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236. SPAIN UNDER PHILIP II, 1556-1598 A.D.
ABDICATION OF CHARLES V, 1555-1556 A.D.
In 1555 A.D., the year of the Peace of Augsburg, [25] Charles V determined
to abdicate his many crowns and seek the repose of a monastery. The plan
was duly carried into effect. His brother Ferdinand I succeeded to the
title of Holy Roman Emperor and the Austrian territories, while his son,
Philip II, [26] received the Spanish possessions in Italy, the
Netherlands, and America. There were now two branches of the Hapsburg
family--one in Austria and one in Spain.
PHILIP II
The new king of Spain was a man of unflagging energy, strong will, and
deep attachment to the Roman Church. As a ruler he had two great ideals:
to make Spain the foremost state in the world and to secure the triumph of
the Roman Catholic faith over Protestantism. His efforts to realize these
ideals largely determined European history during the second half of the
sixteenth century.
[Illustration: PHILIP II
After the portrait by Titian.]
BATTLE OF LEPANTO, 1571 A.D.
The Spanish monarch won renown by becoming the champion of Christendom
against the Ottoman Turks. At this time the Turks had a strong navy, by
means of which they captured Cyprus from the Venetians and ravaged Sicily
and southern Italy. Grave danger existed that they would soon control all
the Mediterranean. To stay their further progress one of the popes
preached what was really the last crusade. The fleets of Genoa and Venice
united with those of Spain and under Don John of Austria, Philip's half-
brother, totally defeated the Turkish squadron in the gulf of Lepanto, off
the western coast of Greece. The battle gave a blow to the sea-power of
the Turks from which they never recovered and ended their aggressive
warfare in the Mediterranean. Lepanto is one of the proud names in the
history of Spain.
ANNEXATION OF PORTUGAL, 1581 A.D.
Philip had inherited an extensive realm. He further widened it by the
annexation of Portugal, thus completing the unification of the Spanish
peninsula. The Portuguese colonies in Africa, Asia, and America also
passed into Spanish hands. The union of Spain and Portugal under one crown
never commanded any affection among the Portuguese, who were proud of
their nationality and of their achievements as explorers and empire-
builders. Portugal separated from Spain in 1640 A.D. and has since
remained an independent state.
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