Philip was the only son and heir of Holy Roman emperor Charles V. When his father abdicated in 1556, he inherited a vast empire, including territory in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and the New World.
To Philip, his marriage to the English queen Mary in 1554 was simply an alliance of two Catholic realms against the growing Protestantism of much of Europe. To Mary, it was a match literally made in heaven. To the English, it was an extremely unpopular union and led directly to Wyatt's Rebellion, which Mary suppressed with difficulty.
A year after the wedding, Mary went through a phantom pregnancy. Embarrassed, Philip left England with the excuse that he needed to look after his extensive possessions. He returned to persuade his wife to go to war with the French. She agreed, but the venture was unpopular and financially draining and, worst of all, England lost Calais, its last foothold in France. When she heard the news, Mary said: 'When I am dead and opened, you shall find "Calais" lying in my heart.'
Following a flying visit from Philip, Mary became convinced that she was pregnant once more. But instead of giving birth to a child, she died in November 1558.
Philip toyed with the idea of marrying Mary's half-sister Elizabeth, the new queen, but his plans fell through. From 1566, he was engaged in suppressing a Protestant revolt in the Netherlands. When the Dutch were supported by the English, he became determined to achieve by military conquest what Mary had failed to achieve as queen.
He used Elizabeth's execution of Mary Queen of Scots in February 1587 as an excuse to invade England, sending an armada of 130 ships in 1588. But weather conditions and the manoeuvrability of the smaller English ships proved disastrous to the Spanish.
Philip was bankrupt by 1596 and he died two years later. During his 42-year reign, his empire had been totally at peace for only six months.
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 Philip II of Spain
www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Phillip.ht
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Excellent coverage of the king, his marriage to Mary Tudor, government, foreign policy and economic problems that Spain faced.
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Philip II by Patrick Williams (Palgrave Macmillan, 2001)
The history of Philip II as it interfaces with the history of Europe and much of the New World in the second half of the 16th century.
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