If people have to be categorized, would Philip II of Spain be placed with Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler? All three inflicted death and destruction upon numerous peoples and nations. Also like Bonaparte and Hitler, Philip II was a driven and complex personality.
It was political unrest and pressure in Spain which had forced Emperor Charles V, first: to marry his first cousin, Princess Isabella of Portugal; and secondly, to have his children brought up in Spain. And there, on 21 May 1527, in Valladolid, Philip II was born in the presence of his father and leading nobles.
In his youth Philip II saw very little of his father who, from 1529 to 1533, was in Italy and Germany. In 1535-1536 his father went to conquer Tunis, and 1539-1541 was spent in The Netherlands. Leaving Spain in May 1543, Charles V was forced to remain in Northern Europe until 1556. As his mother had died in 1539, it was mainly courtiers and tutors who prepared him for his future role on the European stage. Cristobal Calvete de Estrella taught him Latin and Greek; Honorato Juan, mathematics and architecture; Juan Gines de Sepulveda, geography and history. No-one was appointed for languages and, even though in time he understood French, Italian and Portuguese, he could not speak these languages. Political education was controlled by his father through correspondence.
At a young age he was expected to attend ceremonies. At the age of twelve he led the funeral cortege for his mother from Toledo, where she had died, to Granada where she was to be buried. As it had been his mother who had disciplined him, this task was now taken over by his governor, Don Juan de Zuniga.
At thirteen he started collecting books which he would do all his life. Music also would always be part of his life and he would travel with minstrels, choristers and organs. In 1543 Philip was made Regent of Spain. He had learned to do everything with both dignity and grace, yet at the same time displaying an air of authority. But he had also learned to conceal his feelings and emotions.
On 15 November 1543 he married Princess Maria of Portugal who was his first cousin twice over. In May 1545 European colonists in Peru led a revolt, the first in his long life. On 8 July 1545 his son, Don Carlos, was born; four days later, his wife died aged only 17. He was all of 18. In 1548 Philip was ordered by his father to come to him in The Low Countries to meet his future subjects. And so, in Bruxelles on the 1st April 1549, they were re-united.

His coldness and standing on protocol during his long journey had given him a reputation of arrogance which travelled ahead of him. With his father he toured The Netherlands and tried to be more pleasant, flirting with ladies and trying to outdrink the beer-swigging Dutch nobles. He stayed in The Netherlands until 1551 when he returned to Spain. Now he was treated by his father as an equal who consulted him in matters of government. This was the beginning of his father's withdrawal from the world. Philip II was made King of Naples and Sicily and his marriage to Mary Tudor was arranged. He became King-Consort of England and, in October 1555, ruler of The Netherlands. After his fathers abdication in January 1556, Philip became King of Spain. Charles V's brother, Ferdinand I, became Emperor while Charles V retired to San Yuste in Spain where he died.
Philip II preferred to stay in Spain, which meant an absence from his English wife. When it became clear that she would not be able to bear children, he stayed away from England altogether. His wanting to remain in control caused a delay in the decision-making process in his distant possessions. In 1561 Philip II announced that Madrid had become the seat of his government, and there it would stay from then on. At Aranjuez he built a palace with gardens and a small zoo. At Casa de Campo was a larger zoo with elephants, rhinoceros, lions and even some swans brought from The Netherlands.
He was a great patron of scholars and most arts, but he did not approve of theatre and, besides not allowing any monarch to be portrayed on stage, in 1598 he banned plays in Madrid altogether. Religion was taken very seriously as he had "no desire to be the ruler of heretics". He did give some tolerance to the Calvinists in The Netherlands and made some political alliances with Protestant rulers, and he protected Elizabeth I in England against papal deposition. He even used Lutheran troops to suppress Calvinist rebels in The Netherlands.
Privately he had a sincere and deep religious faith, attending Mass daily. Even though a devout Catholic, he nevertheless had problems with the popes. At the beginning of his rule, Paul IV declared war on him; Gregory XIII disapproved of the annexation of Portugal in 1580; Sixtus V would not contribute to the Armada's attempt to conquer England in 1588; and Clement III, at the end of his life was on the side of his enemies, the French. He tried to ignore the Calvinist emergence in The Netherlands until Lamoraal, Count of Egmond, came to Madrid. Though he kept him waiting as long as possible, Egmond left with honours but was deceived in matters of religious tolerance. Egmond's verbal assurances of Philip II's tolerance were counteracted by letters insisting on the burning of heretics. Egmond was discredited and chaos resulted. In 1567 preparations were made to send the Duke of Alva at the head of a large army to quell the unrest. Before Alva arrived, the Prince of Orange fled to Germany. The Prince's son, Philips Willem, was then kidnapped from his University and taken prisoner to Spain. Egmond was imprisoned and, after a mockery of justice, condemned to death and executed.
Juan de Escobedo's murder was probably ordered by Philip II, the murder of the Prince of Orange encouraged and rewarded, and the garrotting of Montigny was on his command. The Inquisition found Lutherans in Spain and destroyed them. The Moors living in Spain were persecuted with between 80,000 and 100,000 perishing when forced to be relocated from their traditional homelands. Philip II's third marriage, to Elisabeth de Valois, appeared to have been happier than the previous two. After a first miscarriage in 1562, she was left for death by the Spanish doctors but saved by an  Italian doctor. Throughout her recovery Philip stayed with her and, four months later, resumed sleeping with her. In 1564 there was another miscarriage. In 1566 Isabella was born, Catalina Michaela in 1567, followed by another stillbirth in 1568 when Elisabeth died. Philip II had ensured that he was present at each birth and, though disappointed with daughters, Isabella had come to mean more to him than anyone else in his family.
Had Elisabeth produced a son, Philip II would probably not have remarried. However, in 1570 he did marry his niece, Anna of Austria, in search of an heir as Don Carlos, his son by his first wife, had died in 1568 aged 23.
In 1566 Philip ordered Juan de Ovando to inquire into the administration of America as too many problems had emerged. He codified the laws relating to "the Indies" and appointed Don Martin Enriquez as viceroy in Mexico and Don Francisco de Toledo in Peru. In the 1560's and 1570's many missionaries were sent to convert the Indians. In 1578 Sebastian, King of Portugal and nephew of Philip II, went on a military expedition to North Africa where he disappeared, leaving the Portugese throne to his elderly great-uncle, Enrique, Cardinal and Archbishop of Lisbon. But Enrique I would live only another two years, in which period another nephew of Enrique I, Antonio, made claims to be legitimate and that (as his deceased father Luis, Duke of Beja, was six years older than Enrique I) he should be king instead of Enrique. Enrique I then ordered an inquiry in which all papers proving Antonio's legitimacy disappeared. In 1580 Enrique I died and, even though Antonio was proclaimed king, Philip II of Spain sent in his army and, ousting Antonio, added Portugal to his domains.
By 1590, most of the Philippine Islands were under Spanish control which was achieved with little bloodshed. Controlling southern and middle America was Philip's greatest success. However, the inability to retain The Netherlands was his greatest failure, for the Dutch were supported by those countries Spain tried to keep out of America. The Spanish forces butchered French Protestants in Florida and, in 1568, Sir John Hawkins's expedition was annihilated by the Spanish.
In 1572 the revolt in The Netherlands increased. Discredited as greedy, cruel and corrupt, Alva was recalled in 1573 to be replaced by Don Luis de Requesens. The near bankruptcy of Spain, caused by the continuous revolts and wars, did not help. In 1576 Philip's illegitimate half-brother, Don Juan of Austria, was sent to restore Spain's authority and was appointed governor-general. Don Juan, assured by his initial success, suggested that he and his secretary, Juan de Escobedo, together with Philip II's secretary, Antonio Perez, take control of the Spanish government as Philip II, though not yet fifty, was getting "too old". Then, in 1577, he wanted Philip II's support to invade England and dethrone Elizabeth I. By then the Spanish fortunes in The Netherlands had turned and William of Orange had become the more powerful man. Don Juan sent his secretary Juan de Escobedo to Madrid to ask for support, but Escobedo started to meddle with politics and threatened Philip II's secretary Antonio Perez with blackmail. On Philip II's orders Perez had Escobedo murdered and, when a court-case took place, the king assisted with the escape of the
hired assassins.
The reason for Escobedo's murder was fear of his returning to Don Juan in The Netherlands where he might encourage Don Juan against Philip II; at the same time, if Escobedo were arrested, Philip II risked Don Juan's fearing exposure of his plots so that he might side with the Dutch rebels. In October 1578 Don Juan died of typhoid and, hoping the Escobedo scandal would quietly fade away, Philip II remained silent.
However, Perez had an enemy in Mateo Vazquez, the king's chaplain and private secretary, who openly accused Perez of the murder and left the court in protest of Philip II's inactivity, throwing the government into chaos. Perez was offered honors, a diplomatic post abroad and even a lucrative retirement; but he refused for he feared even an honorable removal would seem an admission of guilt and assassins would cut short his retirement. Philip II, calling Cardinal Granvelle to take over the government, asked Vazquez to return. 

However, Perez refused the offer of an ambassadorship in Venice and was placed under house arrest. Three years later he was charged with accepting bribes and betraying state secrets. In 1584 one of the hired assasins turned up and accused Perez who was then imprisoned and, on 23 February 1590, tortured to confess. As he could not prove that he had been under the king's orders, he was condemned to death. However, he escaped with proof of the king's involvement in Escobedo's murder.
Sir Francis Drake was another source of trouble as he was sailing around the world with a small fleet from 1577 until 1589, with the plundering of Spanish ships as his only aim. In 1581 Philip II was recognised as King of Portugal but The Netherlands declared that they had replaced him with the French Duke of Anjou; and when this Duke announced that he was engaged to Queen Elizabeth of England, Philip II's enemies united. In 1582 and 1583, these enemies supported Don Antonio in his efforts to regain Portugal. Also in 1583 Philip II renewed his efforts in The Netherlands which would result in the murder of the Prince of Orange in 1584.
In 1585 Sir Francis Drake again set out to harrass the Spaniards in the West Indies and, on the way, sacked Vigo on mainland Spain. This meant war and so Spain prepared to invade England. Asking Pope Sixtus V for financial support, Philip II was refused as his aims were power and had nothing to do with religious motives. However, his invincible fleet the "Armada" was built and placed under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia. Late in July 1588 the fleet set out; however, fireships broke its formation and the Dutch prevented the Duke of Parma from joining it. In desperation the Duke of Medina Sidonia decided that the fleet should return to Spain, going northwards around the British Isles. The consequence was about sixty ships being lost and fifteen thousand men killed, first by the English and later in Ireland when they landed there exhausted.
The first news Philip II received was that his fleet had beaten off the English, followed by a long silence which lasted almost a month; but then the full tragedy was at last revealed. Philip II's reaction, shared by the nation's feeling of despair, was : "I sent the fleet against men, not against wind and water". His later years were filled with concern for his family but saddened by the loss of his sons, leaving only the youngest, the future Philip III.

Philip II died at the Escurial in 1598, aged seventy-one.
 

Source: Leo van de Pas