General Notes

REFN: 282
Name Suffix: el Hermoso
REFN: 7476
Philip I, byname PHILIP THE HANDSOME, Spanish FELIPE EL HERMOSO
(b. July 22, 1478, Bruges--d. Sept. 25, 1506, Burgos, Spain),
king of Castile for less than a month before his death and the
founder of the Habsburg dynasty in Spain.
Philip was the son of the future Holy Roman emperor Maximilian
I of Habsburg and Mary of Burgundy. At his mother's death
(1482) he succeeded to her Netherlands dominions, with
Maximilian acting as regent for him during his minority. When
Philip became of age, his interest in the Netherlands was soon
subordinated to his hopes for the Spanish succession. In 1496
Philip was married to Joan the Mad, daughter of Ferdinand II
the Catholic of Aragon and Isabella I the Catholic of Castile;
Joan later inherited the crown of Castile. From January 1502 to
March 1503 Philip and Joan lived in Spain and received homage
as prospective heirs to the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile.
Isabella died in 1504, leaving the crown of Castile to Joan.
Philip was recognized as king consort. Because Joan was in the
Netherlands at the time, Ferdinand, in accordance with
Isabella's will, acted as regent.
Philip soon began to oppose his father-in-law, who was
unwilling to give up his control of Castile, and in early 1506
sailed to Spain to claim his wife's inheritance. On his voyage
his ships had to take shelter in England, where King Henry VII
forced him to agree to two treaties, the first of which secured
English support for Philip's Castilian rights. The second
(April 30, 1506), the Intercursus Malus, was a trade agreement
disadvantageous to the Netherlands. In Castile, Philip, backed
by the nobility, soon raised a strong army. He negotiated
Ferdinand's withdrawal on June 27, 1506. By that time Joan's
mental condition had deteriorated further, and Philip assumed
sole control. He was in the process of organizing his
administration when he was stricken with a fever and died. His
son Charles I of Spain (the Holy Roman emperor Charles V)
became king of Aragon and Castile on Ferdinand's death in 1516,
thus firmly establishing the dynasty that was to govern Spain
for nearly two centuries.