PHILIP III, king of SPAIN. — Born in Madrid on 14 Apr. 1578, died on 31 Mar. 1621. He married Margaret of Austria. He ascended the throne in 1598, and with him began at the Spanish court the predominance of favourites who were often inept and corrupt. In 1609 Philip 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 formed a defensive league with France, on the understanding that Louis XIII should marry the infanta Anne and the Spanish heir Isabella, daughter of Henry IV (the double marriage took place in 1615).
Under Philip the economic conditions of Spain, already declining during the reign of his father, suffered a further deterioration, hastened by the excessive taxation with which an attempt was made to meet military expenditure and the prodigality of the sovereign. The expulsion of the Moriscos, decided upon by the government without heeding the proposal of Paul V, who had allowed the matter to be deferred to a special junta, also contributed to aggravating the crisis. This measure deprived the country of a hard-working population which could not be replaced, and moreover gathered on the coasts of Morocco a state of pirates which for a century infested the eastern Mediterranean. Towards the end of Philip’s reign the court was gravely disturbed by the intrigues and scandals of the favourites. — See pl. LXXXVI.