Hello everyone and welcome to the History of England episode 278, The Kings Honour.

The Duke of Alvar had been born in Spain in 1507 into one of the leading noble Castilian

families. Service to Charles V was based on an absolute loyalty to authority and a firm

Roman Catholicism. He was a talented and successful commander and his imperial service

had brought him the success to which he had been bred to expect. By 1555 he had become

vice-fri of the Kingdom of Naples for Philip II of Spain. But in 1556 his firm belief in

the absolute supremacy of the universal Pope and his loyalty to his new master Philip II

were to be brought into conflict and the outcome would have an impact far away in England.

At the heart of the problem was Pope Paul IV or Jampier Trocarrefer as we have known him.

I have mentioned Paul IV's fierce nationalism and towering hatred of the Spanish before.

So the fact that France and Spain had managed to agree a true set for sale in February

1556 was not Paul's liking. In April 1556 Paul visited his personal vendetta on the

imperial allies in Rome, the Colonna family, declaring them to be rebels and confiscating

their estates. As tension grew between Philip and Brussels and Paul in Rome, Paul stripped

Philip of his title as King of Naples in July 1556, which could be described on the one

hand as unfriendly and no other hand as a pretty straightforward declaration of war.

Our old friend Simon Runaan, now imperial ambassador in France, reported that the Pope was rumored

to have raised an army of 10,000 men. While I'm on the topic, Mary Queen of England

was not immune from the Pope's bile either, which is surprising given the good work she

was doing for his cause. There is something genuinely unbalanced about Pope Pius IV. Since

Mary was married to Philip, he refused to conduct any English business at all and described

Mary as worthy of ecclesiastical censure. Has to be said, the Mary appears to be unconcerned.

...