ABSTRACT
In the early modern era, matrimonial politics were an essential part of governance, an important means by which monarchies ensured their preservation, increased their security, and enriched themselves with new territorial acquisitions. Philip II examines the possible candidates for his daughters Isabel Clara Eugenia and Catalina Micaela. France's traditional Salic law stood in the way of any possible female successor to the French throne. The Nordic countries had obviously converted to Lutheranism, and were therefore not within the realm of possibility for a princess of the 'Most Catholic Monarchy'. The Catholic League, headed by Henry of Guise and organized with the pledged support of the Spanish crown according to the terms of the 1584 Treaty of Joinville, stood squarely in the way of Bourbon's path to the French throne. Belgian Catholics took the news with great reservations, since to them Spain's backing meant a great deal and they saw few advantages in such 'liberation'.
