finding the Philippine connection in "A Game of Queens"

I've always been fascinated by history but the classes I took typically limited the lessons to the who's who of society back in the day and the events that transpired leading up to the contemporary period (I was, still am, not a fan of memorisation). More rarely, my history professors linked past events with current ones and with patterns (most of this happened in college, thanks to UPLB).

But never did my professors try to link Philippine history with the events that happened in other countries. In this age of globalisation, it is high time that teachers take the worldview and teach this perspective to grade school students... otherwise, history fans like me will have to start appreciating lessons a bit later in life, like after graduating from college... or never at all.

Anyway, this curiosity about links between Philippine and world history was what got me to buy this book, A Game of Queens: The Women Who Made Sixteenth-Century Europe by Sarah Gristwood, during the Dia del Libro this year. My exposure to world history is limited, I have to admit, and connecting what happened here, at the other edge of the medieval Spanish Empire, with what happened to the rest of the civilised world. Moreover, many of the things I learned about Europe came from watching documentaries of their castles, or actually being in them, and watching historical fiction series and movies. This gives me some idea about the history but not so much about the connections; hence, not so much on context and probably a lot more creative expression from the producers and directors. 

Enter the book... on the first few pages, it shows the family trees of the prominent royal families in Europe during the 16th century. My curiosity was piqued when I saw the names of the Spanish Catholic monarchs', Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile there... these were the people I have associated with the Spanish first coming to the Philippines! Their daughter, Katherine, was married to King Henry VIII (the guy in Shakespeare's play and in the TV series, The Tudors). Their grandson, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (also known as Spanish Emperor Charles I), financed Ferdinand Magellan's westward voyage to find the Spice Islands that found the Philippines instead. Charles V's son, Philip II is the namesake of the Philippines, who eventually established Pacific trade routes between the Americas and Asia. Philip II, I learned from the book, was also married to Mary Tudor (Queen Mary I), Henry VIII's daughter, and queen regnant of England and Ireland (making him a king consort while they were married, I think). 

Anyway, it turns out the Philip II, aside from expanding the Spanish territories in the New World, also was in the midst of the religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants. He wanted a Catholic to sit on the English throne; when Elizabeth I (Mary I's successor, a Protestant) had Mary Queen of Scots executed, he soon after launched the Spanish Armada against England. He lost that battle but England wasn't able to take advantage of this victory... except by making Elizabeth I legendary, of course. Probably a small loss for Philip II because his empire was huge. In fact, it earned the monicker el imperio en el que nunca se pone el sol (the empire on which the sun never sets). The empire was so big that the Philippines was a colony of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico), which also was a colony.

A fascinating read. It's something that people only get to appreciate when they start learning history outside the classroom and actually reading up on it for fun. It's an experience that allows me to open my eyes and see the world from a different perspective; the Philippines might have been treated in the sidelines in the events happening in the European theatre in history books but it's still connected to Europe. If only those dots can be more clearly connected when people learn history.

Yes, I'm looking at you, our modern day historians, to put the Philippine piece back in the world history jigsaw puzzle.