Philip II of Spain

Their titles over time

Follow the changing territories and offices of Philip II of Spain. Each title retains its own status.

Governments in 1556

• Spain11 titles and offices
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  • Milan · ESDuke · Effective rule1556–1598 · He took possession when Charles V abdicated; the ducal title had earlier been attributed to Philip, with sources disagreeing between 1540 and 1546 on the date of his investiture.
  • Castile · ESKing · Effective rule1556–1598
  • Aragon · ESKing · Effective rule1556–1598
  • Navarre · ESKing · Branch rule · Upper Navarre after the conquest1556–1598 · From 1512 the two lines did not effectively govern the whole of the former kingdom.
  • Naples · ESKing · Effective rule1554–1598 · His father handed the kingdom over to him in 1554, before his marriage to Mary Tudor.
  • Trinacria · ESKing · Effective rule1556–1598
  • León · ESKing · Effective rule1556–1598
  • Sardinia · ESKing · Effective rule1556–1598 · A documented royal title; the annual limits follow the general transfer of the Spanish monarchy.
  • County of Barcelona · ESCount · Effective rule1556–1598
  • Valencia · ESKing · Effective rule1556–1598
  • Majorca · ESKing · Effective rule1556–1598

  The monarchy’s crowns and dominions. Portugal retained a separate administration during the dynastic union of 1580–1640. Source for this grouping

• EnglandKing
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  • England · ESKing · Jure uxoris1554–1558
• Habsburg Netherlands18 titles and offices
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  • Flanders · ESCount · Effective rule1555–1598
  • County of Burgundy · ESCount · Effective rule1556–1598 · Franche-Comté; a separate entity from the Duchy of Burgundy.
  • Brabant · ESDuke · Effective rule1555–1598
  • Limburg · ESDuke · Effective rule1555–1598
  • Holland · ESCount · Effective rule1555–1577 · His recognition was disputed during the revolt; the States abjured Philip II in 1581.
  • Hainaut · ESCount · Effective rule1555–1598
  • Zeeland · ESCount · Effective rule1555–1573 · His recognition was disputed during the revolt; the States abjured Philip II in 1581.
  • Artois · ESCount · Effective rule1555–1598 · Part of the Habsburgs’ Burgundian inheritance, distinct from the duchy under the French crown.
  • Namur · ESCount · Effective rule1555–1598 · Continuity of the Burgundian inheritance in the southern Low Countries.
  • Luxembourg · ESDuke · Effective rule1555–1598 · Continuity of the Burgundian inheritance; distinct from the French Duchy of Burgundy.
  • Friesland · ESLord · Effective rule1555–1579 · Succession from Charles V; the extent follows the provincial chronology and documented garrisons, without treating 1581 as a uniform loss of all the Low Countries.
  • Utrecht · ESLord · Effective rule1555–1576 · Succession from Charles V; the extent follows the provincial chronology and documented garrisons, without treating 1581 as a uniform loss of all the Low Countries.
  • Groningen · ESLord · Effective rule1555–1593 · Succession from Charles V; the extent follows the provincial chronology and documented garrisons, without treating 1581 as a uniform loss of all the Low Countries.
  • Guelders · ESDuke · Effective rule1555–1598 · Succession from Charles V; the extent follows the provincial chronology and documented garrisons, without treating 1581 as a uniform loss of all the Low Countries.
  • Overijssel · ESLord · Effective rule1555–1596 · Succession from Charles V; the extent follows the provincial chronology and documented garrisons, without treating 1581 as a uniform loss of all the Low Countries.
  • Drenthe · ESLord · Effective rule1555–1595 · Succession from Charles V; the extent follows the provincial chronology and documented garrisons, without treating 1581 as a uniform loss of all the Low Countries.
  • Lordship of Mechelen · ESLord · Effective rule1555–1598 · A provincial title in its own right. Sovereignty and the area effectively controlled are distinguished through the map’s dated conquests and partitions.
  • Tournai · ESLord · Effective rule1555–1598 · Lordship of Tournai and the Tournaisis. The disputed period of 1577–1581 is approximate; the reconquest of 1581 is documented. The record does not reconstruct each garrison or assert continuous Spanish control during the revolt.

  Joint succession of the provinces under the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549. Each title retains its identity, and only the area under control in the selected year is shown. Rebel provinces are not included merely because the sovereign claimed them. Source for this grouping

Annual dates: overlap within one year does not prove that two offices were held on the same day. Regencies and co-rulerships retain their labels.