levo

Y208: Philip II 1556–1598

Foreign policy: foreign situation in 1555, Holy League and the Battle of Lepanto

  • 2 things to know
  • Unit group 2

Overview

Recall questions on the foreign situation in 1555, priorities, defence, crusade, expansion, peace or war, foreign relations and military operations in the Mediterranean, the Holy League and the Battle of Lepanto.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Numbers

Why was the Mediterranean Philip's first priority until the later 1570s?

Key term

Explain the significance of the siege of Malta in 1565.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What was the foreign situation Philip inherited in 1555?

    Model answer

    War with France was still running in Italy and on the Netherlands frontier, the papacy under Paul IV was hostile, the Ottomans and their corsair allies dominated the Mediterranean, and England was tied to Spain only by his marriage to Mary.

  2. 2

    State Philip's chief foreign policy aims.

    Model answer

    To defend and hold the inheritance intact, to protect Catholicism, to keep the sea routes between Spain, Italy and the Netherlands secure, and to preserve his reputation, which he believed depended on never conceding under pressure.

  3. 3

    How did the war with France end at the beginning of the reign?

    Model answer

    Spanish armies won at St Quentin in 1557 and Gravelines in 1558, but both sides were bankrupt, so the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559 confirmed Spanish control of Italy and was sealed by Philip's marriage to Elizabeth of Valois.

  4. 4

    Why was the Mediterranean Philip's first priority until the later 1570s?

    Model answer

    Ottoman fleets and the Barbary corsairs of Algiers and Tunis raided his Spanish and Italian coasts, carried off captives, threatened his shipping and might make common cause with the Moriscos; the danger was real, as the destruction of a Spanish fleet at Djerba in 1560 and the loss of Tunis and La Goletta in 1574 showed, and defending Christendom matched both his convictions and his subjects' expectations.

  5. 5

    Explain the significance of the siege of Malta in 1565.

    Model answer

    The Knights of St John, relieved by a Spanish force from Sicily, held the island against a great Ottoman expedition, halting the westward advance and showing that Ottoman power could be resisted.

  6. 6

    How did the Holy League of 1571 come about?

    Model answer

    The Ottoman attack on Venetian Cyprus in 1570 drove Venice to seek help, and Pope Pius V brought Spain, Venice and the papacy into an alliance with an agreed fleet and command under Don John of Austria.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016
Y102: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest 1035–1107
Y103: England 1199–1272
Y104: England 1377–1455

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

Franz Ferdinand was shot at in June.
SarajevoBelgradeVienna

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AA republic replaced the sultanate.
BThe caliphate was abolished in 1924.
CThe Latin alphabet was adopted.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Simony means the buying and selling of Church office.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Y208: Philip II 1556–1598, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.