Philip II was a member of the Habsburg dynasty. He served as king of the Spaniards from 1556 to 1598 and as king of the Portuguese (as Philip I) from 1580 to 1598. The Spanish empire under Philip prospered: it attained its greatest power, extent, and influence. Philip was the self-proclaimed protector of the Roman Catholic Church. He sought to limit the spread of Protestantism, and he ultimately completed the work of unification begun by Ferdinand and Isabella (the “Catholic Monarchs”) in the Iberian Peninsula.
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