King Philip II of Spain

  Something that really called my attention about the movie is the perspective of Spain respect to the conflict between both empires. For that reason I speak about the King Philip II of Spain and his role in this conflict.

  The King Philip II of Spain was born at Valladolid in Spain on 13 September of 1598. He was son of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal.  His mother died when he was young, and his father was often gone because of his extensive political duties. Charles did, however, he write many letters to Philip, which had a great influence on him. It was from these letters that Philip learned to be cautious and skeptical, but also long-suffering and to be persistent. From childhood, Philip was taught his duty to the Roman Catholic faith, which remained an important influence on him for the rest of his life.

  For that reason, Philip II believed he had two duties in life: the first, to extend the Spanish Empoire and to promote the Romn Catholic faith . Instead, Philip crippled Spain with an overwhelmingky inefficient bureauccrcy and turned the Spanish church into an oppressive regime that was feared and distrsuted. Philip learned his policy from his father, Emperor Charles V. He also inherited a poweful leviathan of an empire, complete with an efficient army and a number of colonies and territories. However, Philip loved paperwork nd dispatches. By the end of his rule, Spain was drained and weakened, ignorance was prevalent and the corrupted Church controlled even the king himself. Also Philip was known like "the prudent king" to some, or "the demon of the middle day" for others.

  In the 1560s, Philip II of Spain, a champion of the Catholic cause, sought to frustrate English crown policy for both religious and commercial reasons. The Protestant Elizabeth I of England, whom the Catholic Church did not recognise as the rightful English monarch, had antagonised Catholic states by restoring royal supremacy over the Church of England. These situation renewed the impression among Catholics in Europe that England was a Catholic country oppressed by Protestant rulers. The English historically had also supported the Protestant cause in the Netherlands partly to maintain the power balance in Europe and prevent the Spanish from using the Netherlands as a staging point for invasion.

The activities of English privateers (considered pirates by the Spanish) on the Spanish Main and in the Atlantic seriously affected Spain's royal revenues. The English trans-Atlantic slave trade – started by Sir John Hawkins in 1562 – gained the support of Elizabeth, even though the Spanish government complained that Hawkins's trade with their colonies in the West Indies constituted smuggling.

  For her part Elizabeth provided assistance to the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion and in the Dutch Revolt against Spain. Philip, meanwhile, was fiercely opposed to the spread of Protestantism, and in addition to financing the Catholic League in the French wars, supported the Second Desmond Rebellion in Ireland, in which Irish Catholics revolted against Elizabeth, from 1579 to 1583.

In 1584 the Spanish king signed the Treaty of Joinville with the Catholic League in France presenting Elizabeth with the choice of intervention or allowing an alliance between Spain and France against Protestant forces, the most notable of which was England. In 1585 Elizabeth signed the Treaty of Nonsuch with the Dutch, agreeing to provide them with men, horses, and a subsidy. Philip II took this to be a declaration of war against his government.

  For these reason the Spanish Empire started the war and not precisely or totally like the movie presented.