ABSTRACT

Philip II was present in Brussels when his father resigned to himthe government of the Netherlands (October 1555) and of Spain itself (January 1556). International matters, principally his marriage to queen Mary of England and the war against France, kept him in northern Europe. In August 1557 the army of Flanders, led by the duke of Savoy and the count of Egmont, crossed the frontier into France and inflicted a crushing defeat on the French at St Quentin. Philip arrived in time to congratulate his generals, but failed to follow up the advantage; negotiations began and were interrupted by the death of Mary in November 1558. Eventually peace was agreed at Cateau-Cambrésis in April 1559, one of the conditions being the marriage of Philip to the daughter of Henry II of France, Elizabeth of Valois. The king sailed from the Netherlands in August 1559 and landed at Laredo in September.