Explain the external problems Spain faced on the accession of Philip II in 1556 and comment on Philip's style of leadership.

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1.i)

  When Philip became king in 1556, he inherited one of the largest empires in Europe. However with an empire meant he faced many threats from foreign countries.

  Philip was concerned about his Mediterranean possessions due to the threat from the Turks. He had to deal with their attacks and also pirate raids on Spain’s southern coastline, and there was also continuous fear of the spread of Islam from the Muslim Turks.  

  There were also fears of France, which was Spain’s traditional enemy as the two countries bordered each other. The Habsburg-Valois wars had dragged on for decades and Philip had to make sure he did not lose this for the sake of the Hapsburg dynasty and his reputation.

  England at the time was less of a threat to Philip, as he was married to Mary Tudor. However he was still concerned as the English people were generally hostile towards the Spanish and he had to be careful not to push any Protestants in England into revolt.

  Finally a major worry for Philip was the growth of Protestantism in Europe. Philip was determined to stamp out heresy in his kingdom so at the same time he had to make sure that it did not spread in from places such as Geneva. Spain was a major Catholic power so he also attempted to maintain relations with the Pope, which was not easy as Charles had sacked Rome before and the Pope’s territories bordered with Philip’s Italian lands, hence the Pope often felt threatened by Philip and this made maintaining good relations a more difficult task.

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ii)

  Philip always looked up to his father and followed his advice, so when Charles told him to ‘depend on no one but yourself’ Philip tried his best to follow this advice.

  Philip’s rule was often seen as a personal monarchy. He wanted to make the decision on everything and worked hard to achieve this. He was nicknamed the ‘Paper King’ as he went through so many documents every day. The administration of Spain was very slow as a result, because Philip was not one for making quick decisions.

  The administration was based on a conciliar ...

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