Compras Nikon Bluetooth |
As a student of history with a keen interest in England, the Netherlands and France, I found reference after reference to the Habsburgs. Philip II kept popping up. First he would be invading the Netherlands, then he would be married to Queen Mary, then he would be pursuing Elizabeth I, then he launched an armada.
Phillip II and the Tudor girls, Mary and Elizabeth were descendents of John of Gaunt, son of Edward III, brother of the Black Prince, and grandfather of Henry V, who died in 1399 at the beginning of the Wars of the Roses. John's progeny descended through 1) Blanche of Lancaster (Henry V), 2) Isabel a Portuguese princess (Charles V, Phillip II, Mary Tudor) and 3) his mistress and third wife Katherine Swynford (Tudors).
The book begins with Charles V, known for sacking Rome in 1525. The German Habsburgs have intermarried with the royal family of Spain. Charles the V is the first Habsburg and Holy Roman Emperor to be raised in Spain, even though he was born in Ghent in the Netherlands--the birthplace of John of Gaunt his ancestor. From this time forward, Spain has a claim on the Netherlands.
Under Philip II, Charle V's son, some of the provinces of the Netherlands rebel, and gain a freedom of sorts though they are threatened by the Spanish occupiers of Catholic Flanders. In the background Philip marries four times, and Mary Tudor is one of his wives.
The book is informative, covers a dynamic period in the history of Europe and fills in many blanks for those interested in the history of the Netherlands and England. To it's credit, the Inquisition is treated without sensationalism. It is a synopsis covering an almost hundred year period. Iwould have liked less about the Spanish colonies overseas and a better index, but the bibliography is comprehensive.