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Godot 4 Game Development Projects: Build five cross-platform 2D and 3D games using one of the most powerful open source game engines 2nd Edition -- - The 2025 ebook edition is available with updated content

The document promotes various game development ebooks available for download on textbookfull.com, including titles focused on Godot 4, MonoGame, Unity, and more. It highlights the project-based approach of the 'Godot 4 Game Development Projects' book, which teaches users to build cross-platform 2D and 3D games. The document also provides details about the author and the structure of the book, emphasizing its suitability for both beginners and experienced developers.

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Godot 4
Game Development Projects
Second Edition

Build five cross-platform 2D and 3D games using


one of the most powerful open source game engines

Chris Bradfield

BIRMINGHAM—MUMBAI
Godot 4 Game Development Projects
Second Edition
Copyright © 2023 Packt Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case
of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information
presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express
or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing or its dealers and distributors, will be held liable
for any damages caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book.
Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and
products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot
guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Group Product Manager: Rohit Rajkumar


Publishing Product Manager: Kaustubh Manglurkar
Senior Content Development Editor: Feza Shaikh
Technical Editor: Simran Ali
Copy Editor: Safis Editing
Project Coordinator: Aishwarya Mohan
Proofreader: Safis Editing
Indexer: Hemangini Bari
Production Designer: Ponraj Dhandapani
Marketing Coordinators: Anamika Singh, Namita Velgekar, and Nivedita Pandey

First published: June 2018


Second edition: August 2023

Production reference: 1110723

Packt Publishing Ltd


Grosvenor House
11 St Paul's Square
Birmingham
B3 1RB UK.

ISBN 978-1-80461-040-4

www.packtpub.com
To Priya, for being a constant source of support and encouragement.

To my students at the Science Academy STEM Magnet for being my guinea pigs, and for teaching me
how to be a better teacher.

-Chris Bradfield
Contributors

About the author


Chris Bradfield has worked in the internet technology space for more than 25 years. He has worked
in the online gaming space for a number of successful MMOs and social gaming publishers in South
Korea and the United States. Throughout his game industry career, he has served as a game designer,
developer, product manager, and business development executive.
In 2012, he discovered a love for teaching and founded KidsCanCode to provide programming
instruction and curricula to middle- and high-school students. He also produces video- and text-based
tutorials and other learning resources for game development students around the world.

I would like to express my gratitude to Kenney Vleugels (@kenneyNL) for the 3D Minigolf tiles,
skorpio for the spaceship art, Luis Zuno (@ansimuz), and for Sunny Land art for their work.
About the reviewer
In the land of Indonesia, Isaiah Jamiel stands as a masterful artisan skilled in the realms of .NET and
Godot. Leading NTC Studios alongside Izra, Hansen, Sachio, Shannon, Della, and Yesika, he aspires
to achieve success in the realm of game development. Jamiel’s artistic talents extend beyond coding, as
he breathes new life into traditional Indonesian music with his arrangements. Yet amidst his passion
for code and music, his heart finds solace in the unwavering love he holds for his beloved Valerie and
his cherished family. Isaiah Jamiel’s unwavering commitment to blending innovation, artistry, and
profound connections serves as the driving force behind his remarkable endeavors in both the realm
of technology and the world of music.
Table of Contents
Prefacexiii

1
Introduction to Godot 4.0 1
General advice 2 Project Manager 7
The secret to learning effectively 3 Editor window 9

What is a game engine? 3 Learning about nodes and scenes 11


What is Godot? 4 Scripting in Godot 12
Downloading Godot 5 About GDScript 12

Alternate installation methods 6 Summary13


Overview of the Godot UI 7

2
Coin Dash – Build Your First 2D Game 15
Technical requirements  16 Preparing for collisions 29
Setting up the project 16 Part 2 – the coin scene 31
Vectors and 2D coordinate systems 18 The node setup 32
Part 1 – the player scene 20 Coin script 32
Creating the scene 20 Part 3 – the Main scene 33
Sprite animation 21
Node setup 33
Collision shape 24
Main script 34
Scripting the player 25
Starting a new game 35
Moving the player 26
Choosing animations 28 Part 4 – the user interface 36
Starting and ending the player’s movement 28 Node setup 37
viii Table of Contents

Message label 37 Visual effects 42


Score and time display 38 Sound43
Score and time display 39 Powerups43
Updating the UI via GDScript 39 Coin animation 45
Game over 40 Obstacles46
Adding HUD to Main 41
Summary47
Part 5 – finishing up 42

3
Space Rocks: Build a 2D Arcade Classic with Physics 49
Technical requirements  50 The Main scene’s UI code 75
Setting up the project 50 Player code 76

Rigid body physics 51 Ending the game 78


The player’s ship 53 Detecting collisions between rigid bodies 79

Body and physics setup 53 Pausing the game 79


State machines 55 Enemies80
Adding player controls 57
Following a path 81
Screen wrap 59
Enemy scene 83
Shooting60
Moving the enemy 83
Adding the rocks 63 Spawning enemies 84
Scene setup 63 Shooting and collisions 84
Variable size rocks 64 Player shield 87
Instantiating rocks 65
Sound and visual effects 91
Exploding rocks 67
Sound and music 91
Creating the UI 71 Particles92
Layout72 Enemy trail 94
Scripting the UI 73
Summary94

4
Jungle Jump – Running and Jumping in a 2D Platformer 97
Technical requirements 98 Introducing kinematic bodies 100
Setting up the project 98 Collision response 100
Table of Contents ix

Creating the player scene 101 Damaging the enemy 123


Collision layers and masks 101 Player script 125
About AnimationPlayer 102
Game UI 127
Animations102
Scene setup 127
Collision shape 104
Scripting the HUD 128
Finishing the player scene 105
Attaching the HUD 129
Player states 105
Player script 106 Title screen 130
Player movement 107 Scene setup 130
Player health 109
Setting up the main scene 131
Collectible items 110 Transitioning between levels 133
Scene setup 110 Door scene 133
Collectible script 111 Screen settings 134
Designing the level 112 Finishing touches 135
Using TileMaps 113 Sound effects 135
Designing the first level 116 Double jumping 135
Adding dangerous objects 118 Dust particles 136
Scrolling background 119 Ladders138
Adding enemies 121 Moving platforms 140

Scene setup 121 Summary142


Scripting the enemy 122

5
3D Minigolf: Dive into 3D by Building a Minigolf Course 143
Technical requirements 144 Understanding GridMaps 152
Introduction to 3D 144 Drawing the first hole 153
Environment and lighting 154
Orienting in 3D space 144
Adding the hole 155
Godot’s 3D editor 145
Adding 3D objects 146 Making the ball 157
Global versus local space 147 Testing the ball 157
Transforms147 Improving ball collisions 157
Meshes148
Cameras150
Adding UI 159
Aiming the arrow 159
Project setup 151 UI display 161
Creating the course 152
x Table of Contents

Scripting the game 162 Camera improvements 170


UI code 163 Designing a full course 172
Main script 164
Visual effects 173
Ball script 166
Adding materials 174
Testing it out 167
Option 1 for improving aiming 167 Lighting and Environment 176
Option 2 for improving aiming 168 Summary178

6
Infinite Flyer 179
Technical requirements 180 Increasing difficulty 195
Project setup 180 Collisions197
Fuel and score 199
Inputs180

Airplane scene 181 Title screen 202


Collision shapes 182 Audio203
Scripting the plane 183 Saving a high score 203
About file locations 204
Building the world 185
Accessing files 204
World objects 185
Chunks188 Suggestions for additional features 206
Main scene 192 Summary206
Spawning new chunks 194

7
Next Steps and Additional Resources 207
Using Godot’s documentation 208 Getting the export templates 213
Reading the API documentation 209 Export presets 214
Exporting215
Version control – using Git with Exporting for specific platforms 215
Godot210
Using Blender with Godot 211 Introduction to shaders 216
Import hints 211 Creating a 2D shader 218
Using blend files 212 3D shaders 222
Learning more 225
Exporting projects 212
Table of Contents xi

Using other programming languages Contributing to Godot 229


in Godot 225 Contributing to the engine 230
C#225 Writing documentation 230
Other languages – GDExtension 227 Donations230

Getting help – community resources 228 Summary231


Godot Recipes 229 Final words 231

Index233

Other Books You May Enjoy 242


Preface
This book is an introduction to the Godot game engine and its new version, 4. Godot 4 has a large
number of new features and capabilities that make it a strong alternative to expensive commercial
game engines. For beginners, it offers a friendly way to learn game development techniques. For more
experienced developers, Godot is a powerful, customizable tool for bringing visions to life.
This book takes a project-based approach to learning how to use Godot. It consists of five projects,
along with additional resources, that will help developers achieve a sound understanding of how to
use Godot to build games.

Who this book is for


This book is for anyone who wants to learn how to make games using a modern game engine. New
users and experienced developers alike will find it a helpful resource. Some programming experience
is recommended.

What this book covers


This book is a project-based introduction to using the Godot game engine. Each of the five game
projects builds on the concepts learned in the previous projects.
Chapter 1, Introduction to Godot 4.0 introduces the concept of game engines in general and Godot
specifically, including how to download Godot and how to effectively use this book.
Chapter 2, Coin Dash – Build Your First 2D Game, is a small 2D game that demonstrates how to create
scenes and work with Godot’s node system. You’ll learn how to navigate the Godot editor and write
your first scripts in GDScript.
Chapter 3, Space Rocks: Build a 2D Arcade Classic with Physics, demonstrates working with physics
bodies to create an Asteroids-style space game.
Chapter 4, Jungle Jump – Running and Jumping in a 2D Platformer, involves a side-scrolling platform
game in the spirit of Super Mario Bros. You’ll learn about kinematic bodies, animation states, and
level design using tile maps.
Chapter 5, 3D Minigolf: Dive into 3D by Building a Minigolf Course, extends the previous concepts into
three dimensions. You’ll work with meshes, lighting, and camera control.
xiv Preface

Chapter 6, Infinite Flyer, continues exploring 3D development, covering dynamic content, procedural
generation, and more 3D techniques.
Chapter 7, Next Steps and Additional Resources, covers even more topics to explore once you’ve
mastered the material in the five game projects. Look here for links and tips to further expand your
game development skills.

To get the most out of this book


To best understand the example code in this book, you should have a general knowledge of programming,
preferably with a modern, dynamically-typed language such as Python or JavaScript. If you’re new
to programming entirely, you may wish to review a beginner tutorial before diving into the game
projects here.
Godot will run on any relatively modern PC running Windows, MacOS, or Linux operating systems.
If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise you to type the code yourself or access
the code from the book’s GitHub repository (a link is available in the next section). Doing so will
help you avoid any potential errors related to the copying and pasting of code.

Download the example code files


You can download the example code files for this book from GitHub at https://github.com/
PacktPublishing/Godot-4-Game-Development-Projects-Second-Edition. If
there’s an update to the code, it will be updated in the GitHub repository.
We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://
github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!

Download the color images


We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots and diagrams used in this book.
You can download it here: https://packt.link/lY2hq.

Conventions used
There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.
Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file
extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: “With
Godot 4, you have an additional option: importing .blend files directly into your Godot project.”
Preface xv

A block of code is set as follows:

shader_type canvas_item;

void fragment() {
// Place fragment code here.
}

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For instance, words
in menus or dialog boxes appear in bold. Here is an example: “The first property is Shader, where
you can choose New Shader. When you do, a Create Shader panel appears.”

Tips or important notes


Appear like this.

Get in touch
Feedback from our readers is always welcome.
General feedback: If you have questions about any aspect of this book, email us at customercare@
packtpub.com and mention the book title in the subject of your message.
Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen.
If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you would report this to us. Please
visit www.packtpub.com/support/errata and fill in the form.
Piracy: If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the internet, we would
be grateful if you would provide us with the location address or website name. Please contact us at
[email protected] with a link to the material.
If you are interested in becoming an author: If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you
are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, please visit authors.packtpub.com.
xvi

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Once you’ve read Godot 4 Game Development Projects, we’d love to hear your thoughts! Please click
here to go straight to the Amazon review page for this book and share your feedback.
Your review is important to us and the tech community and will help us make sure we’re delivering
excellent quality content.
xvii

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1
Introduction to Godot 4.0
Whether it’s a career goal or a recreational hobby, game development is a fun and rewarding endeavor.
There’s never been a better time to get started in game development. Modern programming languages
and tools have made it easier than ever to build high-quality games and distribute them to the world. If
you’re reading this book, then you’ve set your feet on the path to making the game(s) of your dreams.
This book is an introduction to the Godot Game Engine and its new 4.0 version, which was released in
2023. Godot 4.0 has a large number of new features and capabilities that make it a strong alternative to
expensive commercial game engines. For beginners, it offers a friendly way to learn game development
fundamentals. For more experienced developers, Godot is a powerful, customizable, and open toolkit
for bringing your visions to life.
This book takes a project-based approach that will introduce you to the fundamentals of the engine.
It consists of five game projects that are designed to help you achieve a sound understanding of game
development concepts and how they’re applied in Godot. Along the way, you will learn how Godot
works and absorb important techniques that you can apply to your own projects.
In this chapter, we’ll cover the following topics:

• General advice for getting started


• What is a game engine?
• What is Godot?
• Downloading Godot
• Overview of the Godot UI
• Nodes and scenes
• Scripting in Godot
2 Introduction to Godot 4.0

General advice
This section contains some general advice to readers, based on the author’s experience as a teacher
and lecturer. Keep these tips in mind as you work through the book, especially if you’re very new
to programming.
Try to follow the projects in the book in order. Later chapters may build on topics that were introduced
in earlier chapters, where they are explained in more detail. When you encounter something that you
don’t remember, go back and review that topic in the earlier chapter. No one is timing you, and there’s
no prize for finishing the book quickly.
There is a lot of material to absorb here. Don’t feel discouraged if you don’t get it at first. The goal is
not to become an expert in game development overnight – that’s just not possible. Just like with any
other skill – carpentry or a musical instrument, for example – it takes years of practice and study to
develop proficiency. Repetition is the key to learning complex topics; the more you work with Godot’s
features, the more familiar and easier they will start to seem. Try repeating one of the earlier chapters
after you reach the end. You’ll be surprised at how much more you’ll understand compared to the
first time you read it.
If you’re reading this as an e-book, resist the temptation to copy and paste the code. Typing the code
yourself will engage your brain more actively. It’s similar to how taking notes during a lecture helps you
learn better than just listening, even if you never look back at the notes. If you’re a slow typist, it will
also help you work on your typing speed. In a nutshell: you’re a programmer, so get used to typing code!
One of the biggest mistakes that new game developers make is taking on a bigger project than they
can handle. It is very important to keep the scope of your project as small as possible when starting
out. You will be much more successful (and learn more) if you finish two or three small games than
if you have a large, incomplete project that has grown beyond your ability to manage.
You’ll notice that the five games in the book follow this strategy very strictly. They are all small in scope,
both for practical reasons – to fit reasonably into book-sized lessons – but also to remain focused
on practicing the basics. As you build the game, you will likely find yourself thinking of additional
features and gameplay elements right away. What if the spaceship had upgrades? What if the character
could do wall jumps?
Ideas are great, but if you haven’t finished the basic project yet, write them down and save them for
later. Don’t let yourself be sidetracked by one “cool idea” after another. Developers call this feature creep,
meaning a list of features that never stops growing, and it’s a trap that has led to many an unfinished
project. Don’t fall victim to it.
Finally, don’t forget to take a break now and again. You shouldn’t try and power through the whole
book, or even one project, in just a few sittings. After each new concept, and especially after each
chapter, give yourself time to absorb the new information before you dive into the next one. You’ll
find that you not only retain more information, but you’ll probably enjoy the process more.
What is a game engine? 3

The secret to learning effectively


Here’s the secret to getting the most out of these projects and increasing your skills in a way that makes
them stick: at the end of each chapter, once you’ve finished building the game project, immediately
delete it and start over. This time, try and re-create it without looking at the book. If you get stuck, just
look at that part in the chapter, and then close the book again. If you really feel confident, try adding
your own spin to the game – change some parts of the gameplay or add a new twist.
If you do this multiple times with each of the games, you’ll be amazed at how less often you’ll need
to check the book. If you can make the projects in this book on your own without help, then you’re
surely ready to branch out and take on your original concepts.
Keep these tips in mind as you read through the following sections. In the next section, you’ll learn
what a game engine is and why game developers might want to choose to use one.

What is a game engine?


Game development is complex and involves a wide variety of knowledge and skills. To build a modern
game, you need a great deal of underlying technology before you can make the actual game itself.
Imagine that you had to build your computer and write your own operating system before you could
even start programming. Game development would be a lot like that if you truly had to start from
scratch and make everything that you need.
There are also a number of common needs that every game has. For example, no matter what the
game is, it’s going to need to draw things on the screen. If the code to do that has already been written,
it makes more sense to reuse it than to create it all over again for every game. That’s where game
frameworks and engines come in.
A game framework is a set of libraries with helper code that assists in building the foundational parts
of a game. It doesn’t necessarily provide all the pieces, and you may still have to write a great deal of
code to tie everything together. Because of this, building a game with a game framework can take
more time than one built with a full game engine.
A game engine is a collection of tools and technologies designed to ease the process of game-making
by removing the need to reinvent the wheel for each new game project. It provides a collection of
commonly needed functionality that often would require a significant investment in time and effort
to develop.
Here are some of the main features a typical game engine will provide:

• Rendering (2D and 3D): Rendering is the process of displaying the game on the player’s screen.
A good rendering pipeline must take into account modern GPU support, high-resolution
displays, and effects such as lighting, perspective, and viewports, all while maintaining a very
high framerate.
4 Introduction to Godot 4.0

• Physics: While a very common requirement, building a robust and accurate physics engine is
a monumental task. Most games require some sort of collision detection and response system,
and many need physics simulations, but few developers want to take on the task of writing
one - especially if they have never tried to do so before!
• Platform support: In today’s market, most developers want to be able to release their games
on multiple platforms, such as desktops, consoles, mobile, and/or the web. A game engine
provides a unified exporting process to publish games on multiple platforms without needing
to rewrite game code or support multiple versions.
• Common development environment: By using the same unified interface to make multiple
games, the developer doesn’t have to re-learn a new workflow every time they start a new project.

In addition to these, there will be tools to assist with features such as networking, easing the process of
managing images and sound, animations, debugging, and many more. Often, game engines will include
the ability to import content from other tools, such as those used to create animations or 3D models.
Using a game engine allows the developer to focus on building their game rather than creating the
underlying framework needed to make it work. For small or independent developers, this can mean the
difference between releasing a game after one year of development instead of three, or even never at all.
There are dozens of popular game engines on the market today, such as Unity, Unreal Engine, and
GameMaker Studio, just to name a few. An important fact to be aware of is that the majority of popular
game engines are commercial products. They may or may not require any financial investment to
get started, but they will require some kind of licensing and/or royalty payments if your game makes
money. Whatever engine you choose, you need to carefully read the user agreement and make sure
you understand what you are and are not allowed to do with the engine, and what hidden costs, if
any, you may be responsible for.
On the other hand, some engines are non-commercial and open source, such as the Godot game
engine, which is what this book is all about.

What is Godot?
Godot is a fully featured modern game engine, providing all of the features described in the previous
section and more. It is also completely free and open source, released under the very permissive
MIT license. This means there are no fees, no hidden costs, and no royalties to pay on your game’s
revenue. Everything you make with Godot 100% belongs to you, which is not the case with many
commercial game engines that require an ongoing contractual relationship. For many developers,
this is very appealing.
If you’re not familiar with the concept of open source, community-driven development, this may seem
strange to you. However, much like the Linux kernel, Firefox browser, and many other very well-known
pieces of software, Godot is not developed by a company as a commercial product. Instead, a dedicated
Downloading Godot 5

community of passionate developers donates their time and expertise to building the engine, testing
and fixing bugs, producing documentation, and more.
As a game developer, the benefits of using Godot are many. Because it is unencumbered by commercial
licensing, you have complete control over exactly how and where your game is distributed. Many
commercial game engines restrict the types of projects you can make or require a much more expensive
license to build games in certain categories, such as gambling.
Godot’s open source nature also means there is a level of transparency that doesn’t exist with commercial
game engines. For example, if you find that a particular engine feature doesn’t quite meet your needs,
you are free to modify the engine itself and add the new features you need, with no permission
required. This can also be very helpful when debugging a large project because you have full access
to the engine’s internal workings.
It also means that you can directly contribute to Godot’s future. See additional topics in Chapter 7 for
more information about how you can get involved with Godot development.
Now that you have an understanding of what Godot is and how it can help you build a game, it’s time
to get started. In the next section, you’ll see how to download Godot and set it up for use on your
own computer.

Downloading Godot
You can download the latest version of Godot by visiting https:/​/​godotengine.​org/​ and
clicking Download Latest. This book is written for version 4.0. If the version you download has another
number at the end (such as 4.0.3), that’s fine – this just means that it includes updates to version 4.0
that fix bugs or other issues.
On the download page, you will also see a standard version and a .NET version. The .NET version is
specially built to be used with the C# programming language. Don’t download this one unless you
plan to use C# with Godot. The projects in this book do not use C#.

Figure 1.1: The Godot download page


6 Introduction to Godot 4.0

Unzip the downloaded file, and you’ll have the Godot application. Optionally, you can drag it to your
Programs or Applications folder, if you have one. Double-click the application to launch it and
you’ll see Godot’s Project Manager window, which you’ll learn about in the next section.

Alternate installation methods


There are a few other ways to get Godot on your computer besides downloading it from the Godot
website. Note that there is no difference in functionality when installed this way. The following are
merely alternatives for downloading the application:

• Steam: If you have an account on Steam, you can install Godot via the Steam desktop application.
Search for Godot in the Steam store and follow the instructions to install it. You can launch
Godot from the Steam application:

Figure 1.2: The Godot engine on Steam

• Itch.io: You can also download Godot from the popular itch.io website. Itch is a marketplace
for independent game developers and creators. Search for Godot and download it from the
provided links.
• Package Managers: If you’re using one of the following operating system package managers, you
can install Godot via its normal installation process. See the documentation for your package
manager for details. Godot is available in these package managers:

‚ Homebrew (macOS)
‚ Scoop (Windows)
‚ Snap (Linux)
Overview of the Godot UI 7

Android and web versions


You will also see downloads available for Godot versions that run on Android and in your web
browser. At the time of this writing, these versions are listed as “experimental” and may not
be stable or fully functional. It is recommended that you use the desktop version of Godot,
especially while you’re learning.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed Godot on your computer. In the next section, you
will see an overview of Godot’s editor interface – the purposes of the various windows and buttons
you’ll use when working with the editor.

Overview of the Godot UI


Like most game engines, Godot has a unified development environment. This means that you use
the same interface to work on all of the aspects of your game – code, visuals, audio, and so on. This
section is an introduction to the interface and its parts. Take note of the terminology used here; it will
be used throughout this book when referring to actions you’ll take in the editor window.

Project Manager
The Project Manager window is the first window you’ll see when you open Godot:

Figure 1.3: Project Manager

Opening Godot for the first time


The first time you open Godot, you won’t have any projects yet. You’ll see a pop-up window
asking if you want to explore official example projects in the Asset Library. Select Cancel, and
you’ll see the Project Manager as it appears in the preceding screenshot.
8 Introduction to Godot 4.0

In this window, you can see a list of your existing Godot projects. You can choose an existing project
and click Run to play the game or Edit to work on it in the Godot editor. You can also create a new
project by clicking New Project:

Figure 1.4: New project settings

Here, you can give the project a name and create a folder to store it in. Note the warning message – a
Godot project is stored as a separate folder on the computer. All the files that the project uses must
be located in this folder. This makes it convenient to share Godot projects because you only need to
zip the project folder and you can be confident that another Godot user will be able to open it and
not be missing any necessary data.

Renderer

When creating a new project, you also have the choice of Renderer. The three options represent the
balance between advanced, high-performance graphics that require a modern desktop GPU, and
compatibility with less-capable platforms such as mobile and older desktops. You can change this option
later if you need, so it’s OK to leave it as the default setting. If you later decide to build games for the
mobile platform, the Godot documentation has a great deal of information regarding performance
and rendering options. See Chapter 7 for links and more information.

Choosing filenames

When you’re naming your new project, there are a few simple rules you should try and follow that may
save you some trouble in the future. Give your project a name that describes what it is – Wizard Battle
Arena is a much better project name than Game #2. In the future, you’ll never be able to remember
which game number two was, so be as descriptive as possible.
Overview of the Godot UI 9

You should also think about how you name your project folder and the files in it. Some operating
systems are case-sensitive and distinguish between My_Game and my_game, while others do not.
This can lead to problems if you move your project from one computer to another. For this reason,
many programmers develop a standardized naming scheme for their projects, such as not using spaces
in filenames and using _ between words. Regardless of what naming scheme you adopt, the most
important thing is to be consistent.
Once you’ve created the project folder, the Create Edit button will open the new project in the editor
window. Try it now: create a project called test_project.

Console window
If you’re using a version of the Windows operating system, you’ll also see a console window
open when you run Godot. In this window, you can see warnings and errors produced by the
engine and/or your project. This window doesn’t appear on macOS or Linux, but you can see the
console output if you launch the application from the command line using a Terminal program

Editor window
The following figure is a screenshot of the main Godot editor window. This is where you will spend most
of your time when building projects in Godot. The editor interface is divided into several sections, each
offering different functionality. The specific terminology for each section is described after Figure 1.5:

Figure 1.5: The Godot editor window

The main portion of the editor window is the Viewport. This is where you’ll see the parts of your game
as you’re working on them.
10 Introduction to Godot 4.0

In the top center of the window is a list of the Workspaces you can switch between when working on
different parts of your game. You can switch between 2D and 3D mode, as well as Script mode, where
you’ll edit your game’s code. AssetLib is a place where you can download add-ons and example projects
contributed by the Godot community. See Chapter 7 for more information about using the asset library.
Figure 1.6 shows the toolbar for the current workspace you’re using. The icons here will change based
on what kind of object you’re working with:

Figure 1.6: Toolbar icons

The buttons in the upper-right playtest area are for launching the game and interacting with it when
it’s running:

Figure 1.7: Playtest buttons

On the left and right sides are the Docks or Tabs you can use to view and select game items and set
their properties. On the bottom of the left-hand dock, you’ll find the FileSystem tab. All the files in the
project folder are shown here, and you can click on folders to open them and see what they contain.
All resources in your project will be located relative to the res:// path, which is the project’s root
folder. For example, a file path might look like this: res://player/player.tscn. This refers
to a file in the player folder:

Figure 1.8: The FileSystem tab


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Title: Philip II. of Spain

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHILIP II. OF


SPAIN ***
Foreign Statesmen

PHILIP II. OF SPAIN

P HIL IP II. OF S PA IN
BY
MARTIN A. S. HUME
EDITOR OF
THE ‘CALENDAR OF SPANISH STATE PAPERS OF ELIZABETH’
(PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE)

Philippus ipse Hispaniæ desiderio magnopere aestuabat, nec aliud


quam Hispaniam loquebatur.

Sepulveda.

MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED


ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON
1911
Copyright
First Edition 1897
Reprinted 1899, 1906, 1911
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
Philip’s failure, and the reasons for it—His birth and infancy
—His appearance and character—His education by Siliceo
and Zuñiga—The emperor meets his son—The
consolidation of authority in Spain—Suggestions for
marriage with Jeanne d’Albret—Philip made Regent of
Spain—The emperor’s instructions to his son—His system
of government—Character of his councillors—Philip’s
marriage with Maria of Portugal—Birth of Don Carlos and
death of the princess—Doña Isabel de Osorio—Philip in his
domestic relations—Project for securing to Philip the
imperial crown—The suzerainty of Spain over Italy—
Philip’s voyage through Germany Page 1
CHAPTER II
The union of the Low Countries to Spain—The Italian
suzerainty—The effects thereof—Etiquette of the House of
Burgundy adopted in Spain—Ruy Gomez—Philip’s voyage
—His unpopularity with Germans and Flemings—Fresh
proposals for his marriage—The family compact for the
imperial succession—Defection of Maurice of Saxony—
War with France—Treaty of Passau—Defeat of the emperor
at Metz 20
CHAPTER III
Proposal to marry Philip to Queen Mary of England—The 30
need for alliance with England—The negotiations of
Renard—Opposition of France—Unpopularity of the match
in England—Philip’s voyage to England—His affability—
His first interview with Mary—The marriage—Philip made
King of Naples—Failure of the objects of the marriage—
Philip’s policy in England—Pole’s mission—Philip and the
persecution of Catholics in England—Philip’s
disappointment and departure
CHAPTER IV
Philip in favour of a moderate policy in England—His
attitude towards religion generally—He requests armed aid
from England against the French—The emperor’s
embarrassments in Italy—Alba made Philip’s viceroy in
Italy—Factions in Philip’s court—Ruy Gomez and Alba—
The emperor’s abdication— Philip’s changed position—His
attitude towards the papacy—The Spanish Church—Pope
Paul IV. and the Spaniards in Italy—Excommunication of
Philip—Invasion of Rome by Alba—Philip’s second visit to
England 43
CHAPTER V
French intrigue against Mary—England at war with France
—Battle of St. Quintin—Philip’s tardiness—The English
contingent—The loss of Calais—Feria goes to England—
His negotiations—Condition of England—The English fleet
used by Philip—Philip and Elizabeth—Negotiations for
peace—Death of Mary—Plans for Elizabeth’s marriage—
Peace of Cateau Cambresis—Philip’s policy in England 53
CHAPTER VI
Philip’s plan for a French alliance—His marriage with
Elizabeth de Valois—Philip’s embarrassments in the
Netherlands—De Granvelle—Philip’s departure from
Flanders—Condition of affairs in Spain—The Spanish
Church—Death of Paul IV.—The Inquisition—Bartolomé
de Carranza—Philip’s arrival and routine in Spain—The
auto de fé at Valladolid 64
CHAPTER VII
Arrival of Elizabeth de Valois in Spain—Her influence over 79
Philip—Position of affairs in France—War with England—
Philip’s attitude towards France—Death of Francis II.—
Spanish disaster at Los Gelves—Position of Spain in the
Mediterranean
CHAPTER VIII
Don Carlos—His relations with Elizabeth de Valois—French
intrigues for his marriage—His illness—The Cortes of
Aragon—Jeanne d’Albret and Henry of Navarre—The
Council of Trent and the Inquisition—Philip and the pope—
Renewed struggles with the Turks—Siege of Malta 88
CHAPTER IX
Troubles in the Netherlands—Granvelle’s unpopularity—
William of Orange and Egmont—Their resignation and
protest—Margaret of Parma—Assembly of the Chapter of
the Golden Fleece—Riots at Valenciennes—Discontent of
the Flemish nobles—They retire from government—
Granvelle’s dismissal—The maladministration of the States
—Egmont’s mission to Spain—Philip’s policy in the States
—The Beggars—Orange’s action—Philip determines to
exterminate heresy in the States—Philip’s projected voyage
thither 99
CHAPTER X
Renewed contest between Philip and the papacy—Condition
of Don Carlos—His arrest and imprisonment—Philip’s
explanations—Carlos’ last illness and death—Death of
Elizabeth de Valois—The interviews of Bayonne and the
Catholic League—Catharine de Medici—Philip face to face
with Protestantism—Philip and the Moriscos—Rising of the
Moriscos—Deza at Granada—Don Juan of Austria—
Expulsion of the Moriscos from Andalucia 115
CHAPTER XI
Philip and England—Elizabeth seizes his treasure—Spanish 136
plots against her—Philip and the northern rebellion—The
excommunication of Elizabeth—Ridolfi’s plot—Philip’s
hesitancy—Prohibition of English trade with Spain—Its
futility—Alba’s retirement from Flanders—Philip’s
responsibility for Alba’s proceedings—The tenth penny—
Philip’s disapproval—Orange’s approaches to the French
CHAPTER XII
Philip’s fourth marriage—The killing of Montigny—Anne
of Austria—Philip’s domestic life—His industry—The
Escorial—His patronage of art—His character—Renewed
war with the Turks—Don Juan commands the Spanish force
—The victory of Lepanto—Don Juan’s great projects—
Antonio Perez 153
CHAPTER XIII
The Spanish troops in Flanders—Don Juan sent to Flanders
—His projects for invading England—Mutiny of the
Spanish troops in Flanders—The Spanish fury—Evacuation
of Flanders by the Spanish troops—Perez’s plot against Don
Juan—The murder of Escobedo—Don Juan seizes Namur
—Renewal of the war—The battle of Gemblours—
Desperation of Don Juan—His death—Alexander Farnese 168
CHAPTER XIV
Philip’s ineffectual action against Elizabeth—The Desmond
rebellion—Philip’s conquest of Portugal—Recall of Alba
and Granvelle to Philip’s councils—Don Antonio, Prior of
O Crato—Death of Anne of Austria—Philip in Portugal—
Flight of Antonio—His reception in England and France—
The Duke of Alençon—Philip and Mary Stuart—James
Stuart—Fresh proposals of the Scottish Catholics to Philip
—Philip and Granvelle’s views with regard to England—
Lennox and the Jesuits mismanage the plot—Philip’s claim
to the English crown—Expulsion of Mendoza from
England—The English exiles urge Philip to invade England
—Sixtus V.—Intrigues in Rome—The Babington plot 182
CHAPTER XV
The Infanta to be Queen of England—Approaches of the
Scottish Catholic lords to Philip—Execution of Mary Stuart
—Intrigues for the English succession—Drake’s expedition
to Cadiz—The peace negotiations with Farnese—
Preparations for the Armada—Sailing of the Armada from
Lisbon—Its return to Vigo—Medina Sidonia advises its
abandonment—Its strength—Engagements with the English
—Panic at Calais—Final defeat—Causes of the disaster—
Philip’s reception of the news 202
CHAPTER XVI
Don Antonio in England—Catharine’s support of him—
Strozzi’s defeat at St. Michaels—Philip’s patronage of
assassination—Philip and the League—Renewal of the war
of religion in France—The murder of Guise—Imprisonment
of Antonio Perez and the Princess of Eboli—Perez’s
treachery—His escape to Aragon—The fueros of Aragon—
Philip proceeds against Perez—Perez arrested by the
Inquisition of Aragon—Rising in Zaragoza—Perez’s escape
—Suppression of the Aragonese 223
CHAPTER XVII
Philip and Mayenne—The English attack upon Lisbon—
Assassination of Henry III.—Philip’s plans in France—The
war of the League—The battle of Ivry—Philip’s attitude
towards Mayenne—Farnese enters France—Relief of Paris
—Retirement of Farnese—Philip changes his plans in
France—Farnese’s second campaign—Henry IV. goes to
mass—Enters Paris as king—Exit of the Spaniards 237
CHAPTER XVIII
Blighting influence of Philip’s system on his officers— 249
Effects of Philip’s routine on the administration—Social
condition of Spain and the colonies—Dr. Lopez and
Antonio Perez—Philip II. and Tyrone’s rebellion—The
English sacking of Cadiz—Philip’s resignation—His last
illness and death—Results of his life—Causes of the
decadence of the Spanish power
Genealogical Table showing Philip’s Claim to the
English Crown 263
Appendix 265
CHAPTER I
Philip’s failure, and the reasons for it—His birth and infancy—His
appearance and character—His education by Siliceo and Zuñiga—The
emperor meets his son—The consolidation of authority in Spain—
Suggestions for marriage with Jeanne d’Albret—Philip made Regent of
Spain—The emperor’s instructions to his son—His system of
government—Character of his councillors—Philip’s marriage with
Maria of Portugal—Birth of Don Carlos and death of the princess—
Doña Isabel de Osorio—Philip in his domestic relations—Project for
securing to Philip the imperial crown—The suzerainty of Spain over
Italy—Philip’s voyage through Germany.
FOR three hundred years a bitter controversy has raged around the actions of
Philip II. of Spain. Until our own times no attempt even had been made to
write his life-history from an impartial point of view. He had been
alternately deified and execrated, until through the mists of time and
prejudice he loomed rather as the permanent embodiment of a system than
as an individual man swayed by changing circumstances and controlled by
human frailties.
The more recent histories of his reign—the works of English, American,
German, and French scholars—have treated their subject with fuller
knowledge and broader sympathies, but they have necessarily been to a
large extent histories of the great events which convulsed Europe for fifty
years at the most critical period of modern times. The space to be occupied
by the present work will not admit of this treatment of the subject. The
purpose is therefore to consider Philip mainly as a statesman, in relation to
the important problems with which he had to deal, rather than to write a
connected account of the occurrences of a long reign. It will be necessary
for us to try to penetrate the objects he aimed at and the influences, personal
and exterior, which ruled him, and to seek the reasons for his failure. For he
did fail utterly. In spite of very considerable powers of mind, of a long
lifetime of incessant toil, of deep-laid plans, and vast ambitions, his record
is one continued series of defeats and disappointments; and in exchange for
the greatest heritage that Christendom had ever seen, with the apparently
assured prospect of universal domination which opened before him at his
birth, he closed his dying eyes upon dominions distracted and ruined
beyond all recovery, a bankrupt State, a dwindled prestige, and a defeated
cause. He had devoted his life to the task of establishing the universal
supremacy of Catholicism in the political interests of Spain, and he was
hopelessly beaten.
The reasons for his defeat will be seen in the course of the present work
to have been partly personal and partly circumstantial. The causes of both
these sets of reasons were laid at periods long anterior to Philip’s birth.
The first of the great misfortunes of Spain was an event which at the
time looked full of bright promise, namely, the marriage of Juana, daughter
of Ferdinand and Isabel, to Philip of Austria, son of the Emperor
Maximilian. This marriage eventually burdened the King of Spain with the
German dominions of the House of Austria, the imperial crown, with its
suzerainty over Italy, the duchy of Milan, and, above all, the rich
inheritance of the House of Burgundy, the Franche Comté, Holland, and the
Netherlands. Even before this the crown of Aragon had been weakened
rather than strengthened by the possession of Sicily and Naples, which
latter brought it into inimical contact with France, and also necessitated the
assertion and defence of its rights as a Mediterranean Power in constant
rivalry with Turks and Algerians. This had been bad, but the vast and
scattered territories of Charles V. cursed Spain with a foreign policy in
every corner of Europe. In his Austrian dominions the emperor was the
outpost of Christianity against the Turk, the bulwark which restrained the
Moslem flood from swamping eastern Europe. His galleys were those
which were to keep the Mediterranean a Christian sea. Flanders and the
Franche Comté gave him a long flat frontier conterminous with France,
whose jealous eyes had been fixed covetously for centuries on the fine
harbours and flourishing towns of the Low Countries.
Most of these interests were of very secondary importance to Spain
itself. The country had only quite recently been unified; the vast new
dominions which had fallen under its sway in America might well have
monopolised its activity for centuries to come. The geographical position of
the Iberian peninsula itself practically isolated it from the other countries of
Europe, and rendered it unnecessary for it to take any part in the discords
that prevailed over the rest of the continent; whilst the recent religious
struggles with the Moors in Spain had consolidated Catholic Christianity in
the country, and prevented the reformed doctrines from obtaining any
footing there. Spain indeed, alone and aloof, with a fertile soil, fine
harbours, and a well-disposed population, seemed destined to enjoy a career
of activity, prosperity, and peace. But the possession of Flanders brought it
into constant rivalry with France, and necessitated a close alliance with
England, whilst the imperial connection dragged it into ceaseless wars with
the Turks, and, above all, with the rising power of Protestantism, which
ultimately proved its ruin. Philip, who succeeded to this thorny inheritance,
was, on the other hand, bounded and isolated by mental limitations as
irremovable as the Pyrenees which shut in his native land. As King of Spain
alone, having only local problems to deal with, modest, cautious,
painstaking, and just, he might have been a happy and successful—even a
great—monarch, but as leader of the conservative forces of Christendom he
was in a position for which his gifts unfitted him.
He was the offspring of the marriage of first cousins, both his parents
being grandchildren of cunning, avaricious Ferdinand, and of Isabel the
Catholic, whose undoubted genius was accompanied by high-strung
religious exaltation, which would now be considered neurotic. Her
daughter, Juana the Mad, Philip’s grandmother, passed a long lifetime in
melancholy torpor. In Charles V. the tainted blood was mingled with the
gross appetites and heavy frames of the burly Hapsburgs. The strength and
power of resistance inherited from them enabled him, until middle age only,
to second his vast mental power with his indomitable bodily energy. But no
sooner was the elasticity of early manhood gone than he too sank into
despairing lethargy and religious mysticism. Philip’s mother, the Empress
Isabel, came from the same stock, and was the offspring of several
generations of consanguineous marriages. The curse which afflicted Philip’s
progenitors, and was transmitted with augmented horror to his descendants,
could not be expected to pass over Philip himself; and the explanation of his
attitude towards the political events of his time must often be sought in the
hereditary gloom which fell upon him, and in the unshakable belief that he
was in some sort a junior partner with Providence, specially destined to link
his mundane fortunes with the higher interests of religion. His slow
laboriousness, his indomitable patience, his marble serenity, all seem to
have been imitated, perhaps unconsciously, from the relentless, resistless
action of divine forces.
On the other hand, his inherited characteristics were accentuated by his
education and training. From the time of his birth his father was continually
at war with infidels and heretics, and the earliest ideas that can have been
instilled into his infant mind were that he and his were fighting the
Almighty’s battles and destroying His enemies. In his first years he was
surrounded by the closest and narrowest devotees, for ever beseeching the
divine blessing on the arms of the absent emperor; and when the time came
for Philip to receive political instruction from his father, at an age when
most boys are frank and confiding, he was ceaselessly told that his great
destiny imposed upon him, above all, the supreme duty of self-control, and
of listening to all counsellors whilst trusting none. No wonder, then, that
Philip, lacking his father’s bodily vigour, grew up secret, crafty, and over-
cautious. No wonder that his fervid faith in the divinity of his destiny and
the sacredness of his duty kept him uncomplaining amidst calamities that
would have crushed men of greater gifts and broader views. No wonder that
this sad, slow, distrustful man, with his rigid methods and his mind for
microscopic detail, firm in his belief that the Almighty was working
through him for His great ends, should have been hopelessly beaten in the
fight with nimble adversaries burdened with no fixed convictions or
conscientious scruples, who shifted their policy as the circumstances of the
moment dictated. Philip thought that he was fittingly performing a divine
task by nature’s own methods. He forgot that nature can afford to await
results indefinitely, whilst men cannot.
Philip was born at the house of Don Bernardino de Pimentel, near the
church of St. Paul in Valladolid, on May 21, 1527. His mother was
profoundly impressed with the great destiny awaiting her offspring, and
thought that any manifestation of pain or weakness during her labour might
detract from the dignity of the occasion. One of her Portuguese ladies,
fearing that this effort of self-control on the part of the empress would add
to her sufferings, begged her to give natural vent to her feelings. “Silence!”
said the empress, “die I may, but wail I will not,” and then she ordered that
her face should be hidden from the light, that no involuntary sign of pain
should be seen.
In this spirit of self-control and overpowering majesty the weak, sickly
baby was reared by his devout mother. Two other boy infants who were
born to her died of epilepsy in early childhood, and Philip, her first-born,
remained her only son.
In the midst of the rejoicings that heralded his birth news came to
Valladolid that the emperor’s Spanish and German troops had assaulted and
sacked Rome, and that Pope Clement VII. was surrounded by infuriated
soldiery, a prisoner in his own castle of St. Angelo. In the long rivalry
which Charles had sustained with the French king, Francis I., who had
competed with him for the imperial crown, one of the main factors was the
dread of the entire domination of Italy by Spain, by virtue of the suzerainty
of the empire over the country. The excitable and unstable pontiff, Clement
VII., thought that his own interests were threatened, and made common
cause with Francis. The emperor’s troops were commanded by Charles de
Montpensier, Duke of Bourbon, who had quarrelled with his own
sovereign, and was in arms against him, and he unquestionably exceeded
the emperor’s wishes in the capture and sacking of the eternal city, the
intention having been to have held the pontiff in check by terror rather than
to degrade him in the eyes of the world. Charles made what amends he
could for the blunder committed by Bourbon, and at once suspended the
rejoicings for the birth of his heir. But the gossips in Valladolid gravely
shook their heads, and prophesied that the great emperor’s first-born was
destined to be a bane to the papacy in years to come. It will be seen in the
course of the present book that during the whole of his life Philip regarded
the papacy and the persons of the pontiffs without any superstitious awe,
and mainly as instruments in his hands to achieve the great work entrusted
to him by Providence.
In April 1528, when Philip was eleven months old, he received the oath
of allegiance as heir to the crown from the Cortes of Castile, and from that
time until the return of his father to Spain in 1533 the royal infant remained
under the care of his mother and one of her Portuguese ladies, Doña Leonor
de Mascarenhas, to whom Philip in after-life was devotedly attached. He
was even then a preternaturally grave and silent child, with a fair pink-and-
white skin, fine yellow hair, and full blue lymphatic eyes, rather too close
together. It is no uncommon thing for princes to be represented as prodigies,
but Philip seems, in truth, to have been really an extraordinary infant, and
exhibited great aptitude for certain studies, especially mathematics. Charles
on his arrival in Spain decided to give to his heir a separate household and
masters who should prepare him for the duties of his future position. A list
was made of the principal priestly professors of the Spanish universities,
which was gradually reduced by elimination to three names. These were
submitted to the empress for her choice, and she selected Dr. Juan Martinez
Pedernales (which name = flints, he ingeniously Latinised into Siliceo), a
professor of Salamanca, who was appointed tutor to the prince, with a
salary of 100,000 maravedis a year. The emperor probably knew little of the
character of his son’s tutor. He had intended in the previous year to appoint
to the post a really eminent scholar, the famous Viglius, but did not do so.
Whatever may have been Siliceo’s virtues, and according to priestly
historians they were many, the emperor had subsequently a very poor
opinion of the way in which he had performed his duty.
In a private letter from Charles to his son ten years afterwards, to which
other reference will be made, the emperor says that “Siliceo has certainly
not been the most fitting teacher for you. He has been too desirous of
pleasing you. I hope to God that it was not for his own ends”; and again,
“He is your chief chaplain, and you confess to him. It would be bad if he
was as anxious to please you in matters of your conscience as he has been
in your studies.” But Philip evidently liked his tutor, for later he made him
Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain. The prince must have been an
apt pupil in the studies which most attracted him. He was never a linguist of
any proficiency, but could read and write Latin well at quite an early age,
and certainly understood French and Italian. But he was a Spaniard of
Spaniards, and nothing shows the strict limitations of his capacity more
than the clumsiness with which he expressed himself even in his own
language, although he frequently criticised and altered the words and
expressions employed by his secretaries.
The governor appointed to teach Philip the social duties and exercises
fitting to his rank was an honest Spanish gentleman who possessed the full
confidence of the emperor—Don Juan de Zuñiga, Comendador Mayor of
Castile. From him he learnt fencing, riding, and warlike exercises, and
especially dancing, of which during his youth he was very fond. Don Juan
was somewhat uncompromising of speech, and apparently made no attempt
to flatter or spoil his pupil, for the emperor in 1543, when Philip was
sixteen, warns him that he is to prize Don Juan the more for this quality, and
is to follow his advice in all personal and social matters.
At the age of twelve Philip lost his mother, and two years afterwards, in
1541, his political instruction may be said to have commenced. The
emperor, although still in the prime of life, was already tired of the world.
His great expedition to Algiers, from which he had hoped so much, had
brought him nothing but disaster and disappointment, and he arrived in
Spain in deep depression. A letter supposed to have been written to him at
the time by Philip, full of religious and moral consolation for his trouble, is
quoted by Cabrera de Cordoba and subsequent historians; but on the face of
it there are few signs of its being the composition of a boy of fourteen, and
it is not sufficiently authenticated to be reproduced here. The emperor in
any case was delighted with his son. He found him studious, grave, and
prudent beyond his years, and during the period that the father and son were
together the great statesman devoted a portion of every day to initiate his
successor in the intricate task before him. In 1542 Philip was to receive his
first lesson in practical warfare, and accompanied the Duke of Alba to
defend Perpignan against the French, but he saw no fighting, and on his
way back to Castile he received the oath of allegiance of the Aragonese
Cortes at Monzon, Philip himself swearing in October at Saragossa to
maintain inviolate the tenaciously-held privileges of self-government
cherished by the kingdom of Aragon. How he kept his oath will be seen in a
subsequent chapter. The tendency of Charles’s policy was in favour of
centralisation in the government of Spain, and he several times in writing to
his son shows his dislike of the autonomy possessed by the stubborn
Aragonese. He had completely crushed popular privileges in his kingdom of
Castile, and would have liked to do the same in Aragon. This will probably
explain Philip’s eagerness in subsequently seizing upon an excuse to curtail
the rights of the northern kingdom. Before this period Charles had
conceived another project in favour of the consolidation of Spain.
Ferdinand the Catholic, with the papal authority, had seized the Spanish
kingdom of Navarre, and added it to his own dominions. Thenceforward the
titular sovereigns of Navarre were only tributary princes of France, but they
did not lightly put up with their deprivation, and were a constant source of
irritation and danger to Spain on the Pyrenean frontier. The design of the
emperor was nothing less than to put an end to the feud, by marrying Philip
to the heiress of Navarre, Jeanne d’Albret. It is idle to speculate upon the
far-reaching results which might have ensued from such a match, but in all
probability it would have changed the whole course of modern history. At
the time this design was in view (1539) “to extinguish the quarrel of
Navarre and tranquillise both our conscience and that of our son,” Philip
and Jeanne were twelve years old, and the marriage would doubtless have
taken place but for the vigilance of Francis I. To have brought the King of
Spain over the Pyrenees as Prince of Béarn, and the semi-independent
sovereign of a large part of the south of France, would have ruined the
French monarchy, so poor little Jeanne was married by force to a man she
detested, and Philip had to look elsewhere for a bride.
On the occasion of Charles’s own marriage, the dowry from the wealthy
royal family of Portugal had provided him at a critical juncture with money
to carry on the war with France; and now again, with his exchequer
chronically empty, and the demands upon it for warlike purposes more
pressing than ever, the emperor sought to tap the rich stream of the
Portuguese Indies by wedding his son to Princess Maria, daughter of John
III. and of Charles’s sister Catharine, another consanguineous marriage of
which we shall see the result later. Before the affair could be concluded the
emperor was obliged to leave Spain (May 1543). In July of the previous
year Francis I. had fulminated against his old enemy his famous
proclamation of war, and to Charles’s troubles with the Protestants of
Germany was now added the renewed struggle with France, in which he
was to have the assistance of the English king. The emperor’s intercourse
with his son during his stay in Spain had convinced him of Philip’s
precocity in statesmanship, and so he determined to leave in his hands the
regency of Spain in his absence.
This was one of the most important junctures of Philip’s life. He was
barely sixteen years old, and was thus early to be entrusted with Charles’s
secret system of government, an instruction which left deep marks upon
Philip’s own method for the rest of his life. The two letters written by
Charles to his son before his departure from Spain are of the utmost
importance as providing a key for Philip’s subsequent political action.
Although Philip was entrusted with the ultimate decision of all subjects, he
was to be guided by some of the most experienced and wisest of Charles’s
councillors. First there was the Cardinal-Archbishop of Toledo, Tavara, and
next the Secretary of State, Francisco de los Cobos, who had been at the
emperor’s right hand for so long. The young regent is secretly told by his
father that the reason why these two were appointed as his principal
councillors was because they were respectively heads of factions, and their
rivalry would prevent the prince from falling under the influence of either
political party. With merciless scalpel the great emperor lays bare, for the
benefit of the lad of sixteen, the faults and failings of the statesmen who are
to aid him in the government. He is warned not to trust any of them
separately. Their hypocrisy, their greed, their frailties of character, and
conduct are pointed out by the worldly-wise ruler to the neophyte; and the
moral of it all is that he should listen to the opinions of every one, and
especially of rivals, and then decide for himself.
The greatest of the emperor’s Spanish subjects was the Duke of Alba, yet
this is how he is sketched for the benefit of Philip. “The Duke of Alba
would have liked to be associated with them (i.e. Cardinal Tavara and
Cobos), and I do not think that he would have followed either party, but that
which best suited his interests. But as it concerns the interior government of
the kingdom, in which it is not advisable that grandees should be employed,
I would not appoint him, whereat he is much aggrieved. Since he has been
near me I have noticed that he aims at great things and is very ambitious,
although at first he was so sanctimonious, humble, and modest. Look, my
son, how he will act with you, who are younger than I. You must avoid
placing him or other grandees very intimately in the interior government,
because he and others will exert every means to gain your goodwill, which
will afterwards cost you dear. I believe that he will not hesitate to
endeavour to tempt you even by means of women, and I beg you most
especially to avoid this. In foreign affairs and war make use of him, and
respect him, as he is in this the best man we now have in the kingdom.”
And so, one by one, the bishops and ministers who were to be Philip’s
advisers are dissected for his benefit. The prince was ready enough to learn
lessons of distrust, and it afterwards became one of the main principles of
his system that only creatures of his own making should be his instruments
for the political government of Spain.
Quite as extraordinary as the political instructions were the minute rules
of conduct given by the emperor to his son for the regulation of his married
life and the continuance of his studies. He is not to consider that he is a man
with nothing to learn because he married early, and is left in so great a
position, but is to study harder than ever. “If this, my son, be necessary for
others, consider how much more necessary is it for you, seeing how many
lands you will have to govern, so distant and far apart.... If you wish to
enjoy them you must necessarily understand and be understood in them;
and nothing is so important for this as the study of languages.” The coming
marital relations of the young prince were in somewhat curious terms, left
entirely to the guidance of Don Juan de Zuñiga, and the lessons enforced all
through the proud and anxious father’s instructions, were piety, patience,
modesty, and distrust. These were Philip’s guiding principles for the rest of
his long life. The prince fully answered the expectations of his father.
During the next few years, full of stress and storm for the wearying
emperor, a close correspondence was kept up between them, and the plans
and principles of the father were gradually assimilated by the son.
In November 1543 the Portuguese princess crossed the frontier to marry
Philip. She was of the same height and age as her bridegroom, a plump
bright little creature; but he was already grave and reserved, short and
dapper, but erect and well made, of graceful and pleasant mien. But for all
his gravity he was still a boy, and could not resist the temptation of going
out in disguise to meet her, and mixing in her train. His coming was
probably an open secret, for the princess on the day of his arrival took care
to look especially charming in her dress of crimson velvet, and with white
feathers in her jaunty satin hat. The meeting took place in a beautiful
country house of the Duke of Alba near Salamanca, and on November 15
the wedding procession entered the city itself. All that pomp and popular
enthusiasm could do was done to make the marriage feast a merry one.
Bulls and cane tourneys, dancing and buffooning, fine garments and fair
faces, seemed to presage a happy future for the wedded pair. The bride was
Philip’s own choice, for his father had at one time suggested to him
Margaret, the daughter of his old enemy Francis, but the prince begged to
be allowed to marry one of his own kin and tongue, rather than the daughter
of a foe, and the emperor let him have his way.
Little is known of the short married life of the young couple. It only
lasted seventeen months, and then, after the birth of the unfortunate Don
Carlos, the poor little princess herself died, it was said at the time from
imprudently eating a lemon soon after her delivery. The birth of the heir had
been hailed with rejoicing by the Spanish people, and the news of the death
of the mother caused redoubled sorrow. Philip was already extremely
popular with his people. His gravity was truly Spanish; his preference for
the Spanish tongue, and his reluctance to marry the French princess, as well
as his piety and moderation, had even now gained for him the affection of
Spaniards, which for the rest of his life he never lost. His early bereavement
was therefore looked upon as a national affliction. For three weeks after the
death of his wife the young widower shut himself up in a monastery and
gave way to his grief, until his public duties forced him into the world
again. The Prince of Orange in his Apology, published in 1581, said that
even before Philip had married Maria he had conferred the title of wife
upon Doña Isabel de Osorio, the sister of the Marquis of Astorga. This has
been frequently repeated, and much ungenerous comment founded upon it,
strengthened, it is true, to some extent by the fact that subsequently for
some years marital relations certainly existed between them. It is, however,
in the highest degree improbable that Orange’s assertion was true. In the
first place no Spanish churchman would have dared to marry the prince-
regent before he was out of his boyhood without the knowledge of the
emperor, and the matter is now almost placed beyond doubt by the already-
mentioned document, which proves that Philip had pledged his word of
honour to his father that he had hitherto kept free of all such entanglements,
and would do so in future. Whatever may have been Philip’s faults, he was
a good and dutiful son, with a high sense of honour, and it is incredible that
he would thus early have been guilty of deceit upon such a subject as this.
Founded upon the statements of so bitter an enemy of Philip’s as Orange,
and upon the remarks of the Venetian ambassadors that he was incontinent
“nelli piacere delle donne”; that, above all things, he delighted, “nelle
donne; delle quali mirabilmente si diletta”; and that “molto ama le donne
con le quali spesso si trattiene”—it has been usual to represent Philip as
quite a libertine in this respect, and the lies and innuendoes of Antonio
Perez have strengthened this view. That Philip was perfectly blameless in
his domestic relations it would be folly to assert, but he was an angel in
comparison with most of the contemporary monarchs, including his father;
and probably few husbands of four successive wives have been more
beloved by them than he was, in spite of his cold reserved demeanour.
Behind the icy mask indeed there must have been much that was gentle and
loving, for those who were nearest to him loved him best; his wives,
children, old friends, and servants were devotedly attached to him, even
when they disagreed with his actions; and in the rare intervals of his almost
incessant toil at the desk no society delighted him so much as that of his
children. Charles had on April 24, 1547, won the battle of Mühlberg, and
had for the time utterly crushed the leaders of the Reformation in Germany.
The Diet of Augsburg was summoned, and the Declaration of Faith, which
it was hoped would reconcile all difficulties, was drawn up. This perhaps
was the highest point reached in Charles’s power. Now, if ever, was the time
for carrying into effect his dream for assuring to his son the succession to
almost universal domination. It had been the intention of Ferdinand the
Catholic that Charles, his elder grandson, should succeed to the paternal
dominions, the empire and Flanders, whilst Ferdinand the younger should
inherit Spain and Naples. Charles, however, arranged otherwise, and made
his brother King of the Romans, with the implied succession to the imperial
crown on his elder brother’s death. But as Philip’s aptitude for government
became more and more apparent to his father, the ambition of the latter to
augment the heritage of his son increased. Ferdinand and his son
Maximilian clung naturally to the arrangement by which the imperial crown
should be secured to them and their descendants, but the emperor
determined that as little power and territory as possible should go with it.
Upon Philip accordingly the vacant dukedom of Milan was conferred in
1546 by special agreement with Ferdinand, who doubtless thought that it
would not be bad for him to have his powerful nephew as prince of a fief of
the empire, and so, to a certain extent, subordinate to him. But this was no
part of Charles’s plan. Sicily had long been attached to the crown of
Aragon, Naples had been added thereto by Ferdinand the Catholic, and now
Milan was to be held by the King of Spain. Parma and Piacenza also had
just been captured from the papal Farneses by the emperor’s troops (1547),
and now Charles conceived an arrangement by which the suzerainty of the
empire over Italy should be transferred to Spain, the states of Flanders and
Holland secured to the possessor of the Spanish crown, and the emperor
consequently left only with his Austrian dominions, poor and isolated, with
the great religious question rending them in twain. The transfer of the
Italian suzerainty was to be announced later, but Charles secured the
consent of his brother to the rest of his projects by promising to guarantee
the succession of the imperial crown after the death of Ferdinand to his son,
the Archduke Maximilian, who was to marry Charles’s eldest daughter,
Maria.
As soon as this had been agreed to, the emperor sent the Duke of Alba to
Spain with an able statement of the whole case for Philip’s information,
setting forth the new combination and its advantages, and urging the prince
to make a progress through the territories which were destined to be his.
The voyage was to be a long, and, to a man of Philip’s habits and tastes, not
an attractive one. Notwithstanding the emperor’s exhortations years before,
he spoke no German or Flemish, and indeed very little of any language but
Spanish. He was already of sedentary habits, and feasts and the bustle of
state receptions were distasteful to him. But he was a dutiful son, and
during all the summer of 1548 the splendid preparations for his voyage kept
Castile busy, whilst Maximilian, the heir to the empire, was on his way to
Spain to marry the Infanta Maria and assume the regency during Philip’s
absence.
CHAPTER II
The union of the Low Countries to Spain—The Italian suzerainty—The
effects thereof—Etiquette of the House of Burgundy adopted in Spain—
Ruy Gomez—Philip’s voyage—His unpopularity with Germans and
Flemings—Fresh proposals for his marriage—The family compact for
the imperial succession—Defection of Maurice of Saxony—War with
France—Treaty of Passau—Defeat of the emperor at Metz.
ALBA left Germany for Spain at the end of January 1548, travelling by way
of Genoa, and taking with him the exposition of the emperor’s new policy,
which was to result in so much trouble and suffering to future generations.
The lordships of Flanders and Holland had never up to this period been
regarded by Charles as attached necessarily to the crown of Spain. Indeed at
various times the cession of Flanders to France had been amicably
discussed, and only shortly before Charles had considered the advisability
of handing the Low Countries over to his daughter Maria as a dowry on her
marriage with Maximilian. But the step of making them the inalienable
possessions of the ruler of Spain would burden the latter country with an
entirely fresh set of interests, and render necessary the adoption of a change
in its foreign policy. Flanders once attached to the crown of Spain could
never fall into the hands of France, and the latter Power would find itself
almost surrounded by Spanish territory, with its expansion to the northward
cut off. In the event of the Spanish suzerainty over Italy being established
also, French influence in Italy would be at an end, and the papal power
dwarfed. This therefore meant that France and the pope would make
common cause in a secular struggle against Spain. The dishonesty of
Ferdinand the Catholic about Naples had begun the feud, the rivalry of
Francis I. for the imperial crown had continued it, and now if Flanders and
Holland, instead of belonging to harmless Dukes of Burgundy, were to be
held permanently by France’s great rival, the whole balance of power in
Europe would be changed, and France must fight for life.
The Dukes of Burgundy and Counts of Holland, as possessors of the
Flemish seaboard, had for generations found it necessary to maintain a
close alliance with England, whose interests were equally bound up in
preventing France from occupying the coast opposite its own eastern
shores, the principal outlet for its commerce. By Charles’s new resolve this
obligation to hold fast by England was transferred permanently to Spain,
which country had not hitherto had any need for intimate political relations
with England, except such as arose out of mutual commercial interests.
Spain itself—and no longer the emperor as Duke of Burgundy—was thus
drawn into the vortex of Central European politics, and herefrom came its
ruin.
That the emperor’s plans were not entirely to the taste of his son is
certain, but whether in consequence of a dread of the new responsibilities to
be forced upon Spain, or from motives of ambition, is not quite clear. On
the face of the correspondence between Alba and De Granvelle on the
subject, it would appear that the latter was the case. The objection probably
arose from the ambitious Alba, fresh from his German triumphs, who would
point out to the young prince that the arrangement would permanently cut
him off from the succession to the imperial crown, and that the interval of
uncertainty which would elapse before his suggested suzerainty over Italy
was established, would give time for intrigues to be carried on which might
render it impracticable when the time came. At his instance, therefore, the
question of his suzerainty over Italy was left open, and with it what was
doubtless Alba’s objective point, the arrangement by which the succession
to the empire was secured to Maximilian.
In pursuance of his plan of keeping the Spanish nobles busy in affairs
other than the interior politics of their country, Charles in August 1548,
before Philip’s departure on his travels, gave orders which had a
considerable influence in the future history of Spain. The kings of the petty
realms into which the Peninsula had been divided, constantly at war for
centuries with the Moors, had been obliged to depend for their very
existence upon their feudal semi-independent nobles. The kings at best were
but first amongst their peers, and were constantly reminded of the fact. The
“fueros” of each petty dominion were stubbornly upheld against the rulers,
and in the north of Spain, at all events, it had been for some centuries past a
continuous policy of the kings to curb the power for harm of the nobles and
limit the autonomous privileges of the people. The policy of the emperor, as
we have seen, was to centralise the government of Spain, and to give to its
rulers an overwhelming influence in the councils of Europe. This could only
be effected by making the king the supreme master over the lives and
property of all his subjects, drawing from Spain the growing stream of
riches from the Indies, and attaching the powerful Spanish nobles
personally to their prince.
The court life of Spain, except for a short time when Charles’s father,
Philip the Handsome, had visited it, had been bluff and simple. The new
order of the emperor introduced for the first time the pompous and splendid
etiquette of the House of Burgundy, which has since been adopted in most
monarchies. By virtue of this the proud Spanish nobility became personally
attached to the household of the prince in nominally inferior capacities,
chamberlains, equerries, ushers, and the like; and the young hidalgoes of
the greatest Houses, all bedizened and bedecked in finery, no longer hunted
the wild boar in their mountain homes, but dangled in the presence of the
monarch and added lustre to his daily life.
The change was certainly not in consonance with Philip’s natural
inclinations. His personal tastes were of the simplest; he was always sober
and moderate in eating and drinking, looking with positive disgust on the
excess of Flemings and Germans in this respect. He hated pomp and blare,
and his attire on ordinary occasions was as modest and simple as it was
handsome. But he was a slave to duty, and when the exigencies of his high
station demanded magnificence, he could be as splendid as any man on
earth. So henceforward in public the quiet, modest man moved in a perfect
constellation of glittering satellites. One great consolation the change gave
him. In the emperor’s exhortation to him in 1543 he was told that in future
his young friends must only approach him as his servants, and “that his
principal companions must be elderly men and others of reasonable age
possessed of virtue, wise discourse, and good example.” But Philip was yet
(1548) only twenty-one, and was devotedly attached to some of the friends
of his boyhood, such as Ruy Gomez de Silva and Gomez Suarez de
Figueroa, Count de Feria, and to these and the like he gave offices which
kept them constantly near him. Philip for the whole of his life was on his
guard to prevent favourites from obtaining influence over him, and few
monarchs have been less dominated by individual courtiers than he. But the
man who gained most ascendency over him was Ruy Gomez, who, as will
be shown later, led a party or school of thought whose policy was for many
years followed by the king, and largely coloured subsequent events. On
October 1, 1548, Philip left Valladolid on his voyage, leaving as regents his
sister Maria and her bridegroom Maximilian. By slow stages, and followed
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