Philip the Handsome
King of Castile (1506), Ruler of Habsburg Netherlands (1482-1506)
Philip the Handsome (22 June/July 1478 – 25 September 1506), also called Philip the Fair, was ruler of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1482, including the counties of Artois, Burgundy and Charolais from 1493, and the first king of Castile from the House of Habsburg in 1506.
Philip was the son of Maximilian I of Austria and Mary of Burgundy. Maximilian was a prince of the House of Habsburg who became Holy Roman emperor. Mary was the daughter of Charles the Bold and heiress of the wealthy and extensive complex of domains that made up Valois Burgundy, including the Burgundian Netherlands. In 1482, at the age of three, Philip's mother died and he inherited her titles and domains. As a result, he became the first Habsburg ruler of the Netherlands. Although his inheritance was, in part, challenged by the French king Louis XI, it was largely confirmed by the Treaty of Arras (1482) and the Treaty of Senlis (1493). Despite his young age, Philip quickly proved himself an effective ruler beloved by his people in the Low Countries, pursuing policies that favored peace and economic development, while maintaining a steady course of the government building.
In 1496, Philip's father arranged for him to marry Joanna, the second daughter of Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. Around the same time, Philip's sister, Margaret, was given in marriage to Joanna's brother John, Prince of Asturias.
The public source identifies “Philip the Handsome” as king of Castile (1506), Ruler of Habsburg Netherlands (1482-1506). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Philip, Handsome and King.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q157098. VIAF identifies the subject as 89752946. The Library of Congress control number is n96018646. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1478, 1506, 1482 and 1493.
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This entry incorporates text from “Philip the Handsome” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.