King Phillip II of Spain: The Battle of Lepanto in 1571

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Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Phillip sent a fleet of ships to reconquer the city of Tunis (in present day Tunisia) and succeeded. However, the Ottomans rebuilt their fleet and in 1574 recaptured Tunis with a force of 250 galleys and a siege, which lasted 40 days. This battle ended the threat of Ottoman control of Spain and Europe and in 1585. The Ottoman Empire signed a peace treaty and ended the war. Marriage Phillip’s father, Charles V, arranged Phillip’s marriage to Queen Mary I of England. In order to get Phillip to Mary’s level Charles made Phillip the king of Naples and of Jerusalem. They were married on July 25th, 1554 at Winchester Cathedral in Winchester, Hampshire, England. With their marriage Phillip obtained all of Mary’s titles and honors, also all Acts of Parliament had to have both Mary and his name on them, coins had to show both Mary’s and his face on them. The only thing was that England didn’t have to provide military support to Phillip’s fathering any war. They never had any children and Mary died in 1558, two years after Phillip became King of Spain. After Mary’s death the throne was given to Elizabeth I. Phillip didn’t want to break his connection with England so he offered to marry Elizabeth. She didn’t respond. Phillip tried to maintain his peace with England and even defended Elizabeth against the Pope and his threat of excommunication. Eventually, England allied with the Protestant rebels of Phillip’s rule in the Netherlands and stopped trading with Spain. Also, Elizabeth threatened to rob Spanish treasure ships returning from Spain’s colonies in America. Elizabeth signed a treaty with the rebels to supply goods and troops to help their cause and this made Phillip consider going to war with England. Phill... ... middle of paper ... ...ish two of his major goals; to stop Protestantism and stop the rebellion in the Netherlands. You can’t say Phillip’s reign was nothing but failures, he did have some of the most amazing victories as well, like the one against the Ottoman Empire, stopping them from expanding into Europe. Also he set up the first trans-Pacific trade route between the Americas and Asia to get from the Spanish Colonies of the Philippines (which are named after him) to what is now Mexico and Central/South America. Finally, his contribution did slow down the spread of Protestantism in Europe. Works Cited -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spain -http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/456081/Philip-II -http://www.pbs.org/kcet/when-worlds-collide/people/philip-ii.html -http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/king-philip-ii-spain.htm -http://www.nndb.com/people/229/000092950/

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