or 'Elizabeth'). Outside of Spain, she is usually known by the Latin form of her name, 'Isabella.' Likewise, her husband is Fernando in Spain, but Ferdinand elsewhere. Pope Alexander VI named Ferdinand and Isabella "The Catholic Monarchs." She is also known as Isabel la Católica

Genealogy

She was great-great-granddaughter of both Henry II of Castile and his half-brother Peter I of Castile and their respective wives Joan of Villena and Maria de Padilla. She was also great-great-granddaughter of Peter IV of Aragon and his wife Leonor of Portugal, daughter of King Afonso IV of Portugal, as well as of her half-brother Peter I of Portugal and his mistress Teresa Lourenço. Through John of Gaunt she was great-great-granddaughter of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault and through his first wife of Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster and his wife Isabel de Beaumont. Finally she was great-great-granddaughter to Nuno Alvares Pereira, Count de Barcelos and his wife Leonor Alvim, Countess of Barcelos. She was great-granddaughter of John I of Castile and his wife Eleanor of Aragon, a sister of Kings John I of Aragon and Martin I of Aragon. She was also great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and his second wife Constanza of Castile, a daughter of Peter I of Castile. Her third set of great-grandparents were King John I of Portugal and his wife Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt from his first wife Blanche of Lancaster. Her final set of grandparents were Afonso, Duke de Braganza, a son of John I of Portugal by Inez Perez, and his wife Beatriz Pereira, countess of Barcelos. Her paternal grandparents were King Henry III of Castile and Catherine Plantagenet of the House of Lancaster, a half sister of King Henry IV of England. Her maternal grandparents were Prince João of Portugal, Grand Master of Santiago, who was a brother of Henry the Navigator, and his wife Isabella de Bragança. Her parents were King John II of Castile and his second wife Queen Isabella of Portugal. She was the last monarch from the Trastamara dynasty established by Henry II of Castile.

Early years

Isabella was born in Madrigal de las Altas Torres on April 22, 1451, her brother Alfonso came three years later. When her father John II died in 1454, her much older half-brother Henry IV became king. As soon as he ascended to the throne, he sequestered both his half-siblings and his stepmother to Arevalo, a virtual exile. Henry IV, whose first marriage to Blanca of Navarre was not consummated and had been annulled, remarried to have his own offspring. His wife gave birth to Joan, princess of Castile. When Isabella was about ten, she and her brother were summoned to the court, to be under more direct supervision and control by the king. In the Representation of Burgos the nobles challenged the King and among other items demanded that Alfonso, Isabelle's brother, should be named the heir to the kingdom. Henry agreed, provided Alfonso would marry his daughter, Joan. A few days later, he changed his mind. The nobles, now in control of Alfonso and claiming him to be the true heir, clashed with the forces of Henry in the battle of Olmedo in 1467. It was a drawn battle. One year later Alfonso died at the age of fourteen, and Isabelle became the hope of the rebelling nobles. But she refused their advances, instead she acknowledged Henry as king, and he, in turn, recognized her as the legitimate heir - after she managed to convince him that he had been impotent when he had fathered Joan (by now, married off to the King of Portugal). Henry tried to get Isabelle married to a number of persons of his choice, yet she evaded all these propositions. Instead she chose Ferdinand II of Aragon. They were married October 19, 1469 in Ocaña; another source suggests Valladolid (perhaps the place of betrothal).

Accession

When Henry IV died on December 10, 1474, Isabella acted quickly. She had herself crowned Queen of Castile at Segovia three days later. While she and Fernando started to reorganize the court, Alfonso of Portugal crossed the border and declared Joan the rightful heir. Ferdinand beat the invaders back at the battle of Toro in 1476, and the challenge to the crown of Castile was rejected. In a series of separate marches Ferdinand and Isabella went on to subjugate renegade and rebellious towns, fortresses, and points of power that had developed over time. In 1479 Fernando's father died, and they became King and Queen of Aragon. In 1480, the couple assembled the Cortes of Toledo where under their supervision five royal Councils and 34 civilian representatives produced a codex of laws and edicts as the legal groundwork for the future Spain. This established the centralization of power with the royals and set the basis for economic and judicial rehabilitation of the country. As part of this reform, and in their attempt to unify the country, Ferdinand and Isabella solicited the Pope Sixtus IV to authorize the inquisition. In 1483, Tomás de Torquemada became the first Inquisitor General in Seville.

1492

Granada

Seville The conquest of Granada took ten years. This kingdom had been held by the Moors since their invasion of Spain in the 8th century. Protected by natural barriers and fortified towns it had withstood the long process of the reconquista. But, in contrast to the determined leadership by Isabelle and Ferdinand, Granada's leadership was divided and never presented a united front. When the Spaniards early on captured Boabdil, one of the rulers, they set him free - for a ransom - so he could return to Granada and resume his reign. The Spanish monarchs recruited soldiers from many European countries and improved their artillery with the latest and best cannons. Systematically, they proceeded to take the kingdom piece by piece. In 1485 they laid siege to Ronda which surrendered after extensive bombardment. The following year, Loja was taken, and again Boabdil was captured and released. One year later, with the fall of Málaga, the western part of the Moorish kingdom had fallen into Spanish hands. The eastern province succumbed after the fall of Baza in 1489. The siege of Granada began in the spring of 1491. When the Spanish camp was destroyed by an accidental fire, the camp was rebuilt, in stone, in the form of a cross, painted white, and named Santa Fe (i.e. 'Holy Faith'). At the end of the year, Boabdil surrendered. On January 2, 1492 Isabel and Ferdinand entered Granada to receive the keys of the city and the principal mosque was consecrated as a church. The Treaty of Granada signed later that year was to assure religious rights to the Islamic believers - but it did not last.

Columbus

Treaty of Granada Queen Isabella rejected Cristopher Columbus's idea of sailing west to reach the east three times, then changed her mind. His conditions, the position of Admiral, governorship for him and his descendants for lands to be discovered, and ten percent of the profits, were met. On August 3 his expedition sailed off. He returned the next year and presented his findings to the monarchs, bringing natives and gold under a hero's welcome. Spain entered its Golden Age of exploration and colonization. In 1494, by the Treaty of Tordesillas, Isabella and Ferdinand divided the Earth - outside of Europe - with Portugal. Isabella tried to defend the American aborigines against the abuse of the colonists. In 1503, she established the Secretary of Indian Affairs, which later became the Supreme Council of the Indies.

Expulsion of the Jews

With the institution of the Roman Catholic Inquisition in Spain with the Dominican friar, the converso Tomás de Torquemada, as the first Inquisitor General, the Catholic Monarchs set a policy of "religious cleansing". On March 31, 1492, they issued the Alhambra Decree for the expulsion of the Jews (See main article on Inquisition in Spain). Approximately 200,000 people left Spain, others converted, often only to be persecuted further by the Inquisition investigating Judaizing conversos (Marranos). The Muslims of the newly conquered area had been initially granted religious freedom, but pressure to convert increased, and after some revolts, a policy of forced expulsion or conversion was also instituted after 1500 (see article on Moriscos).

Later years

Moriscos Isabella, a very religious person, received with her husband the title of Catholic monarchs by Pope Alexander VI, a pope of whose secularism Isabella did not approve. Along with the physical unification of Spain, Isabella and Ferdinand embarked on a process of spiritual unification, trying to bring the country under one faith (Roman Catholicism). As part of this process, the inquisition became institutionalized. After an uprising in 1499, the Treaty of Granada was broken in 1502 and Muslims forced to either be baptized or to be expelled. Isabella's confessor, Cisneros was named Archbishop of Toledo and instrumental in a program of rehabilitation of the religious institutions of Spain, laying the groundwork for the later counter-reformation. As chancellor he exerted more and more power. Isabella and her husband had created an empire and in later years were consumed with administration and politics; they were concerned with the succession and worked to link the Spanish crown to the other rulers in Europe. Politically this can be seen in attempts to outflank France and to unite the Iberian peninsula. By early 1497 all the pieces seemed to be in place: Juan, the crown prince married Margaret of Austria, establishing the connection to the Habsburgs. The oldest daughter, Isabelle, married Manuel I of Portugal, and Juana was married to another Habsburg prince, Philip. However, Isabella's plans for her children did not work out. Juan died shortly after his marriage. Isabella died in childbirth and her son Miguel died at the age of two. Queen Isabella's titles passed to her daughter Juana the Mad ('la Loca,') whose marriage to Philip the Handsome was troubled. Isabella died in 1504, before Philip and Ferdinand became enemies. She is entombed in Granada in the Capilla Real, which she ordered built, alongside her husband Ferdinand, her daughter Juana and Juana's husband Philip, and their son (Isabella's grandson) Miguel. The museum next to the Capilla Real houses her crown and scepter.

Children

Isabelle had five children with Ferdinand.
- Isabella of Aragon (b. October 1, 1470; d. August 23, 1498) - married first Afonso of Portugal, after his death Manuel I of Portugal, died in childbirth, her child died 2 years later.
- Juan of Aragon (b. June 28, 1478; d. October 4, 1497)- married Margaret of Austria (1480-1530), died after 6 months marriage without offspring
- Juana of Castile, "La Loca" (b. November 6, 1479; d. April 13, 1555) - married Philip the Handsome
- Maria of Aragon (b. June 29, 1482; d. March 7, 1517) - married Manuel I of Portugal
- Catherine of Aragon (b. December 15, 1485; d. January 7, 1536) - married first Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, after his death his brother Henry VIII, King of England

Influence

Isabella and her husband established a highly effective coregency under equal terms. They utilized a prenuptial agreement to lay down their terms. During their reign they supported each other effectively in accordance to their joint motto of equality: Tanto monta, monta tanto, Isabel como Ferdinand ("same difference, I. like F.") Their achievements are remarkable - Spain was united, under the crown power was centralized, the reconquista was successfully concluded, a legal framework was created, the church reformed. Even without the benefit of the American expansion, Spain would have been a major European power. Columbus' discovery set the country on the course for the first modern world power. The dark side of their reign also had long-term consequences. The inquisition and their intolerant treatment of religious minorities was harsh and cruel. A negative historic model was set. The brain drain hurt Spain as well. The regime of Francisco Franco claimed the prestige of the Catholic Monarchs. As a result, Isabella was despised by opposers to Franco. Some Catholic Spaniards are trying to get Isabella declared as blessed and later saint. This has met opposition by Jewish organizations, Liberation theologists and Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger. She had many Moors killed after her entrance to Cordoba, but was a protector of the Spanish poor and the Native Americans against the rapacity of the Spanish nobility. At any rate, miracles have reportedly been attributed to her. In 1974, Pope Paul VI opened her cause for beatification. This places her on the path towards possible sainthood. In the Catholic Church, she is thus titled Servant of God. Isabella was the first named woman to appear on a United States coin, an 1893 commemorative quarter, celebrating the 400th anniversary of Columbus's first voyage. In the same year she was the first woman to be featured on a U.S. postal stamp, also in celebration of Columbus. Isabella has been represented in film by actresses such as Lola Flores and Sigourney Weaver.

References


- Miller T: The Castles and the Crown. Spain 1451-1555. Coward-mcCann, New york, 1963
- Isabel Of Spain: The Catholic Queen by Warren H. Carroll, PhD.
- Isabel: Jewel of Castilla, Spain, 1466 (The Royal Diaries) by Carolyn Meyer Isabelle: Spain www.ctspainish.com//legands/isabella1.htm

See also


- Al-Andalus
- Cardinal Cisneros, Isabella and Ferdinand's famous and powerful Cardinal.
- History of Spain.
- Moors.
- Reconquista

External links


- [http://www.el-mundo.es/cronica/2004/459/1091455989.html El obispo judío que bloquea a la "santa"]. A report in Spanish about the beatification at El Mundo.
- [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08177a.htm Isabella I in the Catholic Encyclopedia]
- [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columbus2.html Medieval Sourcebook: Columbus' letter to King and Queen of Spain, 1494]
- [http://www.goldbergweb.com/en/magazine/essays/2004/02/20213_print.php Music at Isabella's court]
- [http://www3.dcs.hull.ac.uk/cgi-bin/gedlkup/n=royal?royal00841 University of Hull: Genealogy information on Isabella I] Category:1451 births Category:1504 deaths Category:Castilian monarchs Category:Queens regnant Category:Servants of God Category:Jewish Spanish history Category:History of Catholicism in Spain Category:History of Spain ja:イサベル1世 (カスティーリャ女王)

April 22

April 22 is the 112th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (113th in leap years). There are 253 days remaining.

Events


- 1500 - Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral becomes the first European to sight Brazil.
- 1509 - Henry VIII ascends the throne of England after the death of his father.
- 1529 - Treaty of Saragossa divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues or 17° east of the Moluccas.
- 1836 - Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto forces under Texas General Sam Houston capture Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Grierson's Raid begins – troops under Union Colonel Benjamin Grierson attack central Mississippi.
- 1864 - The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act which mandates that the inscription "In God We Trust" be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.
- 1889 - Oklahoma land rush: President Benjamin Harrison opens the Unassigned Lands in what is now central Oklahoma to white settlement.
- 1898 - Spanish-American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports and the USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.
- 1913 - Pravda, the "voice" of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, begins publications in Saint Petersburg.
- 1914 - Babe Ruth, age 19, pitches his first professional game for the minor league Baltimore Orioles.
- 1915 - The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.
- 1930 - The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
- 1943 - Albert Hofmann writes his first report about the hallucinogenic properties of LSD.
- 1944 - World War II: Operation Persecution initiated – Allied forces land in the Hollandia area of New Guinea.
- 1945 - World War II: After learning that Soviet forces have taken Eberswalde without a fight, Adolf Hitler admits defeat in his underground bunker and states that suicide is his only recourse.
- 1946 - The first installment of the popular Japanese comic strip, Sazae-san, is published in the Fukunichi Shimbun.
- 1954 - Red Scare: Army-McCarthy Hearings begin.
- 1964 - The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair opens for its first season.
- 1970 - First Earth Day celebrated.
- 1971 - John Kerry, dressed in combat fatigues, testifies on his views of the Vietnam War before the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee
- 1972 - Vietnam War: Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts antiwar protests in New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
- 1975 - Barbara Walters signs a five-year $5 million contract with the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), becoming the highest paid television newsperson.
- 1978 - The Blues Brothers make their first appearance on Saturday Night Live.
- 1979 - Brent Mydland performs his first show with the Grateful Dead at Spartan Stadium, San Jose.
- 1993 - In Washington, DC, the Holocaust Memorial Museum is dedicated.
- 1993 - The web browser Mosaic version 1.0 is released.
- 1996 - Cisco Systems acquires StrataCom for $4B
- 1997 - Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria; 93 villagers killed.
- 1997 - A 126-day hostage crisis at the residence of the Japanese ambassador in Lima, Peru ends after government commandos storm and capture the building, rescuing 71 hostages. One hostage dies of a heart attack, two soldiers are killed from rebel fire, and all 14 rebels are slain.
- 2000 - In a predawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami, Florida.
- 2000 - The Big Number Change takes place in the United Kingdom.
- 2004 - Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people.
- 2005 - Mordechai Vanunu installed as Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow.

Births


- 1451 - Queen Isabella of Castile and Leon (d. 1504)
- 1550 - Edward de Vere, Lord Great Chamberlain of England (d. 1604)
- 1610 - Pope Alexander VIII (d. 1691)
- 1658 - Giuseppe Torelli, Italian composer (d. 1709)
- 1690 - John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English statesman (d. 1763)
- 1692 - James Stirling, Scottish mathematician (d. 1770)
- 1707 - Henry Fielding, English author (d. 1754)
- 1711 - Eleazar Wheelock, American founder of Dartmouth College (d. 1779)
- 1724 - Immanuel Kant, German philosopher (d. 1804)
- 1766 - Madame de Staël, French author (d. 1817)
- 1812 - Solomon Caesar Malan, British orientalist (d. 1894)
- 1840 - Odilon Redon, French painter (d. 1916)
- 1852 - Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1912)
- 1854 - Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1943)
- 1870 (N.S.) - Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary (d. 1924)
- 1873 - Ellen Glasgow, American author (d. 1945)
- 1876 - Robert Bárány, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1936)
- 1876 - Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler (d. 1920)
- 1881 - Alexander Kerensky, Russian politician (d. 1970)
- 1884 - Otto Rank, Austrian psychologist (d. 1939)
- 1891 - Harold Jeffreys, English astronomer (d. 1989)
- 1899 - Vladimir Nabokov, Russian writer (d. 1977)
- 1904 - Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist (d. 1967)
- 1906 - Eddie Albert, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1906 - Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Westrobothnia, second in line to the Swedish throne (d. 1946)
- 1907 - Ivan Efremov, Russian paleontologist and author (d. 1972)
- 1909 - Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1910 - Norman Steenrod, American mathematician (d. 1971)
- 1912 - Kathleen Ferrier, British contralto (d. 1953)
- 1914 - Jan de Hartog, Dutch writer (d. 2002)
- 1916 - Yehudi Menuhin, American-born violinist (d. 1999)
- 1918 - Mickey Vernon, baseball player
- 1919 - Donald J. Cram, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
- 1922 - Charles Mingus, American musician (d. 1979)
- 1922 - Wolf V. Vishniac, American microbiologist (d. 1973)
- 1923 - Bettie Page, American model
- 1923 - Aaron Spelling, American television producer and writer
- 1926 - Charlotte Rae, American actress
- 1926 - James Stirling, British architect (d. 1992)
- 1935 - Paul Chambers, American jazz bassist (d. 1969)
- 1936 - Glen Campbell, American musician
- 1937 - Jack Nicholson, American actor
- 1937 - Jack Nitzsche, American composer and arranger (d. 2000)
- 1939 - Jason Miller, American actor (d. 2001)
- 1943 - Louise Glück, American poet
- 1944 - Steve Fossett, American adventurer
- 1946 - John Waters, American film writer and director
- 1950 - Peter Frampton, British musician
- 1952 - Marilyn Chambers, American actress
- 1958 - Ken Olandt, American actor
- 1959 - Catherine Mary Stewart, Canadian actress
- 1959 - Ryan Stiles, Canadian-born actor and comedian
- 1962 - Jeff Minter, British video game programmer
- 1967 - Sheryl Lee, American actress
- 1974 - Shavo Odadjian, Armenian-born bassist (System of a Down)
- 1975 - Greg Moore, Canadian race car driver (d. 1999)
- 1977 - Andruw Jones, baseball player
- 1981 - Ken Dorsey, American football player
- 1982 - Kaká, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 - Matt Jones, American football player

Deaths


- 296 - Pope Caius
- 536 - Pope Agapetus I
- 1592 - Bartolomeo Ammanati, Italian architect and sculptor (b. 1511)
- 1672 - Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish poet (b. 1598)
- 1699 - Hans Erasmus Aßmann, Freiherr von Abschatz, German statesman and poet (b. 1646)
- 1758 - Antoine de Jussieu, French naturalist (b. 1686)
- 1778 - James Hargreaves, English weaver, carpenter, and inventor (b. 1720)
- 1806 - Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (stabbed) (b. 1763)
- 1833 - Richard Trevithick, English inventor (b. 1771)
- 1892 - Edouard Lalo, French composer (b. 1823)
- 1896 - Thomas Meik, British civil engineer (b. 1812)
- 1908 - Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1836)
- 1925 - André Caplet, French composer (b. 1878)
- 1930 - Jeppe Aakjaer, Danish poet and novelist

November 26

November 26 is the 330th day (331st on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 35 days remaining.

Events


- 1778 - In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit Maui.
- 1805 - Official opening of Thomas Telford's Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
- 1825 - At Union College in Schenectady, New York a group of college students form Kappa Alpha Society, the first college social fraternity.
- 1862 - Charles Dodgson (AKA Lewis Carroll) sends the handwritten manuscript of Alice's Adventures Underground to 10-year-old Alice Liddell.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Mine Run - Union forces under General George Meade position against troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
- 1865 - Battle of Papudo: The Spanish navy engages a combined Peruvian-Chilean fleet north of Valparaiso, Chile.
- 1917 - The National Hockey League is formed, with the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and Toronto Arenas as its first teams.
- 1918 - The Podgorica Assembly votes for "union of the people", declaring assimilation into the Kingdom of Serbia
- 1922 - Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Egyptian King Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.
- 1922 - Toll of the Sea debuts as the first general release film to use two-tone Technicolor (The Gulf Between was the first film to do so but it was not widely distributed).
- 1939 - Shelling of Mainila: The Soviet Army orchestrates the incident which is used to justify the start of the Winter War with Finland four days later.
- 1941 - US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States.
- 1941 - World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor - A fleet of six aircraft carriers commanded by Japanese Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo leaves Hitokapu Bay for Pearl Harbor under strict radio silence.
- 1941 - World War II: The Hull note ultimatum is delivered to Japan by the United States.
- 1942 - The film Casablanca premieres at the Hollywood Theater in New York City.
- 1942 - World War II: Yugoslav Partisans convene the first meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia at Bihać in northwestern Bosnia.
- 1949 - The Indian Constituent Assembly adopts India's constitution.
- 1950 - Korean War: Troops from the People's Republic of China move into North Korea and launch a massive counterattack against South Korean and American forces (Battle of Chosin Reservoir), ending any hopes of a quick end to the conflict.
- 1965 - In the Hammaguira launch facility in the Sahara Desert, France launches a Diamant-A rocket with its first satellite, Asterix-1 on board, becoming the third country to enter space.
- 1968 - Vietnam War: United States Air Force helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire and is later awarded the Medal of Honor.
- 1968 - British rock band Cream play their farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
- 1970 - In Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 1.5 inches (38.1mm) of rain fall in a minute, the heaviest rainfall ever on record.
- 1976 - The Band play their final concert, dubbed The Last Waltz. One of the guest performers is Eric Clapton, whose band Cream also played their farewell concert on November 26, 8 years earlier.
- 1977 - 'Vrillon', representative of the 'Ashtar Galactic Command', takes over Britain's Southern Television for five minutes at 5:12 PM.
- 1983 - Brinks Mat robbery: In London, 6,800 gold bars worth nearly £26 million are taken from the Brinks Mat vault at Heathrow Airport
- 1985 - US President Ronald Reagan signs over rights to his autobiography to Random House for a record US$3 million.
- 1986 - Iran-Contra scandal: US President Ronald Reagan announces the members of what will become known as the Tower Commission.
- 1986 - The New Yorker publishes Susan Sontag's AIDS short story, "The Way We Live Now"
- 1998 - Tony Blair becomes the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Republic of Ireland's parliament.
- 2003 - Last flight of Concorde.

Births


- 1288 - Emperor Go-Daigo of Japan (d. 1339)
- 1436 - Princess Catherine of Portugal, writer (d. 1463)
- 1607 - John Harvard, English-born clergyman (d. 1638)
- 1609 - Henry Dunster, English president of Harvard College (d. 1659)
- 1657 - William Derham, English minister and writer d. 1735)
- 1678 - Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist (d. 1771)
- 1703 - Theophilus Cibber, English actor and writer (d. 1758)
- 1792 - Sarah Grimke, American abolitionist and feminist (d. 1873)
- 1832 - Mary Edwards Walker, American feminist physician (d. 1919)
- 1832 - Karl Rudolf König, German physicist (d. 1901)
- 1847 - Maria Fyodorovna, Princess of Denmark and Empress of Russia (d. 1928)
- 1864 - Edward Higgins, British Salvation Army General (d. 1947)
- 1869 - Maud, Queen of Norway (d. 1938)
- 1876 - Willis Carrier, American engineer and inventor (d. 1950)
- 1877 - Alfred Cortot, Swiss pianist (d. 1962)
- 1885 - Heinrich Brüning, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1970)
- 1889 - Albert Dieudonné, French actor, screenwriter and novelist (d. 1976)
- 1894 - Norbert Wiener, American mathematician and founder of Cybernetics (d. 1964)
- 1898 - Karl Ziegler, German chemist, Nobel Prize laurete (d. 1973)
- 1899 - Bruno Hauptmann, German kidnapper of Charles Lindbergh III (d. 1936)
- 1905 - Bob Johnson, American baseball player (d. 1982)
- 1910 - Cyril Cusack, Irish actor (d. 1993)
- 1909 - Eugène Ionesco, Romanian-born playwright (d. 1994)
- 1912 - Eric Sevareid, American journalist (d. 1992)
- 1915 - Earl Wild, American pianist
- 1922 - Charles M. Schulz, American cartoonist (d. 2000)
- 1924 - George Segal, American Pop Sculptor (d. 2000)
- 1925 - Eugene Istomin, American pianist (d. 2003)
- 1927 - Ernie Coombs, American born children's entertainer (d. 2001)
- 1931 - Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Argentine activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- 1933 - Robert Goulet, American singer and actor
- 1937 - Boris Yegorov, Soviet cosmonaut
- 1938 - Porter J. Goss, American politician and Central Intelligence Agency director
- 1938 - Rich Little, Canadian comedian and actor
- 1939 - Tina Turner, American singer and actress
- 1939 - Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia
- 1943 - Bruce Paltrow, American producer and director (d. 2002)
- 1945 - Daniel Davis, American actor
- 1945 - John McVie, British musician (Fleetwood Mac)
- 1946 - Art Shell, American football player and coach
- 1947 - Susanne Zenor, American actress
- 1948 - Krešimir Ćosić, Croatian basketball player (d. 1995)
- 1949 - Vincent A. Mahler, Political Scientist and professor at Loyola University Chicago
- 1949 - Juanin Clay, American actress (d. 1995)
- 1951 - Cicciolina, Italian actress and politician
- 1953 - Harry Carson, American football player
- 1956 - Dale Jarrett, American race car driver
- 1969 - Shawn Kemp, American basketball player
- 1970 - Dave Hughes, Australian comedian
- 1971 - Ronald "Winky" Wright, American boxer
- 1972 - Arjun Rampal, Indian actor
- 1974 - Ajay Mehra, Indian columnist (Writer of Pubhop in Bangalore Weekly)
- 1976 - Maven Huffman, American professional wrestler
- 1981 - Aurora Snow, American actress
- 1981 - Stephan Andersen, Danish international footballer
- 1981 - Natasha Bedingfield, British singer
- 1985 - Lil' Fizz, American singer

Deaths


- 399 - Pope Siricius
- 1252 - Blanche of Castile, Queen of Louis VIII of France (b. 1188)
- 1326 - Hugh the younger Despenser, English knight (b. 1286)
- 1504 - Queen Isabella I of Castile (b. 1451)
- 1621 - Radulph Agas, English surveyor
- 1639 - John Spottiswoode, Scottish historian (b. 1565)
- 1651 - Henry Ireton, English Civil War general (b. 1611)
- 1688 - Philippe Quinault, French writer (b. 1635)
- 1689 - Marquard Gude, German archaeologist (b. 1635)
- 1717 - Daniel Purcell, British composer (b. 1664)
- 1719 - John Hudson, British classical scholar (b. 1662)
- 1780 - Sir James Denham Steuart, British economist (b. 1712)
- 1836 - John MacAdam, British road builder (b. 1756)
- 1851 - Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult, French marshal (b. 1769)
- 1855 - Adam Mickiewicz, Polish poet (b. 1798)
- 1857 - Joseph von Eichendorff, German poet (b. 1788)
- 1876 - Karl Ernst von Baer, German biologist (b. 1792)
- 1896 - Emil du Bois-Reymond, German physician (b. 1818)
- 1896 - Coventry Patmore, British poet (b. 1823)
- 1952 - Sven Hedin, Swedish explorer (b. 1865)
- 1956 - Tommy Dorsey, American bandleader (b. 1905)
- 1959 - Albert Ketèlbey, British composer (b. 1875)
- 1962 - Albert Sarraut, French politician (b. 1872)
- 1963 - Amelita Galli-Curci, Italian soprano (b. 1882)
- 1981 - Max Euwe, Dutch chess player (b. 1901)
- 1996 - Michael Bentine, British comedian (b. 1922)
- 2002 - Verne Winchell, American doughnut entrepreneur
- 2003 - Soulja Slim, American rapper (shot) (b. 1978)
- 2003 - Stefan Wul, French writer (b. 1922)
- 2005 - Stan Berenstain,Childrens Author (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances


- R.C. saints - Pope Siricius; celebration of the excellence of Saint Genevieve in Paris.
- Also see November 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Bahá'í Faith: Day of the Covenant
- Mongolia: Independence Day

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/26 BBC: On This Day]
- World : [http://www.adbusters.org/metas/eco/bnd/ Buy Nothing Day] ---- November 25 - November 27 - October 26 - December 26 -- listing of all days ko:11월 26일 ms:26 November ja:11月26日 simple:November 26 th:26 พฤศจิกายน

1504

Events


- January 1 - French troops surrender Gaeta to the Spanish under Cordoba.
- January 31 - France cedes Naples to Aragon.
- February 29 - Christopher Columbus uses his knowldege of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Native Americans to provide him with supplies.
- Michelangelo Buonarroti finishes his sculpture of David - August 8 it is erected in Florence.
- Moldavia, Stephan III the Great fights against Turkey and Poland.
- Baber besieges and captures Kabul.
- Ferdinand II of Aragon becomes King of Naples as Ferdinand III.
- Christopher Columbus return to Spain from his fourth voyage where he and his younger son, Ferdinand, explored the coast of Central America from Belize to Panama.
- Aldo Manuzio publishes Demosthenes.
- Grünenwald: "Crucifixion".
- Voyage of Juan de la Cosa to South America.
- Erasmus: Enchiridion militis chritiani ("Handbook of the Christian Soldier").
- A Funj leader, Amara Dunqas, founds the Black Sultanate (As Saltana az Zarqa) at Sennar. (History of Sudan (Coming of Islam to the Turkiyah))

Births


- January 17 - Pope Pius V (died 1572)
- May 5 - Stanislaus Hosius, Polish cardinal (died 1579)
- July 18 - Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss religious reformer (died 1575)
- August 6 - Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 1574)
- November 13 - Philipp I of Hesse (died 1567)
- Jacques Arcadelt, Franco-Flemish composer (died 1568)
- Charles Estienne, Humanist (died 1564)
- Giovanni Battista Giraldi, Italian novelist and poet (died 1573)
- Patrick Hamilton, Scottish churchman and Reformer (died 1528)
- Dirk Philips, early Anabaptist writer and theologian
- Francesco Primaticcio, Italian painter, architect, and sculptor (died 1570)
- Nicholas Udall, English playwright and schoolmaster (died 1556)

Deaths


- July 2 - Ştefan cel Mare, Prince of Moldova (b. 1434)
- November 9 - King Frederick IV of Naples (born 1452)
- November 26 - Queen Isabella of Castile (born 1451)
- December 21 - Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild, German archbishop and elector (b. 1442)
- Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (born 1435)
- Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, Spanish author
- Filippino Lippi, Italian painter (born 1457)
- Domenico Maria Novara da Ferrara, Italian astronomer (born 1454)
- Philibert II, Duke of Savoy (born 1480)
- Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (born 1435)
- Ştefan cel Mare, Prince of Moldavia (born 1434) Category:1504 ko:1504년

Ferdinand II of Aragon

Ferdinand II the Catholic (Spanish: Fernando de Aragón el Católico, Catalan: Ferran d'Aragó el Católico) (March 10, 1452 – June 23, 1516) was king of Aragon, Castile, Sicily, Naples, Valencia, Sardinia and Navarre and Count of Barcelona. Ferdinand, the son of John II of Aragon by his second wife, the Aragonese noblewoman Juana Enriquez, was made King of Sicily by his father in 1468 in preparation for his marriage to Infanta Isabella, the half-sister and heiress of Henry IV of Castile. He married Isabella on October 19, 1469 in Ocaña and became Ferdinand V of Castile when Isabella succeeded her brother as Queen of Castile in 1474. The two young monarchs had initially to fight a civil war against Joan, princess of Castile aka Juana la Beltraneja, the purported daughter of Henry IV, but were ultimately successful. When Ferdinand succeeded his father as King of Aragon in 1479, the Crown of Castile and the various territories of the Crown of Aragon were united in a personal union creating for the first time since the 8th century a single political unit which might be called Spain, although the various territories were not properly administered as a single unit until the 18th century. The first decades of Ferdinand and Isabella's joint rule were taken up with the conquest of the Kingdom of Granada, the last Muslim enclave in the Iberian peninsula, which was completed by 1492. In that same year, the Jews were expelled from both Castile and Aragon, and Christopher Columbus was sent by the couple on his expedition which would ultimately discover the New World. By the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494, the extra-European world was split between the crowns of Portugal and Castile by a north-south line through the Atlantic Ocean. The latter part of Ferdinand's life was largely taken up with disputes over control of Italy with successive Kings of France, the so-called Italian Wars. In 1494, Charles VIII of France invaded Italy and expelled Ferdinand's cousin, Alfonso II, from the throne of Naples. Ferdinand allied with various Italian princes and with Emperor Maximilian I, to expel the French by 1496 and install Alfonso's son, Ferdinand, on the Neapolitan throne. In 1501, following the death of Ferdinand of Naples and his succession by his uncle Frederick, Ferdinand of Aragon signed an agreement with Charles VIII's successor, Louis XII, who had just successfully asserted his claims to the Duchy of Milan, to partition Naples between them, with Campania and the Abruzzi, including Naples itself, going to the French and Ferdinand taking Apulia and Calabria. The agreement soon fell apart, and over the next several years, Ferdinand's great general Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba conquered Naples from the French, having succeeded by 1504. Ferdinand and Isabella's children included Joanna of Castile and Catherine of Aragon. Because of the power of their joint kingdoms, their daughters married with several European dynasties, setting the bases for the huge heritage of their grandson Charles V. After Isabella died that same year and left her kingdom to her daughter Joanna, Ferdinand served as her regent during her absence in the Netherlands, ruled by her husband Archduke Philip. Ferdinand attempted to retain the regency permanently, but was rebuffed by the Castilian nobility and replaced with Joanna's husband, who became Philip I of Castile. After Philip's death in 1506, with Joanna mentally unstable, and her and Philip's son Charles of Ghent only six years old, Ferdinand resumed the regency, ruling through Francisco Cardinal Jimenez de Cisneros, the Chancellor of the Kingdom. In 1508, war resumed in Italy, this time against Venice, which all the other powers on the peninsula, including Louis XII, Ferdinand, Maximilian, and Pope Julius II joined together against as the League of Cambrai. Although the French were victorious against Venice at the Battle of Agnadello, the League soon fell apart, as both the Pope and Ferdinand became suspicious of French intentions. Instead, the Holy League was formed, in which now all the powers joined together against France. In November 1511 Ferdinand and his son-in-law Henry VIII of England signed the Treaty of Westminster, pledging mutual aid between the two against France. Earlier that year, Ferdinand had conquered the southern half of the Kingdom of Navarre, which was ruled by a French nobleman, and annexed it to Spain. At this point Ferdinand remarried with the much younger Germaine of Foix (1490-1538), a grand-daughter of Queen Leonor of Navarre, to reinforce his claim to the kingdom. The Holy League was generally successful in Italy, as well, driving the French from Milan, which was restored to its Sforza dukes by the peace treaty in 1513. Although the French were successful in reconquering Milan two years later, Ferdinand died in 1516, satisfied that he had made Spain the most powerful country in Europe, and that the succession of his grandson Charles, who would inherit not only the Spanish lands of his maternal grandparents, but the Habsburg and Burgundian lands of his paternal family, would make his heirs the most powerful rulers on the continent. Charles succeeded him in the Aragonese lands, and was also granted the Castilian crown jointly with his insane mother, bringing about at long last the unification of the Spanish thrones under one head. Ferdinand is entombed in the Capilla Real of Granada, alongside his wife, his daughter Joanna and her husband Philip, and his grandson Miguel. Some scholars argue that Ferdinand, and not the unfortunate Cesare Borgia, was the true inspiration for Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince, in which he is frequently mentioned.

See also


- Spanish Inquisition
- Monarchs of Naples and Sicily
- Cardinal Cisneros |- |- |- |- |- |- Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II of Aragon Category:Aragonese monarchs Category:Knights of the Garter Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece Category:History of Catholicism in Spain Category:Jewish Spanish history Category:Kings of Sicily Category:Reconquista Category:History of Spain ja:フェルナンド2世 (アラゴン王)

Philip II of Spain

Philip II (Spanish: Felipe II de Habsburg; Portuguese: Filipe I) (Born: May 21, 1526; Died: September 13 1598) was the first official King of Spain from 1556 until 1598, king of Naples and Sicily from 1554 until 1558, and King of Portugal (as Philip I) from 1580 until 1598. He was born at Valladolid and was the only legitimate son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Isabella, the daughter of king Manuel I of Portugal, to survive childhood.

Four marriages

His first marriage (1543) was to his cousin Princess Maria of Portugal, who provided him with a son, Don Carlos of Spain (1545–1568). Maria died in 1545. Philip sought an alliance with England, marrying the Catholic Queen Mary I of England in 1554. The marriage was unpopular with her subjects, and was a purely political alliance as far as Philip was concerned. On January 16 1556, Philip succeeded to the throne of Spain, as a result of his father's abdication, but he did not choose to reside in the country until his father's death two years later. After Mary died childless in 1558, Philip showed an interest in marrying her Protestant younger half-sister, Queen Elizabeth I of England, but this plan fell through, for a number of reasons. Philip believed his son Don Carlos had conspired against him; as a result, Philip had him imprisoned. When the prince died shortly thereafter, Philip's enemies accused him of having ordered the murder of his own son. There is limited evidence for this; it was long believed that he was poisoned, but nowadays it seems that his unhealthy habits of excessive eating and drinking were the reason for his untimely death. In 1559 the 60-year war with France ended with the signing of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis. Part of the peace process was Philip's third marriage to Princess Elisabeth of Valois, daughter of Henri II of France who in fact had first been promised to his son, Don Carlos. Elisabeth (1545-1568), provided him with two daughters, but no son. Philip's fourth wife, Anne, daughter of the emperor Maximilian II, provided him with an heir, Philip III.

Empire

During Philip II's reign the Philippine Islands were conquered and named for him and a North American colony was established in Florida. Trade across the Pacific between Asia and America, that would be carried by the famed Manila galleons for nearly three centuries, was initiated in 1565. But his reign was troubled by financial instability and threatened by Muslim invasion, and other conflicts such as the seccession of the Netherlands, and wars with France and England. Philip also faced various rebellions against his rule within mainland Spain, most notably the Morisco Revolt of 1568, and the Aragonese revolt following the Antonio Perez affair, as Philip attempted to arrest him through use of the Inquisition, thereby breaching the fueros of Aragon. Spain's quagmire in the Netherlands (see Dutch Revolt), the defeat of its Armada in 1588, and the economic strain of supporting so many wars with an insufficient tax base forced Philip to maintain heavy taxation on too narrow a tax base. In the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands, Philip II continued the policies of heavy taxation since Charles V. Like Charles V, he continued to exclude local nobility from administration, preferring the use of a Castilian Consulta, maintained an army of occupation, and upheld an Inquisition to stop the advance of Calvinism. Calvinism]

Revolt in the Netherlands

Following the 1566 Calvinist revolt, Philip II set out to stamp out treason and heresy. Issuing a new sales tax of roughly ten percent to pay for the required military expenditures (the 10th penny), the situation in the Netherlands only worsened. The region fell under open revolt once again in 1568 under William the Silent of the House of Orange, crushed by the brutal Spanish Fury led by the Duke of Alba, who convened the council of troubles (or council of blood as it came to be known), to condemn thousands to death and confiscate land. But following the Pacification of Ghent in 1576, poorly fed and poorly nourished Spanish troops, formerly considered invincible, especially after the successful campaign against the Ottomans, mutinied. The Dutch Calvinists declared that Spanish soldiers must be expelled and to be governed by the Estates General. But the Spanish took advantage of the strong religious, cultural and linguistic variation between the northern and southern provinces, playing local aristocrats against each other and recapturing the Southern provinces. Secure behind the "Great Rivers" of the Rhine delta, the north of the Netherlands emerged as the United Provinces. The seven United Provinces eventually declared their independence from the Spanish king in 1581 following the Union of Utrecht of 1579, their leader, William I, Prince of Orange (William the Silent) was outlawed by Philip, and assassinated in 1584 by a Catholic fanatic.

Economic decline

Aside from draining state revenues for failed overseas adventurism, the domestic policies of Philip II exacerbated Spanish decline. For one, far too much power was concentrated in Philip's hands. Unlike England, Spain was subject to separate assemblies: the Cortes in Castile along with the assembly in Navarre and three for each of the three regions of Aragon, each of which jealously guarded their traditional rights and laws inherited from the time they were separate kingdoms. This made Spain and its possesions cumbersome to rule. While France was divided by regional states, it had a single Estates-General. The lack of a viable supreme assembly would lead to a great deal of power being concentrated in Philip's hands, but this was made necessary by the constant conflict between different authorities that required his direct intervention as the final arbiter. To deal with the difficulties arising from this situation authority was administered by local agents appointed by the crown and viceroys carried out instructions of the crown. Philip, a compulsive micromanager, presided over specialized councils for state affairs, finance, war, and the Inquisition. A distrustful sovereign, Philip played royal bureaucrats against each other, leading to a system of checks and balances that would manage state affairs in a very inefficient manner, sometimes damaging state business (leading to the Perez affair - see Antonio Perez). Calls to move capital to Lisbon from the Castilian stronghold of Madrid — the new capital Philip established following the move from Valladolid — could have perhaps lead to a degree of decentralization, but Philip adamantly opposed such efforts. Philip's regime severely neglected farming in favor of sheep ranching, thus forcing Spain to import large amounts of grain and other foods by the mid-1560s. Presiding over a sharply divided conservative class structure, the Church and the upper classes were exempt from taxation (to be expected, considering their lack of parliamentary powers) while the tax burden fell disproportionately on the classes engaged in trade, commerce, and industry. Due to the inefficiencies of the Spanish state structure, industry was also greatly over-burdened by government regulations but this was the common defect of all governments of the times. The religious dispersal of the Moriscos from Granada had serious negative economic effects, particularly in the regions it affected, though its negative effects have often been exaggerated for polemical purposes. The socially marginalised Morisos had fallen on hard times since the end of Arab rule in Granada in 1492, and many were mostly engaged in unskilled work. It was well in the seventeenth century, not the sixteenth, that Spain's economic and demographic decline was felt. Inflation throughout Europe in the sixteenth century was a broad and complex phenomenon, but the flood of bullion from Americas was the main cause of it, particularly in Spain. Under Philip's reign, Spain saw a fivefold increase in prices. Due to inflation and high tax burden for Spanish manufacturers, Spanish industry was harmed and Spain’s riches were frittered away on imported manufactured goods by an opulent aristocracy and Philip's wars. Increasingly the country became dependent on the revenues flowing in from the mercantile empire in the Americas, although this was inflationary, before Spain's first bankruptcy in 1557 due to the rising costs of military efforts. Dependent on sales taxes from Castile and the Netherlands, Spain's tax base, which excluded nobility and the wealthy church, fell particularly heavily upon the province of Castile, so having far too narrow a base to support Philip's grand plans. Philip became increasingly dependent on loans from foreign bankers, particularly in Genoa and Augsburg. By the end of his reign, interest payments on these loans alone would account for 40% of state revenue.

Philip becomes King of Portugal

Meanwhile, Philip became King of Portugal, and the success of colonisation in America improved his financial position, enabling him to show greater aggression towards his enemies. In 1580 the direct line of Portuguese royal family (Sebastian of Portugal died following a disastrous campaign in Morocco, giving Philip the pretext to claim the throne through his mother, who was a Portuguese princess (see struggle for the throne of Portugal). He met little resistence in Lisbon, and his power helped him seizing the throne, which would be kept a personal union for sixty years. Philip famously remarked upon his acquisition of the Portuguese throne: "I inherited, I bought, I conquered", a variation on Julius Caesar and Veni, Vidi, Vici. Thus, Philip added to his possessions a vast colonial empire in Africa, Brazil, and the East Indies, seeing a flood of new revenues coming to the Spanish crown. In the ruling of Portugal however, Philip showed tact, trimming his beard and wearing clothes in the Portuguese style, and ruling from Lisbon for the next couple of years, leaving Portuguese privileges and fueros alone.

War with England

Another ostensible boost to Spanish hegemony and the Counter-Reformation achieved a clear boost when Philip married Mary Tudor — a Catholic — in 1554 (the older daughter of Henry VIII). However, they ended up childless (a child would have been heir to all but France) after Queen Mary or “bloody Mary” as she was known by English Protestants, died in 1558 before the union could revitalize the Catholic Church in England. The throne went to the formidable Elizabeth, the Protestant daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. But due to their premises against divorce, this union was deemed illegitimate by English Catholics, who instead claimed that Mary Queen of Scots, the Catholic great-granddaughter of Henry VII, was the legitimate heir to the throne. The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots upset his hopes to help place a Catholic on the English throne but did not stop his plans for an attempt to invade England. Because England provided support for the Dutch rebels war had broken out in 1585 and Philip thus sought to oust Elizabeth I with an invasion by means of the Spanish Armada. However, the so-called "Protestant Wind" thwarted Spanish ambitions, enabling the small, deftly manoeuverable English ships to out-manoeuver the larger Spanish ships. Two more armadas would be sent during Philip's reign, both of which would fail, and this particular Anglo-Spanish war (1585-1604) would be fought to a grinding end, until the death of both Philip II and Elizabeth I. The devastating 1588 defeat of the Spanish Armada gave great heart to the Protestant cause. Many Spaniards blamed the admiral of the Armada for its failure, but Philip was not among them. An attempt by England to make use of her sudden advantage at sea with a counter armada of her own the following year backfired disasterously and the war thereafter generally went Spain's way. Though ill for the last decade of his life Philip directed the rebuilding and reorganising of the Spanish navy and port defences, learning keenly from past failures. The effort paid off with a navy even more dominant than before the Armada, breaking the back of English buccaneering and frustrating English colonialisation and trade. Still Philip was bankrupt by 1596 after France had declared war upon Spain the previous year. In the last decade of his life, however, more silver and gold was shipped safely to Spain than ever before. This allowed him to maintain the military pressure upon France and England and was instrumental in the favourable Treaty of Vervins with France in 1598 and Treaty of London in 1604.

War with France

From 1590 to 1598 he was again at war against the Huguenot King Henry IV of France, joining with the Papacy and the Duke of Guise in the Catholic League during the French Wars of Religion. Philip's interventions in the French wars of religion (sending Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma to relieve the siege of Paris in 1590, and again into Rouen in 1592), to aid the Catholic faction, was disastrous in terms of the Dutch Revolt, allowing the rebels time to regroup and refortify their defenses. Henry IV of France was also able to use his propagandists to identify the Catholic faction with a foreign enemy (Philip and Spain), damaging the Catholic cause in France somewhat. In June 1595 the redoubtable French king defeated the Spanish supported Holy League in Fontaine-Francaise in Burgundy and reconquered Amiens from the overstretched Spanish forces in September 1597. The 1598 Treaty of Vervins was to many extents a restatement of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis 1559. Even though the French monarch had recovered control of France from Spain's allies, he had to convert to Roman Catholicism in order to do so, an ironic victory for the Habsburg sponsered Counter Reformation.

Legacy

Though the end of his reign, Philip saw Spain reach the peak of its power, leading a Spanish prime minister Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimentel, Count-Duke of Olivares, decades later to proclaim that "God is Spanish". Philip would never completely recover the Habsburg's dominions in the Netherlands. Upon his death, the union with Portugal remained for 42 years, that country remaining in personal union with Spain until 1640. So, despite having far more gold and silver than any other European power, which flowed into the Spanish coffers from the mines in Spanish America, the riches of the spice trade of the Portuguese Empire and the enthusiastic support of the Spanish Habsburg dominions for the Counter-Reformation, Philip's rule was not entirely successful in its ambitious aims. Philip was a devout Catholic and took personal responsibility for his actions, but his devotion to the Counter-Reformation was to ensure that, regardless of how many victories Spain's forces would win, the country would be constantly drained of resources in the Habsburgs' futile attempt to turn back the clock on religion. The Dutch rebels would have laid down their weapons immediately if he had stopped trying to suppress Protentantism, but his devotion to his faith would not allow him to do this. In Spain itself he mercilessly crushed Protestantism as part of his wars against the heresies. It must never be forgotten when assessing Philip's reign that these "heresies" constituted a real military threat to his realm. He would have been well aware that the Islamic lands around the Mediterranean had once been Christian. In his father's day the unsuccessful siege of Vienna by the Ottomans was a reminder of the threat from the growing Islamic Ottoman Empire, hence the fears that motivated harsh measures towards the Moriscos. These measures also caused economic damage. In addition, the serious disturbances throughout Europe since his father's time caused by the rise of Protestantism continued. Long after his death this conflict would explode into the catastrophic, religiously ignited, Thirty Years War of 1618-48, which would ultimately undermine Spain. Even with all the silver and gold of the Americas, it was Spain itself, through taxes and the supply of soldiers, that bore the huge burden, fiscally, physically and emotionally. Western Christendom would remain rent in two, and in the end it was Christianity itself that would be undermined, though this would be long after his reign. The bureaucracy that was built up around Philip and his father to run his many dominions, with their different laws and customs, was too dependent upon a tirelessly diligent monarch or one with the judgement to choose a good man to run it, as otherwise the administation of Spain's empire would drift and be overrun with corruption. After his death, under far lesser men, who were driven primarily by ambition, this would become the case. Flawed as it was, the system was an early model of a modern state system, run increasingly on rules rather than by personal favours. In any event the challenges presented by the unprecedented sprawling, complicated empire he had inherited was ultimately beyond his personal abilities. Though by no means unintelligent, he could not be described as extraordinary except for sheer effort, but then perhaps only a genius may have fared much better, if at all. However Philip's reign cannot be characterised simply as a failure. Philip consolidated Spain's empire overseas and ended the threat to Europe of the Ottoman Empire's navy in the Mediterranean. His navies attacked piracy, not only in European and American waters, but even in the Far East, improving safety for traders and coastal dwellers. He also faced the constant problem of Spain's internal historic regional divisions and succeeded in preventing a crisis leading to the succession of Aragon. His efforts also helped ensure the success of the Counter-Reformation in staunching the collapse of the Roman Catholic faith. Philip was a complex man, and though given to suspicion of members of his court, was not the cruel tyrant that has been painted of him by his opponents down the centuries. This becomes clear when one compares him with his contempories. He tried to deal with issues within existing laws as far as possible. Disgracefully, the Atlantic slave trade grew under his reign, which was to eventually give rise to the expression "trabajar como un negro" - "work like a black" - an indirect admission of cruel exploitation, but the humanity of black slaves was never systematically denied as it was later, under the much larger, and immensely lucrative British slave trade of the eighteenth century. However, personally flawed as he was himself, Philip was genuinely interested in the needs of his subjects, even intervening personally on behalf of the humblest of them, not for any publ