Lesson 1B.2.1

1B.2.1 Philip II's Spain and the 'Golden Age', 1556–1598 Quiz: AQA History, Unit 2

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 1B.2.1, Philip II's Spain and the 'Golden Age', 1556–1598: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA History (7042), Unit 2: 1B Spain in the Age of Discovery, 1469–1598, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which monarch ruled Spain from 1556 until his death in 1598, and built the Escorial palace complex near Madrid?

    • Philip III
    • Ferdinand II
    • Philip II
    • Charles V

  2. Which battle of 1571, fought off western Greece, saw a Holy League fleet led by Don John of Austria defeat the Ottoman navy?

    • Malta
    • Lepanto
    • Preveza
    • Djerba

  3. Which year saw the Spanish Armada fail to invade England, the most famous setback of Philip II's reign?

    • 1588
    • 1580
    • 1571
    • 1598

  4. In which year did Philip II become King of Portugal through a succession dispute and military action?

    • 1568
    • 1580
    • 1591
    • 1556

  5. Which revolt began in the Netherlands in 1568, becoming a long-running conflict that Philip II struggled to end?

    • The Catalan revolt
    • The Morisco revolt
    • The Fronde
    • The Dutch Revolt

  6. Which Spanish commander was sent to the Netherlands in 1567 and created the Council of Troubles to crush dissent?

    • The Marquis of Santa Cruz
    • The Duke of Alba
    • The Duke of Parma
    • The Count of Olivares

  7. Which revolt of 1568 to 1570 in Granada was led by Moriscos against Philip II's religious and cultural policies?

    • The Alpujarras revolt
    • The Comuneros revolt
    • The Irish rebellion of 1569
    • The Revolt of the Netherlands

  8. Which financial feature of Philip II's reign is often discussed by historians as a major weakness?

    • The complete absence of royal debt, which allowed the crown to finance its wars entirely from current revenue
    • A permanent surplus from Castilian wool exports, which funded the Armada and the Dutch campaigns without loans
    • The repeated state bankruptcies and the crown's reliance on American silver and loans
    • The use of paper money backed by Mexican gold, which the crown issued in large quantities after 1560

  9. Which mountain in Bolivia, a major silver source discovered in 1545, drove the growth of Spanish American bullion?

    • Mount Chimborazo
    • Mount Popocatepetl
    • Mount Aconcagua
    • Cerro Rico of Potosi

  10. Which treaty of 1559 ended the wars between Habsburg Spain and Valois France in Italy and created a period of relative peace?

    • The Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis
    • The Peace of Augsburg, which recognised the religious rights of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire
    • The Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War and gave Russia the Baltic provinces of Livonia
    • The Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years War and settled the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire

  11. Which Spanish ruler's policy of curbing internal rebellion included the execution of Aragonese nobleman Antonio Perez in the 1590s?

    • Philip II
    • Charles I
    • Ferdinand II
    • Philip III

  12. How many years separated the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 and the Spanish Armada in 1588?

    • 17 years
    • 13 years
    • 27 years
    • 21 years

  13. How many years did Philip II's reign last from accession in 1556 to death in 1598?

    • 46 years
    • 38 years
    • 52 years
    • 42 years

  14. How many years passed between the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis in 1559 and Philip's annexation of Portugal in 1580?

    • 31 years
    • 25 years
    • 15 years
    • 21 years

  15. Which statement best explains the strategic problem that Philip II faced in the Netherlands?

    • The Netherlands had no Catholic population at all, so the rebels faced no religious division in their own ranks
    • Philip could easily travel to the Netherlands every year, so he was able to direct the campaigns in person
    • The Dutch rebels had a fully royal army backed by France, which gave them a permanent advantage in every siege
    • Distance from Spain made supply and pay difficult, and religious divisions made rebel unity hard to break

  16. Which judgement best explains why Spain's Great Power status is debated in the 1556 to 1598 period?

    • Spain lost all its colonial possessions by 1580, which left the monarchy with no overseas income at all
    • Spain's power was unchallenged by any European state, which allowed it to dictate treaties across the continent
    • Spain dominated Europe and the Americas, yet its finances, overextended wars and failed invasion of England limited its strength
    • Spain had no military presence outside the Iberian Peninsula, so its armies and navy stayed close to home

  17. Which religious institution, closely linked to Philip II's policy, helped enforce Catholic orthodoxy and suppress heresy in Spain?

    • The Moravian Church
    • The Teutonic Order
    • The Spanish Inquisition
    • The Council of Trent

  18. Which Spanish writer, author of Don Quixote, published the novel in 1605, during the period of Philip III's reign?

    • Miguel de Cervantes
    • Francisco de Quevedo
    • Luis de Gongora
    • Lope de Vega

  19. Which statement best assesses the cultural achievement of Philip II's 'Golden Age'?

    • Spain's artists were banned from every royal palace and church, so all cultural work was carried out in private
    • Spanish literature, art and religious writing flourished, in part because of royal patronage and new religious and intellectual movements
    • Cultural activity was limited to military engineering alone, since the crown funded no books, churches or paintings
    • Spanish culture stopped developing completely after 1556, when royal patronage of the arts was withdrawn by the crown

  20. Which event in 1588 contributed most to the decline of the Armada's chances of success?

    • The Armada landed in England but its troops refused to fight
    • The Armada was damaged in Channel fighting and then by storms in the North Sea
    • The Armada was destroyed in the Mediterranean before it left Spain
    • The Armada was delayed for a year in the Azores

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