Philip IV of Spain
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His reign, after a few years of inconclusive successes, was characterized by political and military decay and adversity. He has been held responsible for the decline of Spain, which was mostly due, however, to organic causes largely beyond the control of any one ruler. Philip certainly possessed more energy, both mental and physical, than his diffident father. His handwritten translation of Francesco Guicciardini's texts on political history still exists, and he was a fine horseman and keen hunter.
His artistic taste is shown by his patronage of his court painter Diego Velázquez; his love of letters by his favoring Lope de Vega, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, and other immortal dramatists. He is credited, on fairly probable testimony, with a share in the composition of several comedies. He also commenced the building of the Buen Retiro palace in Madrid, parts of which still remain near the Prado.
His good intentions were no avail to governance, however. Feeling himself not yet qualified to rule when he ascended to the throne at age 16, he allowed himself to be guided by the most capable men he could find. His favourite, Olivares, was a far more honest and capable man than his predecesssor the Duke of Lerma, and better fitted for the office of chief minister than any Spaniard of the time, perhaps. Philip, however, lacked the confidence to free himself from Olivares' influence once he did come of age. With Olivares' encouragement, he rather busied himself with frivolous amusements. By 1643, when disasters falling on all sides led to the dismissal of the all-powerful minister, Philip had largely lost the power to devote himself to hard work. After a brief struggle with the task of directing the administration of the most extensive and worst-organized multi-national state in Europe, he sank back into indolence and let other favourites govern.
His political opinions were those he had inherited from his father and grandfather. He thought it his duty to support the House of Habsburg and the cause of the Roman Catholic Church against the Protestants, to assert his sovereignty over the Dutch, and to extend the dominions of his family. The utter exhaustion of his people in the course of endless wars with the Netherlands, France and Great Britain was seen by him with sympathy, but he considered it an unavoidable misfortune, since he could not have been expected to renounce his legitimate rights, or to desert the cause of God, the Church and the House of Hapsburg.
He was idealised by his contemporaries as the model of Baroque kingship. Outwardly he maintained a bearing of rigid solemnity, and was seen to laugh only three times in the course of his entire public life. But, in private, his court was grossly corrupt. Victorian historians prudishly attributed the early death of his eldest son, Baltasar Carlos, to debauchery, encouraged by the gentlemen entrusted by the king with his education. This shocked the king, but its effect soon wore off. Philip IV died broken-hearted in 1665, expressing the pious hope that his surviving son, Carlos, would be more fortunate than himself.
Ancestors
| Philip IV of Spain | Father: Philip III of Spain | Father's father: Philip II of Spain | Father's father's father: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Father's father's mother: Isabella of Portugal | |||
| Father's mother: Anne of Austria | Father's mother's father: Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor | ||
| Father's mother's mother: Maria of Spain | |||
| Mother: Margarita of Austria | Mother's father: Charles II, Archduke of Austria | Mother's father's father: Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor | |
| Mother's father's mother: Anna of Bohemia and Hungary | |||
| Mother's mother: Maria Anna of Bavaria | Mother's mother's father: Albert V, Duke of Bavaria | ||
| Mother's mother's mother: Anna of Austria |
Family
Siblings
- Anne of Austria (1601 - 1666), who became Queen of France;
- Maria Anna of Spain (1606 - 1646), who became Holy Roman Empress;
- Ferdinand, who became Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands
Children
With Elizabeth Bourbon (or Elisabeth of France, 1603-1644, daughter of Henry IV of France) - married 1615 at Burgos
- Infanta Maria Margarita (1621)
- Infanta Margarita Maria Catalina (1623)
- Infanta Maria Eugenia (1625-1627)
- Infanta Isabel Maria Teresa (1627)
- Baltasar Carlos, Prince of the Asturias (1629-1646)
- Infanta Maria Ana Antonia ("Mariana de Austria") (1636)
- Maria Theresa of Spain (1638-1683), queen consort of France as first wife of Louis XIV of France
- Margaret of Spain (July 12, 1651 - March 12, 1673), first wife of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
- Infanta Maria Ambrosia de la Concepción (1655)
- Felipe Próspero (1657-1661).
- Infante Tomas Carlos (1658-1659)
- Charles II of Spain (1661-1700)
In fiction
The Spanish movie El rey pasmado features Gabino Diego as Philip in his early reign.References
The best accounts of Philip IV will be found in the Estudios del reinado de Felipe IV, by Don Antonio Cánovas del Castillo (Madrid, 1889), and in the introduction by Don F rancisco Silvela to his edition of the Cartas de Sor Maria de Ágreda y del rey Felipe IV (Madrid, 1885-1886).
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|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Preceded by:
Philip II/III
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Succeeded by:
Charles II
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|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Succeeded by:
John IV
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|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Succeeded by:
to France
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