Philip Ii Of Spain Serapis Classics

Author : Robert Watson
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781332588091
Total Pages : 460 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (88 download)

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Download or read book The History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain (Classic Reprint) written by Robert Watson and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2016-06-14 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain At that time, he was called by his father into the Low Countries; where he arrived, in the beginning of the following year, with a numerous retinue of Spanish nobles. Upon his entrance into Brussels, as he was ever desirous to maintain the appearance of extraordinary piety, he went first to the cathedral church, to render thanks to the Almighty for his preservation; and then proceeded to the palace. After passing some days there with the Emperor, who, in all his behaviour, discovered that fond affection, which is natural to a person in the decline of life towards an only son, he set out to visit the principal cities in the Low Countries, accompanied by the Regent, his aunt, the Queen Dowager of Hungary. Nothing could exceed the pomp with which he was every where received. In presents, entertainments, illuminations, and tournaments, immense sums were expended. The cities vied with each other in displaying that magnificence which their industry had enabled them to attain; and the people gave every where the strongest demonstrations of their attachment. But Philip, in the midst of those scenes of festivity which were exhibited for his amusement, and which were so well calculated to gratify a young, ambitious mind, could not conceal the natural austerity of his temper. The Flemings observed, with anxiety, that there was a striking contrast between the father and the son. Charles was courteous and affable; but Philip, they perceived, was distant, haughty, and severe. The former could speak with facility the principal languages of Europe, and used to discourse familiarly with all his subjects; the latter had declined learning to speak any other but the Spanish tongue, conversed little with the inhabitants of the Low Countries, and was almost inaccessible to all but the Spanish nobles. He lived in every respect as he had been wont to do in Spain, wore a Spanish dress, and refused to conform, in any thing, to the modes and customs of the Netherlands. This behaviour, equally ungracious and impolitic, made a deep impression on the minds of the Flemings, and created in them a jealousy of the Spaniards, which they did not study to conceal. Charles having required the States to swear allegiance to Philip, as they had formerly done to himself, they rejected his request; and refused to acknowledge Philip's right of succession, till he engaged to exclude all foreigners from any share in the government of the provinces. And even to this nothing would have made them agree, but their respect for the Emperor, and the awe in which they stood of his power; for, if the distemper, under which Charles laboured at this time, had proved mortal, it was believed, they would have excluded Philip from the sovereignty, and conferred it on Maximilian his cousin, son of Ferdinand King of Hungary and Bohemia. From the Low Countries the Emperor carried his son into Germany, in order to facilitate the execution of a scheme, which he had lately formed, of having him elected King of the Romans. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.