Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/779

 PHILIP II. 745 Spain when his father, as a measure of precaution, had him imprisoned. In prison Don Carlos yielded to sullen despair, and gave way to excesses, which Philip did not try to check. In consequence of this unwholesome life Don Carlos died in 1568, and it was a bitter blow to the haughty king to inform foreign princes of the facts. It would seem that Philip was glad to be rid of one whom he could not manage ; he did not hasten the death of Don Carlos, but he took no steps to prevent it. A few months later died Queen Isabella, leaving Philip without a male heir. In 1570 he married his fourth wife, Anne of Austria, his niece, who died in 1580. Only one of her sons survived to manhood, and he succeeded his father as Philip III. Meanwhile the hopes of Spain were fixed on Philip s half- brother, Don John of Austria, who first showed his military skill by putting down a serious revolt of the Moriscos in the Alpuxarras, and was then sent to command the Spanish fleet in the joint expedition of the Mediterranean powers against the Turk. He commanded at the decisive battle of Lepanto in 1571, which stemmed the tide of Turkish conquest. Brave and ambitious, Don John longed for a kingdom, and offered to undertake the conquest of the African coast. But Philip did not wish his brother to gain too much military glory. He sent him in 1576 to succeed Requesens in the Netherlands. Don John was full of great schemes, -to pacify the Netherlands, invade England, release Mary Queen of Scots, and become her husband. But the Spanish treasury was exhausted. Philip Avould send no more supplies, and left Don John to temporize with the Netherlander, a task for which he was entirely unfit. Overwhelmed with disappointment and the sense of failure, Don John died in 1578, leaving the work which ho could not accomplish to be undertaken by the patient genius of Alexander Farnese. Don John had had the art of impressing his great schemes on those around him. He sent his secretary, Escovedo, to urge his wishes on Philip, whose jealous mind was filled with suspicion. Escovedo awakened the personal dislike of Antonio Perez, and was murdered by that minister s instrumentality (see PEREZ). The fall of the old parties in the council brought forward new men and inaugurated a new policy. Cardinal Granvella, Juan Idiaquez, and Chris- toval de Moura became the king s chief advisers. They were men who depended solely on his favour, and were not connected with the old nobility of Castile. Hitherto Philip s policy had been in the main pacific. He had aimed at the internal consolidation of the monarchy, and had striven by every means to overcome the revolt of the Netherlands. But the resolute temper of the Nether- landers was encouraged by hopes of foreign help. England, France, and even Austria in turn displayed their jealousy of Philip s power by helping to keep alive the insurrection. Hound the revolt of the Netherlands centred the chief questions of European politics. Philip at length deter mined to make the subjection of the rebellious provinces part of a great scheme to extend the power of Spain over Europe. In the second period of his reign ho came forward as tha disturber of European peace, determined to reduce western Christendom to religious unity under his own rule. He interfered in the internal politics of every country and seized on every opportunity for pursuing his own schemes. His first step in the career of aggrandize ment was taken in 1580 by the reduction of Portugal, when he claimed the vacant crown by right of his mother. The duke of Alva overran the country before any other power had time to interfere. The last of the great Spanish nobles, who had already felt the weight of the king s displeasure, was still a willing instrument in extending the royal despotism. Philip succeeded in im pressing on Spain an unreasoning loyalty, which took the place of its old chivalrous patriotism. In the Nether lands he put William of Orange under the ban, and the assassination of William was the first sign of the fana tical bitterness which Philip was ready to encourage and to use. In France he resolved to check the power of the court and obtain an influence over French affairs. The strongly Catholic party resented the favour shown by Henry III. to the Huguenots, and was anxious about the succession to the crown. Headed by the Guises, they formed a league with Philip in January 1585, which plunged France into long and bitter warfare. The rapid advance of the League in France and the successes of Alexander Farnese in the Netherlands awakened the alarm of England. Troops were sent to the Netherlands, and the English privateers redoubled their attacks upon the treasure-ships of the Indies in the Spanish Main. Resolved to remove all hindrances from his path, Philip undertook the reduction of England. He trusted to the strength of the Spanish navy, the military skill of Alexander Farnese, and the discontent of the English Catholics. In 1588 the French king had become a mere instrument of the League, and Philip sent against England the &quot;Invincible Armada.&quot; Its failure involved the failure of all his schemes, though this fact was not at first obvious. Philip bore his loss with resignation. &quot;I sent my ships,&quot; he said, &quot;against men, not against the billows. I thank God that I can place another fleet upon the sea.&quot; But he was never able to renew his attack upon England. The murder of Henry III. of France raised the question of the succession to the French crown, and Philip s protectorate over the titular Charles X. was admitted. On the death of Charles the Catholic party were willing to recognize Philip s daughter Isabella as their queen. But the resolute bearing of Henry of Navarre kindled anew the national feeling, and the discussions about Isabella s future husband brought political questions into the foreground and weakened the cohesion of the League. The death of Alexander Farnese in 1592 deprived Philip of the great general who alone could hold in check Henry of Navarre, and Henry s change of religion and absolution by the pope in 1593 did much to remove the religious difficulty to his recognition by all parties in France. Philip s schemes for a general European ascendency entirely failed. He could not even recover the Netherlands for the Spanish monarchy. The northern provinces, banded together as the United Nether lands, made good their independence. The southern pro vinces returned to their obedience, but were ceded by Philip to his daughter Isabella and her husband Albert of Austria. The English cruisers became more and more dangerous in the Spanish Main, and in 1596 the English fleet sacked Cadiz. Philip II. s reign ended in general failure. His resources were exhausted, and in 1597 he repudiated his debts. His economic policy was disastrous. He checked commerce by unwise taxes, trusted unduly to the wealth of the Indies, and encouraged the indolent haughtiness of the Castilians. He raised Spain to a high position, but left it with a ruinous system of govern ment, which could only end in financial decay. Yet he was resolute and persevering to the end. He bore with constancy a painful and lingering illness, and his last words were, &quot;I die like a good Catholic, in faith and obedience to the Holy Roman Church.&quot; But he knew that he left a feeble successor. His jealous temper showed itself in the narrow education and secluded life which he prescribed for his son, and thereby intensified the boy s natural timidity. &quot;God has* not been pleased,&quot; he sadly said at the last, &quot;to grant me a successor capable of ruling my great realm.&quot; He died at the Escorial in September 1598. Philip II. s character is impressed on the great archi- XVIII. 94