Philip II

1527-1598. King of Spain. Son of the emperor Charles V and his wife Isabella of Portugal and married to Mary Tudor. Although he failed “to suppress the revolt of the Netherlands (1566)” (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography) and his Spanish Armada lost against England in 1588, “the Spanish empire attained its greatest power, extent, and influence” (ibid.) during his reign.

The Consort

As most of the marriages in these times Mary and Philip also married for dynastic reasons in 1554. It can even be called the paradigm for a political action because it was part of the “long struggle against the French” (Oxford Dictionary of British History). While Mary was proud of her young husband from Philip’s point of view the marriage “served its purpose by drawing England into the conflict with France”(ibid.). The fact that Mary seemed to be “overjoyed” (ibid.) with her husband who stayed with his wife in England only a while, but could not give him an heir was her personal tragedy and an international mockery at the same time. Philip left his wife alone with her problems to go back to Spain and became the king of Spain only one year after their wedding. After Mary Tudor died Philip "offered himself as a husband to Elizabeth" (ibid.) but she refused it.