Each of these rulers had unique domestic policies. One of Philip's problems was that he took a very long time to actually do anything. However, because of this, many of his long-term policies were able to work. For example, he wanted to "Castilise" Spain. To do this, he filled many of the top positions with Castilians. Although he had a cabinet of advisors, he still considered himself an absolute monarch. One major issue during his control was the extremely deficit in the national budget. In fact, he went bankrupt three times. Louis revoked of Edict of Nantes that protected the Huguenots. Louis strengthened the central government's control over regions of France, incorporating the claimed lands into his territory. This caused hardship to many peop

These great monarchs also had many foreign policies. Philip had many methods of easing relations with his neighboring countries. The main way was through marriage. He married four times: 1) Maria of Portugal, 2) Mary I of England, 3) Elizabeth Valois of France, and 4) Anne of Austria. By being married to Maria of Portugal, he placed himself in the line of succession to the throne of the Portugal throne. His marriage to Mary of England was purely for military support in his ongoing war against France. His marriage to Elizabeth Valois of France sealed the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis. Finally, his marriage to Anne of Austria was just solely for heir creation purposes. His reign followed the beginning of the colonization period. During his reign, however, the colonies of the South American region were colonized and taken for the Spanish king. They also conquered the Philippines for Spain. His strong ties to the Holy Roman Empire, through his father Emperor Charles V, kept strong throughout his reign. His true downfall in the area of foreign relations was in languages. He had an incredibly difficult time in dealing with other European leaders due to the language barriers. He had an extremely difficult time with the Netherlands and the revolts of the area. It was so bad that he enlisted the support of his half-brother in Austria, who also had land in the region, and the Holy Roman Empire to assist in suppressing the revolting peoples. Louis desired for a Spanish inheritance for his heirs, but his foreign military policy was not to expand French Territory. Early in his reign, Louis fought some wars, but only for defensive reasons, to secure France's northern border and remove the Spanish from some strategic cities. He studied the political arts, how to deal with foreign ambassadors and many other ways to become a good monarch. He later fought two major wars to expand France's borders, during the last three decades of his rule. Then, France was the dominant continental power, and its strength threatened other European powers. The Protestant states, especially England worried about the revival of religious warfare. Catherine conducted her foreign policies by writing letters. She was not on good terms with the Ottoman Empire. Peter's largest form of foreign policy was through the Grand Embassy. Through this body he was able to gather the major powers of the European world to work together against their common enemy, the Ottoman Empire. Through his travels with this embassy, he was able to get a fell for the modern European world. Although this Embassy did not bring a large coalition against the Turks, it did bring out a large coalition against Sweden. Peter greatly wanted the land from Sweden and tried diplomatic means first, but failed.

These rulers also each had their own unique achievements that they will always be remembered for.

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Approximate Word count = 1937
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)