Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Philip sent a fleet of ships to recapture the city of Tunis (in present-day Tunisia) and succeeded. However, the Ottomans rebuilt their fleet and in 1574 recaptured Tunis with a force of 250 galleys and a siege that lasted 40 days. This battle ended the threat of Ottoman control of Spain and Europe, and in 1585 the Ottoman Empire signed a peace treaty and ended the war. Marriage Philip's father, Charles V, arranged Philip's marriage to Queen Mary I of England. To bring Philip to Mary's level, Charles appointed Philip king of Naples and Jerusalem. They married on 25 July 1554 at Winchester Cathedral in Winchester, Hampshire, England. With their marriage Philip obtained all the titles and honors of Mary, furthermore all the Acts of Parliament had to bear both Mary's name and his on them, the coins had to show both Mary's face and his. The only thing was that England was not to provide military support to Philip's father in any war. They never had children and Maria died in 1558, two years after Philip became king of Spain. After Mary's death the throne passed to Elizabeth I. Philip did not want to sever his connection with England so he offered to marry Elizabeth. She didn't answer. Philip tried to maintain peace with England and even defended Elizabeth from the Pope and his threat of excommunication. Eventually, England allied itself with the Protestant rebels of Philip's government in the Netherlands and stopped trading with Spain. Additionally, Elizabeth threatened to rob Spanish treasure ships returning from the Spanish colonies in America. Elizabeth signed a treaty with the rebels to provide goods and troops to aid their cause and this made Philip consider going to war with England. Phil... in the center of the paper... more or less two of his main objectives; to stop Protestantism and stop the rebellion in the Netherlands. It cannot be said that Philip's reign was nothing but failures, he also achieved some of the most surprising victories, such as the one against the Ottoman Empire, preventing it from expanding into Europe. He also created the first transpacific trade route between the Americas and Asia from the Spanish colonies of the Philippines (named after him) to what is now Mexico and Central and South America. Finally, his contribution slowed the spread of Protestantism in Europe. Works Cited-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spain-http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/456081/Philip-II -http://www.pbs.org/kcet/when -worlds-collide/people/philip-ii.html-http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/king-philip-ii-spain.htm -http://www.nndb.com/people/229/000092950/