1578 - Political Events

Political Events

Spain's Felipe II sends an army to the Lowlands under the command of his Italian cousin Alessandro Farnese, 32, who defeats a patriot army at Gemblours January 31 and takes over Spanish and Austrian forces in the region (see 1577). Felipe's wife, Anne of Austria, gives birth to a son, who will succeed to the throne as Felipe III. Felipe's half brother Don Juan de Austria dies of fever at Bouges, near Namur, October 1 at age 31, and Farnese takes command of Spanish and Austrian forces in the Lowlands (see United Provinces, 1579).

Sir Henry Sidney is recalled from Ireland after arousing popular resentment by his arbitrary taxation (see 1566). He resigned in 1571 but was reappointed lord deputy 4 years later.

Portugal's Sebastian I is killed August 4 at age 24 and his army annihilated near Ksar el-Kebir (Alcazarquivir) in northwest Africa, where he has led a crusade in defiance of warnings by Felipe II and Pope Gregory XIII. Having allied himself with the deposed Moroccan sultan al-Mutawakkil, Sebastian has landed at Tangier with 20,000 men and masses of artillery; some 50,000 Muslim infantry and cavalrymen have forced them to retreat to Laracjhe on the coast, but many, including Sebastian, are drowned while trying to cross the Wadi al-Makhazin, which is in high tide, and others surrender. The deposed sultan al-Mutawakkil is also drowned, and the ailing Sadi sultan Abd al-Malik dies the next morning after what will be remembered as the Battle of the Three Kings. The Moroccans collect massive quantities of booty, and their new sultan Mulai Ahmed gains the soubriquet Ahmed al-Mansur (Ahmad the Victorious), but the Portuguese people refuse to believe that their young king is dead. "Sebastianism" develops as a religion whose votaries believe that the king is either away on a pilgrimage or is waiting on some enchanted island for an appropriate time to return. Four pretenders will successively impersonate Sebastian and be executed, the last an Italian who speaks no Portuguese (see 1580).

Persia's Ismail II dies after a reign of less than 2 years. His oldest brother, half blind, has escaped his vengeance and will reign until 1587 as Mohammed Khudabanda. Constantinople takes advantage of the disturbances at Teheran to send Ottoman troops against the Persians.