The Influence Of King Philip II

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What would you do if you were the king of a giant country like Spain. King Philip was just that and for a long time. He was king of Spain for 42 years and accomplished many great tasks. Philip II was a great ruler of Spain and helped the country out a lot. He influenced Spain by making Madrid, Spain’s capital, starting the Spanish Golden Age, and defeating the French army at St. Quentin. Philip II of Spain was born in Valladolid, Spain, on May 21, 1527. His parents were Isabella of Portugal and Roman emperor Charles V. Philip’s father sent messages to him telling him not to trust his advisors too much and that God had called him. “From 1534 Charles conferred on his son the regency of Spain whenever he himself was abroad. From 1548 until 1551,…show more content…
“England and northern Netherlands remained Protestant and unconquered. Yet Philip’s reign as a whole was not a failure (Britannica.com 5).” During his reign he defeated the Ottoman offensive and completed the unification in the Iberian Peninsula. He thought that the most important thing was his victories for the Catholic church, and that he preserved the southern Netherlands. Philip II died in 1598 due to cancer, and his empire was still at the height of its power until it ended fifty years later (Brittanica.com 5). Philip still had many outstanding…show more content…
Spanish poetry was heavily influenced by Spanish and Portuguese poets; one masterpiece that came out of this time was Luis de Camões’ epic, Os Lusíadas. “There were two main poetic schools after the mid-1500s-the Castilian school of Salamanca and the Andalusian school of Seville. Poets of both schools wrote in the style of the Italian poet Petrarch (Encyclopedia 759).” During the 1500s there were poets called mystics who sought a union of the heart with God and a well known one was Saint John. Saint Teresa of Avila was an author who wrote mystical literature, and two similar writers are Fray Luis de Grenada and Fray Luis de León. The picaresque novel became more and more popular with many people writing these novels. The best Picaresque novel after Lazarillo was Guzmán de Alfarache which was more detailed and implemented a bitter view of life. Vincent Espinel and Francisco de Quevedo both had famous picaresque novels (Encyclopedia

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