Editing Philip II of Spain (section)

==Foreign policy==
Philip's foreign policies were determined by a combination of Catholic fervour and dynastic objectives. He considered himself the chief defender of Catholic Europe, both against the [[Ottoman Empire]] and against the forces of the [[Protestant Reformation]]. He never relented from his fight against [[heresy]], defending the Catholic faith and limiting freedom of worship within his territories.<ref>As Philip wrote in 1566 to [[Luis de Zúñiga y Requesens|Luis de Requesens]]: "You can assure his Holiness that rather than suffer the least injury to religion and the service of God, I would lose all my states and a hundred lives if I had them, for I do not intend to rule over heretics." {{Harvnb|Pettegree|2002|p=214}}.</ref> These territories included his patrimony in the Netherlands, where Protestantism had taken deep root. Following the [[Revolt of the Netherlands]] in 1568, Philip waged a campaign against Dutch heresy and secession. It also dragged in the English and the French at times and expanded into the German Rhineland with the [[Cologne War]]. This series of conflicts lasted for the rest of his life. Philip's constant involvement and focus in European wars took a significant toll on the treasury and caused economic difficulties for the Crown and even bankruptcies.

[[File:Guidon of King Philip II of Spain.svg|thumb|Personal guidon of Philip II]]

In 1588, the English defeated Philip's [[Spanish Armada]], thwarting his planned invasion of the country to reinstate Catholicism. But [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)|war with England]] continued for the next sixteen years, in a complex series of struggles that included France, Ireland and the main battle zone, the [[Low Countries]]. It would not end until all the leading protagonists, including himself, had died. Earlier, however, after several setbacks in his reign and especially that of his father, Philip did achieve a decisive victory against the Turks at [[Battle of Lepanto (1571)|Lepanto]] in 1571, with the allied fleet of the [[Holy League (1571)|Holy League]], which he had put under the command of his illegitimate brother, [[John of Austria]]. He also successfully secured his succession to the throne of [[Iberian Union|Portugal]].

The administration of overseas conquests was reformed. Extensive questionnaires were distributed to every major town and region in New Spain called [[relaciones geográficas]]. These surveys helped the Spanish monarchy to govern Philip's overseas possessions more effectively.

===Italy===
{{Main|Italian Wars}}
Charles V abdicated the [[Kingdom of Naples|throne of Naples]] to Philip on 25 July 1554, and the young king was invested with the kingdom (officially a Papal fief) on 2 October by [[Pope Julius III]]. The date of Charles' abdication of the [[Kingdom of Sicily|throne of Sicily]] is uncertain, but Philip was invested with this kingdom on 18 November 1554 by Julius.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Braudel |first=Fernand |author-link=Fernand Braudel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LPp63EKb9moC&pg=PA935 |pages=935–936 |title=The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II |volume=2 |date=1995 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-20330-3 |language=en}}</ref> In 1556, Philip decided to invade the [[Papal States]] and temporarily held territory there, perhaps in response to [[Pope Paul IV]]'s anti-Spanish outlook. According to Philip II, he was doing it for the benefit of the [[Catholic Church|Church]].

In a letter to the Princess Dowager of Portugal, Regent of the Spanish kingdoms, dated 22 September 1556, [[Francisco de Vargas y Mexia|Francisco de Vargas]] wrote:
{{quote|I have reported to your Highness what has been happening here, and how far the Pope is going in his fury and vain imaginings. His Majesty could not do otherwise than have a care for his reputation and dominions. I am sure your Highness will have had more recent news from the Duke of Alva, who has taken the field with an excellent army and has penetrated so far into the Pope's territory that his cavalry is raiding up to ten miles from Rome, where there is such panic that the population would have run away had not the gates been closed. The Pope has fallen ill with rage, and was struggling with a fever on the 16th of this month. The two Carafa brothers, the Cardinal and Count Montorio, do not agree, and they and Piero Strozzi are not on as good terms as they were in the past. They would like to discuss peace. The best thing would be for the Pope to die, for he is the poison at the root of all this trouble and more which may occur. His Majesty's intention is only to wrest the knife from this madman's hand and make him return to a sense of his dignity, acting like the protector of the [[Holy See|Apostolic See]], in whose name, and that of the [[College of Cardinals]], his Majesty has publicly proclaimed that he has seized all he is occupying. The Pope is now sending again to the potentates of Italy for help. I hope he will gain as little thereby as he has done in the past, and that the French will calm down. May God give us peace in the end, as their Majesties desire and deserve!<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol13/pp275-280|title=Spain: September 1556|editor=Royall Tyler |publisher=Institute of Historical Research|year=1954|work=Calendar of State Papers, Spain |volume=Vol. 13: 1554–1558|access-date=19 April 2013}}</ref>}}

In response to the invasion, [[Pope Paul IV]] called for a French military intervention. After minor fights in Lazio and near Rome, [[Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba]], Viceroy of Naples met Cardinal [[Carlo Carafa]] and signed the Treaty of [[Cave, Lazio|Cave]] as a compromise: French and Spanish forces left the [[Papal States]] and the Pope declared a neutral position between France and the Spanish kingdoms.<ref name="fiuRebiba">{{cite web|url=http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1555-ii.htm|access-date=21 April 2010|title=The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church|author=Salvador Miranda|year=2010|publisher=[[Florida International University]]|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175609/http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1555-ii.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Philip led the Spanish kingdoms into the final phase of the [[Italian Wars]]. A Spanish advance into France from the Low Countries led to their important victory at the [[Battle of St. Quentin (1557)]]. The French were defeated again at the [[Battle of Gravelines (1558)]]. The resulting [[Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis]] in 1559 secured [[Piedmont]] to the [[Duchy of Savoy]], and [[Corsica]] to the [[Republic of Genoa]]. Both Genoa and Savoy were allies of Spain and, although Savoy subsequently declared its neutrality between France and Spain, Genoa remained a crucial financial ally for Philip during his entire reign. The treaty also confirmed Philip's control over [[Duchy of Milan|Milan]], Naples, Sicily, and [[Kingdom of Sardinia|Sardinia]]. Therefore, all of southern Italy was under Spanish rule as part of the [[Crown of Aragon]]. In the north, Milan was a duchy of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] held by Philip. Attached to the Kingdom of Naples, the [[State of Presidi]] in Tuscany gave Philip the possibility to monitor maritime traffic to southern Italy, whilst the grant of the Duchy of Siena to the new [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]], ensured it would remain a Spanish ally. The [[Council of Italy]] was set up by Philip in order to co-ordinate his rule over the states of Milan, Naples and Sicily. Ultimately, the treaty ended the 60-year [[French-Habsburg rivalry|Franco-Habsburg wars]] for supremacy in Italy. It marked also the beginning of a period of peace between the Pope and Philip, as their European interests converged, although political differences remained and diplomatic contrasts eventually re-emerged.

By the end of the wars in 1559, [[Habsburg Spain]] had been established as the premier power of Europe, to the detriment of France. In France, [[Henry II of France|Henry II]] was fatally wounded in a joust held during the celebrations of the peace. His death led to the accession of his 15-year-old son [[Francis II of France|Francis II]], who in turn soon died. The French monarchy was thrown into turmoil, which increased further with the outbreak of the [[French Wars of Religion]] that would last for several decades. The states of Italy were reduced to second-rate powers, with Spain dominating the peninsula. Mary Tudor's death in 1558 enabled Philip to seal the treaty by marrying Henry II's daughter, [[Elisabeth of Valois]], later giving him a claim to the throne of France on behalf of his daughter by Elisabeth, [[Isabella Clara Eugenia]].

===France===
{{main|French Wars of Religion}}
The French Wars of Religion (1562–1598) were primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). The conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the [[House of Bourbon]] and [[House of Guise]], and both sides received assistance from foreign sources. Philip claimed descent from [[Constantine I]] and [[Charlemagne]], justifying his intervention in French Wars of Religion and his continuing efforts to depose [[Henry IV of France]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lV9Xdn3c6IoC&pg=PA135|page=135|title=Clio and the Crown: The Politics of History in Medieval and Early Modern Spain|author=Richard L. Kagan|date=2009|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-1421401652 }}</ref>{{page needed|date=March 2025}}

Philip signed the [[Treaty of Vaucelles]] with Henry II of France in 1556. Based on the terms of the treaty, the territory of [[County of Burgundy|Franche-Comté]] in [[Burgundy]] was to be relinquished to Philip. However, the treaty was broken shortly afterwards. France and the Spanish kingdoms waged war in northern France and Italy over the following years. Spanish victories at St. Quentin and Gravelines led to the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, in which France recognised Spanish sovereignty over Franche-Comté.

During the [[War of the Portuguese Succession]], the pretender [[António, Prior of Crato|António]] fled to France following his defeats and, as Philip's armies had not yet occupied the [[Azores]], he sailed there with a large Anglo-French fleet under [[Filippo di Piero Strozzi|Filippo Strozzi]], a [[Florence|Florentine]] exile in the service of France. The naval [[Battle of Terceira]] took place on 26 July 1582, in the sea near the Azores, off [[São Miguel Island]], as part of the War of the Portuguese Succession and the [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)]]. The Spanish navy defeated the combined Anglo-French fleet that had sailed to preserve control of the Azores under António. The French naval contingent was the largest French force sent overseas before the age of [[Louis XIV]].<ref>Jan Glete p. 156</ref>

[[File:PhilipIIbust.JPG|thumb|A [[marble]] [[Bust (sculpture)|bust]] of Philip II of Spain by [[Pompeo Leoni]], [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]]]

The Spanish victory at Terceira was followed by the [[Conquest of the Azores|Battle of the Azores]] between the Portuguese loyal to the claimant António, supported by French and English troops, and the Spanish-Portuguese forces loyal to Philip commanded by the admiral Don [[Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz|Álvaro de Bazán]]. Victory in Azores completed the incorporation of [[Iberian Union|Portugal into the Spanish Empire]].<ref>Nascimiento Rodrigues/Tessaleno Devezas p. 122</ref>

Philip financed the [[Catholic League (French)|Catholic League]] during the French Wars of Religion. He directly intervened in the final phases of the wars (1589–1598), ordering [[Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma]] into France in an effort to unseat [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]], and perhaps dreaming of placing his favourite daughter, [[Isabella Clara Eugenia]], on the French throne. [[Elisabeth of Valois]], Philip's third wife and Isabella's mother, had already ceded any claim to the French Crown with her marriage to Philip and in France the [[Salic law]] remained in effect. However, the [[Parlement of Paris]], in power of the Catholic party, gave verdict that Isabella Clara Eugenia was "the legitimate sovereign" of France. Philip's interventions in the fighting—sending the Duke of Parma to end Henry IV's [[Siege of Paris, 1590|siege of Paris]] in 1590 and the [[Siege of Rouen (1591)|siege of Rouen]] in 1592—contributed in saving the French Catholic Leagues's cause against a Protestant monarchy.

In 1593, Henry agreed to convert to Catholicism; weary of war, most French Catholics switched to his side against the hardline core of the Catholic League, who were portrayed by Henry's propagandists as puppets of a foreign monarch, Philip. By the end of 1594 certain League members were still working against Henry across the country, but all relied on the support of the Spanish Crown. In January 1595, therefore, Henry officially declared war on the Spanish Crown, to show Catholics that Philip was using religion as a cover for an attack on the French state, and Protestants that he had not become a puppet of the Spanish Crown through his conversion, while hoping to reconquer large parts of northern France from the Franco-Spanish Catholic forces.<ref>Knecht, ''French Civil Wars'' p. 272</ref>

French victory at the [[Battle of Fontaine-Française]] in Burgundy, 5 June 1595, marked an end to the Catholic League in France. The French also made some progress during an invasion of the [[Spanish Netherlands]]. They captured [[Ham, Belgium|Ham]] and massacred the small Spanish garrison, provoking anger among the Spanish ranks.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} The Spanish launched a concerted offensive that year, taking [[Siege of Doullens|Doullens]], [[Cambrai]], and [[Siege of Le Catelet (1595)|Le Catelet]]; at Doullens, they massacred 4,000 of its citizens.<ref>{{cite book |last=Goubert |first=Pierre |title=The Course of French History |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |page=103}}</ref> On 24 April 1596, the Spanish also [[Siege of Calais (1596)|conquered Calais]]. Following the Spanish capture of [[Amiens]] in March 1597, the French Crown laid siege to it until it managed to [[Siege of Amiens (1597)|reconquer Amiens]] from the overstretched Spanish forces in September 1597. Henry then negotiated a peace with the Spanish Crown. The war was only drawn to an official close, however, with the [[Peace of Vervins]] in May 1598.

The 1598 Treaty of Vervins was largely a restatement of the 1559 Peace of Câteau-Cambrésis and Spanish forces and subsidies were withdrawn; meanwhile, Henry issued the [[Edict of Nantes]], which offered a high degree of religious toleration for French Protestants. The military interventions in France thus failed to oust Henry from the throne or suppress Protestantism in France, and yet they had played a decisive part in helping the French Catholic cause gain the conversion of Henry, ensuring that Catholicism would remain France's official and majority faith—matters of paramount importance for the devoutly Catholic Spanish king.

===Mediterranean===
{{further|Ottoman–Habsburg wars}}
[[File:Felipe IV offers Ferdinand to Glory.jpg|thumb|[[Titian]]; after the [[Battle of Lepanto]] in 1571, Philip offers his short-lived heir [[Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias|Fernando]] to Glory in this [[allegory]].]]
[[File:Tercio - Morados Viejos.svg|thumb|[[Standard (flag)|Standard]] of the {{lang|es|[[tercio]]s morados}} of the Spanish army under Philip II]]

In the early part of his reign Philip was concerned with the rising power of the [[Ottoman Empire]] under [[Suleiman the Magnificent]]. Fear of Islamic domination in the Mediterranean caused him to pursue an aggressive foreign policy.

In 1558, Turkish admiral [[Piyale Pasha]] captured the [[Balearic Islands]], especially inflicting great damage on [[Menorca]] and enslaving many, while raiding the coasts of the Spanish mainland. Philip appealed to the Pope and other powers in Europe to bring an end to the rising Ottoman threat. Since his father's losses against the Ottomans and against [[Hayreddin Barbarossa]] in 1541, the major European sea powers in the Mediterranean, namely the Spanish Crown and [[Republic of Venice|Venice]], became hesitant in confronting the Ottomans. The myth of "Turkish invincibility" was becoming a popular story, causing fear and panic among the people.

In 1560, Philip II organised a ''Holy League'' between the Spanish kingdoms and the Republic of Venice, the [[Republic of Genoa]], the [[Papal States]], the [[Duchy of Savoy]] and the [[Knights Hospitaller|Knights of Malta]]. The joint fleet was assembled at [[Messina]] and consisted of 200 ships (60 galleys and 140 other vessels) carrying a total of 30,000 soldiers under the command of [[Giovanni Andrea Doria]], nephew of the famous Genoese admiral [[Andrea Doria]].

On 12 March 1560, the Holy League captured the island of [[Djerba]], which had a strategic location and could control the sea routes between [[Algiers]] and [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]]. As a response, Suleiman sent an Ottoman fleet of 120 ships under the command of Piyale Pasha, which arrived at Djerba on 9 May 1560. The battle lasted until 14 May 1560, and the forces of Piyale Pasha and [[Turgut Reis]] (who joined Piyale Pasha on the third day of the battle) won an overwhelming victory at the [[Battle of Djerba]]. The Holy League lost 60 ships (30 galleys) and 20,000 men, and Giovanni Andrea Doria was barely able to escape with a small vessel. The Ottomans retook the Fortress of Djerba, whose Spanish commander, D. [[Álvaro de Sande]], attempted to escape with a ship but was followed and eventually captured by Turgut Reis.

In 1563, capitalizing on the political climate, the [[Regency of Algiers]] launched the [[sieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir]] in a large scale attempt to dislodge the major Spanish positions in Northern Africa, but the attempt met failure. Philip's navy then [[conquest of Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera|conquered Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera]] the following year. The Ottomans sent a [[Siege of Malta (1565)|large expedition to Malta]], which laid siege to several forts on the island and took some of them, but the Spanish sent a relief force under D. [[García Álvarez de Toledo y Osorio|García de Toledo]] and a rescued Álvaro de Sande, which finally drove the Ottoman army out of the island.

The grave threat posed by the increasing Ottoman domination of the Mediterranean was finally reversed in one of history's most decisive battles, with the destruction of nearly the entire Ottoman fleet at the [[Battle of Lepanto]] in 1571, by the [[Holy League (1571)|Holy League]] under the command of Philip's half brother, Don [[John of Austria]], and Don [[Álvaro de Bazán, Marquis of Santa Cruz|Álvaro de Bazán]]. A fleet sent by Philip, again commanded by Don John, [[Conquest of Tunis (1573)|reconquered Tunis]] from the Ottomans in 1573. The Turks soon rebuilt their fleet, and in 1574 [[Uluç Ali Reis]] managed to [[Conquest of Tunis (1574)|recapture Tunis]] with a force of 250 galleys and a siege that lasted 40 days. Thousands of Spanish and Italian soldiers became prisoners. Nevertheless, Lepanto marked a permanent reversal in the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean and the end of the threat of Ottoman control. In 1585 a peace treaty was signed with the Ottomans.{{Citation needed|reason=The name of this treaty?|date=May 2024}}

===Strait of Magellan===
{{further|Spanish colonization attempt of the Strait of Magellan}}
[[File:Philip II of Spain armor DSC02246.JPG|left|thumb|200px|Armour of Philip II]]
During Philip's reign Spain considered the [[Pacific Ocean]] a ''[[mare clausum]]''—a sea closed to other naval powers— as the only known entrance from the Atlantic, the [[Strait of Magellan]] was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships.<ref name="lytle">{{Citation
| last  = Lytle Schurz
| first = William
| title = The Spanish Lake
| journal = The Hispanic American Historical Review
| volume  = 5
| issue   = 2
| year    = 1922
| pages   = 181–194
| doi = 10.1215/00182168-5.2.181
| jstor     = 2506024
| doi-access= free
}}</ref>

To end navigation by rival powers in the Strait of Magellan Spanish viceroy [[Francisco de Toledo]] ordered [[Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa]] to explore the strait and found settlements on its shores.<ref name="MCLEstrecho">{{Cite journal| url   =http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-641.html
| title = Navegantes europeos en el estrecho de Magallanes
| journal  = Memoria Chilena
| publisher  = [[Biblioteca Nacional de Chile]]
| access-date = 30 September 2014
| language = es
}}</ref>{{page needed|date=March 2025}}

In 1584, Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa founded two colonies in the strait: [[Nombre de Jesús (Patagonia)|Nombre de Jesús]], and [[Puerto del Hambre|Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe]]. The latter was established north of the strait with 300 settlers.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.artehistoria.jcyl.es/cronicas/contextos/10105.htm|title=Relación y derrotero del viaje y descubrimiento del Estrecho de la Madre de Dios – antes llamado de Magallanes|language=es|quote=Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, según Amancio Landín, uno de sus más reputados biógrafos, nació en Pontevedra, hacia 1532. Julio Guillén—el marino-académico—, por su parte, dice que es posible fuera Colegial Mayor en la Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, ciudad que fue—asegura—cuna del gran marino español. Este, no ha dejado aclarada la duda sobre su origen geográfico, pues afirmó ser natural de ambos lugares.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922103737/http://www.artehistoria.jcyl.es/cronicas/contextos/10105.htm|archive-date=22 September 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{page needed|date=March 2025}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Sarmiento de Gamboa |first=Pedro |others=Translated by Clements R. Markham |title=Narratives of the Voyages of Pedro De Gamboa to the Straits of Magellan |location=London |publisher=Hakluyt Society |year=1895 |url=https://archive.org/details/narrativesofvoya00sarm }}</ref>{{page needed|date=March 2025}} The new colonies suffered from high death rates, likely as a consequence of executions, brawls, violent encounters with indigenous peoples and diseases which were rife.{{sfn|Martinic|1977|p=119}} A contributing cause for failure of the settlement may have been poor morale, an issue that plagued the venture almost from the beginning.{{Sfn|Martinic|1977|p=119}} This can in part be explained by a series of difficulties the expedition had to go through between the departure from Spain and the arrival to the strait.{{sfn|Martinic|1977|p=119}} Philip II's inaction despite repeated pleas by Sarmiento to aid the ailing colony has been attributed to the strain on Spain's resources that resulted from wars with England and Dutch rebels.{{sfn|Martinic|1977|p=121}}

In 1587, English corsairs renamed Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe, Puerto del Hambre, or "Port Famine". Most of the settlers had died from cold or starvation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogpatagonia.australis.com/history-strait-of-magellan/|title=History of the Strait of Magellan|access-date=25 October 2019|date=7 April 2017}}</ref> When Sir [[Thomas Cavendish]] landed at the site of Rey Don Felipe in 1587, he found only ruins of the settlement.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Derek |title=A Brief History of Circumnavigators |date=2013 |publisher=Little, Brown Book Group |isbn=978-1-4721-1329-0 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XDGeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT40 |language=en |chapter=3. The Triumph of Desire}}</ref>{{page needed|date=March 2025}} The Spanish failure at colonizing the Strait of Magellan caused [[Chiloé Archipelago]] to assume the role of protecting western Patagonia from foreign intrusions.<ref name=Urbina2013>{{cite journal |last=Urbina C. |first=M. Ximena |date=2013 |title=Expediciones a las costas de la Patagonia Occidental en el periodo colonial |language=es |journal=[[Magallania]] |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=51–84 |doi= 10.4067/S0718-22442013000200002|doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Valdivia]] and Chiloé acted as sentries, being hubs where the Spanish collected intelligence from all over Patagonia.<ref name=Urbina2017>{{cite journal |last=Urbina C. |first=María Ximena |date=2017 |title=La expedición de John Narborough a Chile, 1670: Defensa de Valdivia, rumeros de indios, informaciones de los prisioneros y la creencia en la Ciudad de los Césares |trans-title=John Narborough expedition to Chile, 1670: Defense of Valdivia, indian rumors, information on prisoners, and the belief in the City of the Césares |journal=[[Magallania]] |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=11–36 |doi=10.4067/S0718-22442017000200011 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Revolt in the Netherlands===
{{Main|Eighty Years' War}}
[[File:Philip II of Spain berating William the Silent Prince of Orange by Cornelis Kruseman.jpg|thumb|Philip II berating William of Orange, by [[Cornelis Kruseman]]]]
Philip's rule in the [[Seventeen Provinces]] known collectively as the [[Habsburg Netherlands|Netherlands]] faced many difficulties, leading to [[Eighty Years' War|open warfare]] in 1568. He appointed his half-sister [[Margaret of Parma]] as Governor of the Netherlands, when he left the low countries for the Spanish kingdoms in 1559, but forced her to adjust policy to the advice of [[Cardinal Granvelle]], who was greatly disliked in the Netherlands, after he insisted on direct control over events in the Netherlands despite being over two weeks' ride away in Madrid. There was discontent in the Netherlands about Philip's taxation demands and the incessant [[Inquisition of the Netherlands|persecution]] of Protestants. In 1566, Protestant preachers sparked anti-clerical riots known as the [[Dutch Revolt#1566 — Iconoclasm and repression|Iconoclast Fury]]; in response to growing Protestant influence, the army of the [[Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba|Duke of Alba]] went on the offensive. In 1568, Alba had [[Lamoral, Count of Egmont]] and [[Philip de Montmorency, Count of Horn]] executed in [[Brussels]]' [[Grand-Place|central square]], further alienating the local aristocracy. There were massacres of civilians in [[Spanish Fury at Mechelen|Mechelen]],<ref name="Nierop69-70">[[Henk van Nierop]], ''Treason in the Northern Quarter: War, Terror, and the Rule of Law in the Dutch Revolt'' (Princeton University Press, 2009), 69–70.</ref> [[Massacre of Naarden|Naarden]],<ref>Henk van Nierop, ''Treason in the Northern Quarter: War, Terror, and the Rule of Law in the Dutch Revolt'' (Princeton University Press, 2009), 177.</ref> [[Zutphen]]<ref name="Nierop69-70"/> and [[Haarlem]]. In 1571, Alba erected at [[Antwerp]] a bronze statue of himself trampling the rebellious Dutch under his horse's hooves, cast from the melted-down cannon looted by the Spanish troops after the [[Battle of Jemmingen]] in 1568; it was modelled on medieval images of the Spanish patron [[James Matamoros|Saint James "the Moorslayer"]] riding down Muslims and caused such outrage that Philip had it removed and destroyed.<ref name=Goodwin>{{cite book |last=Goodwin |first=Robert |title=Spain: The Centre of the World 1519–1682 |date=2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |pages=179–180}}</ref>

In 1572, a prominent exiled member of the Dutch aristocracy, [[William the Silent]], [[Prince of Orange]], invaded the Netherlands with a Protestant army, but he only succeeded in holding two provinces, [[County of Holland|Holland]] and [[County of Zeeland|Zeeland]]. Because of the Spanish repulse in the [[Siege of Alkmaar]] (1573) led by his equally brutal son [[Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo, 4th Duke of Alba|Fadrique]],<ref name=Goodwin/> Alba resigned his command, replaced by [[Luis de Requesens y Zúñiga]]. Alba boasted that he had burned or executed 18,600 persons in the Netherlands,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://necrometrics.com/pre1700a.htm#Ne1566|title=Twentieth Century Atlas – Historical Body Count|website=necrometrics.com}}</ref> in addition to the far greater number he massacred during the war, many of them women and children; 8,000 persons were burned or hanged in one year, and the total number of Alba's [[Flemish people|Flemish]] victims can not have fallen short of 50,000.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sharp Hume |first=Martín Andrew |title=The Spanish People: Their Origin, Growth and Influence |page=372}}</ref> Under Requesens, the [[Army of Flanders]] reached a peak strength of 86,000 in 1574 and retained its battlefield superiority, destroying [[Louis of Nassau]]'s German mercenary army at the [[Battle of Mookerheyde]] on 14 April 1574, killing both him and his brother [[Henry of Nassau-Dillenburg]].

Rampant inflation and the loss of [[Spanish treasure fleet|treasure fleets]] from the [[New World]] prevented Philip from paying his soldiers consistently, leading to the so-called [[Spanish Fury]] at [[Sack of Antwerp|Antwerp]] in 1576, where soldiers ran amok through the streets, burning more than 1,000 homes and killing 6,000 citizens.<ref>Henry Kamen, ''Philip of Spain'' (Yale University Press, 1997), 160.</ref> Philip sent in [[Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma]], as Governor-General of the [[Spanish Netherlands]] from 1578 to 1592. Farnese defeated the rebels at the [[Battle of Gembloux (1578)]],<ref>James Tracy, ''The Founding of the Dutch Republic: War, Finance, and Politics in Holland, 1572–1588'' (Oxford University Press, 2008), 141.</ref> and he captured many rebel towns in the south: [[Siege of Maastricht (1579)|Maastricht]] (1579), [[Tournai]] (1581), [[Oudenaarde]] (1582), [[Dunkirk]] (1583), [[Bruges]] (1584), [[Siege of Ghent (1583–1584)|Ghent]] (1584), and [[Fall of Antwerp|Antwerp]] (1585).<ref>{{cite book |last=Black |first=Jeremy |title=The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: Renaissance to Revolution, 1492–1792|volume =2 |date=1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521470339 |page=58}}</ref>

[[File:Beloningsbrief van koning Filips II van Spanje aan Balthasar Gerards, 1590.jpg|thumb|Reward letter of Philip II to the family of [[Balthasar Gerards]], assassin of [[William the Silent]], 1590]]
The [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]] of the northern provinces, united in the 1579 [[Union of Utrecht]], passed an [[Act of Abjuration]] in 1581 declaring that they no longer recognised Philip as their king. The [[southern Netherlands]] (what is now Belgium and Luxembourg) remained under Spanish rule. In 1584, [[William the Silent]] was assassinated by [[Balthasar Gérard]], after Philip had offered a reward of 25,000 crowns to anyone who killed him, calling him a "pest on the whole of Christianity and the enemy of the human race". The Dutch forces continued to fight on under Orange's son [[Maurice of Nassau]], who received modest help from the Queen of England in 1585. The Dutch gained an advantage over the Spanish because of their growing economic strength, in contrast to Philip's burgeoning economic troubles. The war came to an [[Peace of Westphalia|end in 1648]], when the [[Dutch Republic]] was recognised by the Spanish Crown as independent. The eight decades of war came at a massive human cost, with an estimated 600,000 to 700,000 victims, of which 350,000 to 400,000 were civilians killed by disease and what would later be considered [[war crime]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Victimario Histórico Militar|url=http://remilitari.com/guias/victimario9.htm}}</ref>