352 - King Philip II Document Signed (1558)

King Philip II Document Signed (1558) King of Spain (born 1527) from 1556 until his death in 1598; Sovereign of the Spanish Empire over North and South America, King of Portugal, Naples, Spanish Holland and Sicily, and King of England and Ireland while married to Queen Mary I. Manuscript DS in Spanish, signed “Yo El Rey,” one page both sides, 8.5 x 12, September 1558. King Philip II orders an inquiry into the payments and privileges associated with the office of his secretary Gonzalo Pérez, directing that earlier records be examined to establish the customary compensation. Dated at Valladolid and signed at the conclusion by King Philip II. The lower left bears the original embossed seal. In fine condition, with show-through from the seal on the reverse. This document was signed the same month Philip’s father, Charles V, died at the monastery of Yuste in Extremadura on September 21, 1558, following a long decline in health. Charles had abdicated his Spanish kingdoms to Philip in 1556 but continued to correspond with him from retirement. Whether this document was issued before or after news of Charles’s death reached Valladolid cannot be determined.