Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Philip II, King of Spain, cousins in the Habsburg family, were educated together as children in Spain. Same tutors, same library. When they grew up, Rudolph II was extremely tolerant religiously. He said, "I am not a Catholic or a Lutheran, I am a Christian." But Muslims and Jews were also welcome in his court, if they had talent and/or brains.
Philip, on the other hand, is thought of, at least in the English-speaking world, as representing the most intolerant form of Catholicism. Elizabeth and the English defeated the Spanish Armada, striking a huge blow for freedom.
That's the way we hear about it in English-speaking parts of the world.
We learn that the only time in his life Philip smiled was when heard of the St Batholomew's Day Massacre in France, when 70,000 Protestants were killed in France, and most of the rest fled the country.
Except that it was probably less than 5,000. Many Protestants had to flee France. But by no means all of them. Still very bad, but not what we learn. And the part about Philip smiling for the only time in his life when he heard about it -- I'm thinking that might be bullshit too. I'm thinking it's entirely possible that he felt very BAD about a huge massacre, even if it was a huge massacre of Protestants.
And
the part about the defeat of the Spanish Armada being a great victory
for freedom -- Catholics didn't get civil rights in England for another
200 years. And they didn't get FULL civil rights until even later than
that. Spain, horrible repression, vs England, glorious freedom -- that's
just one example of the huge whoppers we are taught about the Tudor
dynasty and the world around it.
Just the same way that George Washington never chopped down a cherry tree or threw a silver dollar across the Potomac. We know now that Parson Weems made that up, and a lot of other things which were considered true for a very long time.
History is imperfect. We keep working on improving its accuracy and insight.
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