Philip III of Spain

Philip III (Spanish: Felipe III; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain and Portugal (where he is known as Philip II of Portugal) during the Iberian Union. His reign lasted from 1598 until his death in 1621. He held dominion over the Spanish Netherlands, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, and the Duchy of Milan during the same period.

A member of the House of Habsburg, Philip III was born in Madrid to King Philip II of Spain and his fourth wife, Anna of Austria. The family was heavily inbred; Philip II and Anna were related both as uncle and niece, as well as cousins.

Philip III married his cousin Margaret of Austria, the sister of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor. Although known in Spain as Philip the Pious, his political reputation internationally has generally been negative. Historians C. V. Wedgwood, R. Stradling and J. H. Elliott have described him, respectively, as an "undistinguished and insignificant man", a "miserable monarch", and a "pallid, anonymous creature, whose only virtue appeared to reside in a total absence of vice." In particular, Philip's reliance on his chief minister, Francisco de Sandoval y Rojas, 1st Duke of Lerma, drew much criticism during and after his reign. Many historians trace Spain's decline to the economic difficulties that began early in his reign. Nonetheless, as the ruler of the Spanish Empire at its height, and as the king who achieved a temporary peace with the Dutch (1609–1621) and brought Spain into the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) through an initially successful campaign, his reign remains a pivotal period in Spanish history.