Philip I: 1558-1598
OK, today we're going to talk about the reign of one of my favorite Emperors, a leader who was arguably as important as Charles V, and that would be his son: Philip I. I also added some more pictures to the slides, so I can keep the attention span of you brats.
Just to start off, Philip I was born in Spain, and spent a lot of his early childhood there. When the Lutheran War began, Charles V sent Philip I to Spain, to wait in safety. It was there that Philip I learned Spanish and became fascinated with Spanish culture. This is why, during his reign, Philip I often considered himself culturally Spanish and ruled from Vallodolid, and later El Escorial. However, the imperial capital still remained Vienna, and it was from here that important ceremonial decisions were still made. Philip I also supported a more active role in colonization, and helped fund further colonization of the New World, as well as the establishment of ports across India and East Asia.
During Philip I's reign, the Empire entered an economic and cultural golden age. The arts were encouraged, and as a result flourished. Wealth, obtained from the trading of gold, silver, and spices, flowed into the Empire, turning it into a rich, economic powerhouse. And, as said before, some of this money went on to fund the great palace of El Escorial, where Philip I spent much of his reign, and where he died and was buried.
In 1581, after Portugal had a major dynastic crisis, in which many nobles were killed, Philip I became King of Portugal, bringing that nation and it's colonies into the Empire for the time being. Also, as fear of a Muslim revolt grew, Philip I was forced to exile all the Moors that remained in Spain, even though some were Christians. But this did not ease tensions with Muslim Morocco, and Philip I ordered the invasion of that nation in 1569. The backwards Moroccans were easily conquered, and forced to cede the northern half of their nation to the Empire, driving them back into the desert.
In 1572, the Protestant Dutch of the Netherlands revolted against Imperial rule, even though they had been granted religious freedom by Charles V. However, this revolt was mainly a political and cultural one. But the rebellion could never gain enough support, due to the fact that many Dutch stayed loyal to the Empire, citing Charles V's toleration. So, by 1576, Imperial troops had defeated the rebels, but Philip I still granted the Dutch some degree of autonomy, allowing the formation of local councils that would decide some laws independently of Imperial authority. And in 1585, the Papal States ceded their territories in Germany to the Empire, citing the Empire's defense of Christianity.
One of the most famous events in Philip I's reign was the victory that the Imperial Armada had over the then Protestant England in 1588. Elizabeth I, a Protestant monarch, was threatening to have the legitimate Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots executed. However, Mary was able to escape to Scotland and hide there. Even though the execution never took place, Philip I was insulted by Elizabeth I's Protestantism enough to send a massive fleet, supported by the Pope, to force Elizabeth I off the throne. The fleet sailed on calm seas to England and easily defeated the unprepared English. The fleet then disembarked, and force marched it's way to London, where it literally walked into the city without a fight. Elizabeth I fled, but was captured and beheaded. Mary, Queen of Scots came out of hiding, but conceded rule to her son, James I. Philip I sailed to London to crown James I as a Catholic King of Great Britain.
Despite this victory over, and conversion of, an entire kingdom, the Imperial Armada was not the most important event in Philip I's reign. It was in fact, the War Of The Holy League, which lasted from 1570 to 1573. Just as a little background, the Ottomans had captured Cyprus from the Venetians, and this was the justification for the war. But Europe as a whole had been afraid of the Ottoman's rising power and saw this as a chance to weaken them. So a League of Catholic nations assembled a great fleet and defeated the Ottomans at Lepanto.
The Empire quickly capitalized on this elimination of the Ottoman navy. They invaded the Balkans across the land, and landed troops in Greece amphibiously. Victories across the Balkans and the Crimea forced the Ottomans to come to terms. It should also be noted that at this time, Mesopotamia was being invaded by Persia, with whom the Empire had relations with since Charles V formed the beginnings of an alliance with. This two front invasion was probably coordinated by both nations. Nevertheless, the Ottomans had to come to terms in the Treaty of Constantinople in 1573. As Imperial troops were just miles form the capital itself, the Ottoman sultan was forced to give complete independence to Wallachia, Moldavia, Greece, hand over much of northern Africa and the Balkans to the Empire, and give the Crimean Khanate to Russia.
Philip I died in 1598 and was succeeded by his son, Philip II. This map shows the world upon Philip I's death in 1598. If you look closely, you can see Imperial ports all across the coasts of Africa and India. So, today we learned all about how Philip I managed wars throughout his reign, even while a golden age was taking place in the Empire. The Empire had become rich enough to handle all these conflicts. Though these conquests may seem like lucky victories, we have to consider that many of them were against technologically unadvanced opponents. Nevertheless, under Philip I's, the Empire expanded even more than it did under Charles V, and Philip I's reign ushered in the golden age of the Empire.