Philip III, King of Spain

PHILIP III, King of Spain. - B. in Madrid on 14 April 1578, d. on 31 March 1621. He married Margaret of Austria. He ascended the throne in 1598, and with him the predominance at the Spanish court of often inept and corrupt favorites began. In 1609 P. concluded with the United Provinces that twelve-year truce which was the first de facto recognition of their independence. After the death of Henry IV he stipulated a defensive league with France, with the understanding that Louis XIII would marry the infanta Anna and the heir to the Spanish throne Isabella, daughter of Henry IV (the double marriage took place in 1615).

Under P. the economic conditions of Spain, already declining during the reign of his father, underwent a further worsening, hastened by the excessive taxation with which an attempt was made to meet military expenses and the sovereign's extravagances. The crisis was also aggravated by the expulsion of the moriscos, decided by the government without taking into account the proposal of Paul V, who had advised referring the matter to a special junta. It deprived the country of a laborious population that could not be replaced, and furthermore gathered on the coasts of Morocco a pirate state that infested the eastern Mediterranean for a century. Toward the end of P.'s reign the court was gravely disturbed by the intrigues and scandals of the favorites. - See plate LXXXVI.

Roberto Palmarocchi