duced two daughters. His heir, the ineffectual Philip III
(1578–1621), was the only surviving son of his fourth
marriage (1570–80), to Anne of Austria.
Even without the Hapsburg possessions in Germany,
which went to Charles’s brother, FERDINAND I, Philip in-
herited vast territories. He ruled Spain, Milan, Naples and
Sicily, the Netherlands, and the New World territories of
the Caribbean, Mexico, and Peru. In 1580 he annexed
Portugal.
As a young man Philip traveled in Italy, Germany,
and the Netherlands, but as king he preferred the semi-
seclusion of El ESCORIAL, the palace he had built near
Madrid (1563–84). From his study he used viceroys to
govern his provinces. His officials were obliged to submit
regular and exhaustive reports and to obey his detailed in-
structions. Philip’s ability to deal with up to 400 docu-
ments a day led one historian to describe him as the “arch
bureaucrat.”
Philip saw himself as a devout Catholic and a staunch
opponent of both Turk and Protestant. At times he seemed
to be trying to establish a Spanish Catholic hegemony
over Europe. He and his allies checked the OTTOMAN
TURKSat LEPANTO(1571), but he enjoyed less success
against the Protestants. The destruction of the SPANISH
ARMADA (1588) demonstrated his inability to subdue
the English, and he failed to suppress the revolt of the
NETHERLANDS. Yet, he was a leading force in the COUNTER-
REFORMATIONand did much to secure the Catholic faith in
Italy, Spain, and Belgium.
Despite his reputation as the “most Catholic King,”
Philip was prepared to use the SPANISH INQUISITIONnot
just as a weapon against heresy but also as an instrument
of his royal power, as in the case of Antonio PÉREZ. He also
did not hesitate to oppose papal policies that seemed hos-
tile to the Hapsburg interests. An austere and dedicated
ruler, Philip lived frugally, but he spent lavishly on the
books and paintings he loved, continuing his father’s pa-
tronage of TITIANand Leone LEONI. Juan FERNÁNDEZ DE
NAVARRETE(El Mudo) was the king’s official painter from
1568, and after his death in 1579 Philip failed to take the
opportunity to install El GRECOin the vacant post, turning
instead to Federico ZUCCARO. When Zuccaro’s work for
the Escorial failed to please him, Philip sent for Pellegrino
TIBALDI, who worked for him from 1588 to 1596. See Plate
VII.
Further reading: Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean
and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II (1949; 2
vols, London & New York: Harper & Row, 1972–73);
Henry Kamen, Philip II of Spain (New Haven, Conn. and
London: Yale University Press, 1997); Rosemarie Mulcahy,
Philip II of Spain, Patron of the Arts (Dublin, Ireland: Four
Courts Press, 2003).
Philip Neri, St. (1515–1595) Italian religious, founder of
the Oratorians
The son of a lawyer in Florence, Neri abandoned an in-
tended commercial career for a life of lay piety. After mov-
ing to Rome (1533), he tutored and lived an ascetic life.
Neri then founded the Oratory in Rome, composed of
like-minded laymen and clergy living together without
vows for the purpose of prayer, fasting, and a more intense
spiritual life. The Roman Oratory also organized help for
Roman children, the sick, and pilgrims visiting the Holy
City.
Neri’s was but one of several confraternities organized
during the Catholic Reformation of the early-to-mid-16th
century, and it lies at the heart of that movement. The Or-
atory used traditional medieval mystical texts, and its
themes were joy and love. Neri’s prayer meetings were
often accompanied by the music of his friend PALESTRINA,
and this gave birth to the “oratorio.” Neri finally took
priestly vows in 1551. He led afternoon excursions to
Roman churches, music sessions, and picnics, practices
censored by Pope Paul IV because the pope had been
warned that Neri had formed a heterodox sect. However,
Pius IV restored Neri’s reputation and he was allowed to
build a new church on the site of Sta. Maria in Vallicella.
In 1575 Gregory XIII recognized the Oratorians as a con-
gregation. Neri’s most famous follower was Cesare BARO-
NIUS, and his advice was sought by such leading figures as
IGNATIUS LOYOLA, CHARLES BORROMEO, and FRANCIS DE
SALES. He has been called the “Apostle of Rome.” He died
in Rome and was canonized in 1622.Philip of Hesse (Philip the Magnanimous) (1504–1567)
Landgrave of Hesse (1509–67)
Philip assumed the government of Hesse at age 14 and
quickly proved an able and energetic ruler. After pro-
longed study, he came down on the Lutheran side of the
religious question in 1524 and a year later led the alliance
of Lutheran princes that crushed the PEASANTS’ REVOLT. In
1526–27 he created a state Lutheran Church in Hesse,
converted monastic estates into hospitals for the insane
(the first in recorded history), and established the first
Protestant university at Marburg. Philip’s ambitious strat-
egy was to unite the Protestant estates of north and east
Germany against any threat from the Catholic south and
the Holy Roman Emperor CHARLES V. Aiming to end doc-
trinal divisions, he made an unsuccessful attempt to me-
diate between Lutherans and Zwinglians at the Colloquoy
of MARBURG(1529). That same year Philip was the most
prominent of those who rejected the decision of the sec-
ond Diet of SPIRES, which revoked the toleration of
Lutheranism (see PROTESTANTS). He was also the prime
mover in the creation of the SCHMALKALDIC LEAGUE, a de-
fensive alliance of Protestant rulers, in 1531. Although the
league proved an effective block to Hapsburg aims in the
1530s, it fell into disunity after 1540, when Philip con-PPhhiilliipp ooff HHeessssee 3 37733