Philip II (King of Spain)

• Philip II of Spain married Mary I in 1554 when he was a prince in the Spanish Court before becoming king.
• Philip was a Catholic.
• In 1556 Philip became King of Spain.
• he also ruled Belgium and The Netherlands.
• Mary died in 1558.
• Philip wanted to keep control over England.
• He wanted to marry Mary's sister Elizabeth I but Elizabeth refused.
• Elizabeth I made England Protestant and this made Philip angry.
• Philip II planned the invasion of England in 1587. He sent a fleet of ships - the Spanish Armada - to help the Duke of Parma's army to attack England.
• He put Alonso Perez du Guzman, the Duke of Medina Sidonia in charge of the Armada. It was not successful and many ships were lost first in battle and then in storms when they tried to escape.

Links to facts and information on the web. Click on the portrait to go to a web site with a biography of this Tudor person. Long Long Medium (BBC) Long Key: Long = A lot of reading/information; Medium = A fair amount of reading; Easy = simple, easy to read page

More about Philip

Information on the Armada

A brief description of the Armada (This is easier to read and explains it well)

The BBC's page on the Armada