Philip was
wedded to her in 1554, even before he became King of Spain, and both he
and she did their utmost to restore the kingdom to the Roman faith. So
many Protestants were burned at the stake that England remembers the
queen as "bloody Mary"; and so recklessly did she antagonize the spirit
of her people that even her husband counselled her to a caution which
she despised. He had no love for his cold, pale, embittered English
wife, except as an instrument in his policy; and when he found that it
was impossible for him, as her husband, to become King of England, he
practically abandoned her, and returned to Spain.
When his father's abdication gave him power in 1555, Philip's first
active movement was against France. He sought to avenge his father's
loss of Metz, and persuaded his English wife to join him in war against
young Henry II. With his splendid Spanish troops Philip won a great
victory at St. Quentin.[1] "Has he yet taken Paris?" cried his father
eagerly when the news reached his secluded monastery. But Philip had
not, he had erred from over-caution and given France time to recover.
Two able generals, the great Protestant leader Coligny, and the dashing
Catholic hero of Metz, Francis of Guise, held the Spaniards in check.
Guise even seized Calais, and so snatched from England her last
territory in France (1558).
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25