There have been worse men than Philip II, [Sidenote: Philip II, 1556-98] but there have been hardly any who have caused more blood to flow from the veins of their own people.

His life is proof that a well-meaning bigot can do more harm than the most abandoned debauchee.

"I would rather lose all my kingdoms," he averred, "than allow freedom of religion." And again, to a man condemned by the Inquisition for heresy, "If my own son were as perverse as you, I myself would carry the faggot to burn him." Consistently, laboriously, undeterred by any suffering or any horror, he pursued his aim.

He was not afraid of hard work, scribbling reams of minute directions daily to his officers.

His stubborn calm was imperturbable; he took his pleasures--women, _autos-da-fe_ and victories--sadly, and he suffered such chagrins as the death of four wives, having a monstrosity for a son, and the loss of the Armada and of the Netherlands, without turning a hair.
Spain's foreign policy came to be more and more polarized by the rise of English sea-power.