Book Description

In Habsburg England, Gonzalo Velasco Berenguer offers a reassessment of the much-maligned joint rulership of Philip I of England (Philip II of Spain) with his second wife, Mary I. Traditionally portrayed as an anomaly in English history, previous assessments of the regime saw in it nothing but a record of backwardness and oppression. Using fresh archival material, and paying full attention to the levels of integration and collaboration of Spain and England in the political and religious domains, Velasco Berenguer explores Philip’s role as king of England, looks at the complexities of the reign in their own terms and concludes that during this brief but highly significant period, England became an integral part of the Spanish Monarchy.