Philip II - Book Report/Review Example

Philip II worked for the benefit of Spain and he completely devoted his life for the betterment of his country. Philip II worked day in and day out so that he could expand Spain and also for the propagation of Catholicism within Europe as during that time Europe had been a victim of reformation. Geoffrey Parker believed that Philip II was the man with most potential in Christendom. (Parker, 45)1 Philip II was devoted to Spain although he was brought up in the Castilian court despite that he spoke Spanish and had great affiliation with Spain because of which he actually succeeded to be the successor of the thrown.

This level of commitment with the state made him the direct successor of the thrown despite there were many obstacles that were in his way even then paved his way to what he always desired (Parker, 55) Initially Philip II resided in Netherlands where he spent his childhood later realizing that his actual requirement was in Spain therefore he moved there. Despite the fact that Philip II was now being termed as them 'absolute monarch' he still faced a lot of problems which dealt with the limitations in constitution during his tenure.

The reason behind this was the uprising of the bureaucracy which gained a lot of popularity and strength during his reign. (Parker, 88) Since the Spanish empire was not under the rule of any one leader the problem aroused for Philip II that there were several leaders who were exercising their power therefore the word of one didn’t count and his orders were majorly overruled. With time Philips realized that most of his commands and decisions were neglected and precedence was given to the commands of the local lords who were indirectly in more power as compared to him.

2 Although Spain was quite dominant when it came to power, but there was limited population that could apparently produce a very limited earning to the ones in power. Which meant the earning was far less than the expenditures of the state. This caused major problems for Philip who had a lot of issues while raising the taxes within state. Another problem was that the money which was apparently collected a large chunk of it had to be handed over the local stakeholders. Therefore the only way to support all the military programs was done majorly through the taxes that were gained.

Apart from that Philip maintained his economic system by working on the resources which were locally available in his empire. He also started to generate revenue by the income he got from the military activities that were associated to the foreign policies. Despite all these efforts the empire still faced a state of bankruptcy several times. (Parker, 145) The Moriscos who converted to Christianity from Islam when the situation was not in favor of them in Spain and Portugal were in a fairly large population in Spain.

They were at times being forced to convert to Christianity by the natives. Soon after under Philips rule a revolt broke out that was with a motive to oppress the Morisco people and to dent their customs in the region of Granada. Philip commanded to exploit the Moorish people and to dispersal them out of the region. Many prominent writers emerged during this time whose work is still studied and applauded. During this time a new style of painting also came into existence which laid the foundation for artists to date.

This style of painting was inspired from the Italian renaissance but later developed its own individuality. It is also said that some of the most amazing musical