PHILIP II: (1527-1598) King of Spain 1556-98. During his marriage to Queen Mary I of England, he was King of ...

PHILIP II: (1527-1598) King of Spain 1556-98. During his marriage to Queen Mary I of England, he was King of England and Ireland 1554-58. Rare A.L.S., `Your good Brother, Yo el Rey«, one page, 4to, Madrid, 2nd of May 1563, to the Duchess of Parma, his sister, in old Spanish. The King explains to his sister that he cannot now respond in detail to all the matters she has asked about in her letters, that he is working on all and being informed in order to give a prompt response to all of them, but will now answer briefly as he understands the importance of some ongoing affairs, stating in part `..the internal pending affairs are delayed because of all happening abroad, and now Oran; all this is not permitting me to conclude them shortly as I would like. And we are still spending on this more than what would be necessary to help those abroad as I wish myself.« A letter of good content in the King«s hand. Bearing to the verso, on a paper seal affixed, a contemporary annotation indicating that the letter was received on 14th May 1563. With blank address leaf with bottom page clipped. Small overall, minor age wear, and creasing, otherwise G £2000-3000 Margaret of Parma (1522-1586) Sister of King Philip II and illegitimate daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Governor of the Netherlands 1559-67 and Duchess of Florence and of Parma and Piacenza as spouse of Ottavio Farnese (1524-1586) Duke of Parma who married the 15 years old widow. Oran is a city located on the Algerian coast, captured by the Spanish in 1509. In 1563, the year the present letter was written, Philip II built the Fort of Santa Cruz close to Oran, placed at the top of L«Aidour mountain to protect the city.