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| Definition | |
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The land of the Iberian peninsula was commonly called Hispania since Roman times and during the Visigothic Kingdom. The process of the Reconquista produced the emergence of four Christian realms: Castile, Aragon, Navarre and Portugal.
The dynastic union between the Crown of Castile (which included the kingdom of Navarre) and the Crown of Aragon,[3] in Catholic Monarchs's time, initiated a political system in force until the beginning of the eighteenth century labelled as Hispanic monarchy: the Spanish sovereign acted as monarch in a unitary manner[4] over all his territories through a polisynodial system of Councils, but his power as king or lord varied from one territory to another one, since each territory retained its own particular administration and juridical configuration. The unity did not mean uniformity. According to this political configuration, independently of the denominations [5] given to the "dynastic union" [6][7] between 1580–1640, the scholars argue that the Portuguese Empire kept its own administration and jurisdiction over its territory as the other kingdoms and realms ruled by the Spanish Habsburgs.[8] Nevetheless, whereas some historians assert that at that time, Portugal was a kingdom which formed part of the Spanish Monarchy;[9][10][11][12][13] others draw a clear distinction between the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Empire.[14][15]
The Spanish Empire includes Spain's overseas colonies in the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Africa, but some disputes exist as to which European territories are to be counted. For instance, normally the Habsburg Netherlands are included as they were part of the possessions of the King of Spain, governed by Spanish officials, and defended by Spanish troops. However, authors like the British historian Henry Kamen contend that these territories were not fully integrated into a Spanish state and instead formed part of the wider Habsburg possessions. Some historians use "Habsburg" and "Spanish" almost interchangeably when referring to the dynastic inheritance of Charles V or Philip II.
[edit] Tags:Spain,Habsburgs,Catholic Monarchs,Castile,Aragon,Reconquista,Americas,Spanish Monarchy,Hispania,Roman,Visigothic Kingdom,Navarre,Portugal,Dynastic Union,Habsburg Netherlands,Henry Kamen,Charles V,Philip Ii,Crown Of Aragon,Peninsula,Habsburg,Charles,Catholic, | |
| Origins | |
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During the 15th century, Castile and Portugal fell within territorial and commercial rivalry in the Atlantic western zone. Portugal obtained several Papal bulls which acknowledged the Portuguese control over the discovered territories, but Castile also obtained from the Pope, the safeguard of its rights to the Canary Islands with the bulls Romani Pontifex dated on 6 November 1436 and Dominatur Dominus dated on 30 April 1437.[16] The Conquest of the Canary Islands, inhabited by Guanche people, began under the reign of Henry III of Castile in 1402, authorizing under feudal agreement to Norman noblemen Jean de Béthencourt. The conquest only finished when the armies of the Crown of Castille won, in long and bloody wars, the islands of Gran Canaria (1478–1483), La Palma (1492–1493) and Tenerife (1494–1496).
The proclamation of Isabella I of Castile jointly with her husband Ferdinand of Aragon, at that time king of Sicily, as kings of Castile drove to a war with Portugal solved with the Treaty of Alcáçovas (4 September 1479). Portuguese gave up their claims to the Canary Islands but were secured their sovereignty over Madeira, Azores and the Cape Verde islands, and over the trade of Guinea,[17] from the south of the Cape Bojador,[18] and the right to conquer the Kingdom of Fez.[19][20] This treaty was confirmed in 1481 by the Pope Sixtus IV, in the papal bull Æterni regis (dated on 21 June 1481).[21]
Columbus and the Catholic Monarchs (The return of Columbus to Spain)
Seven months before the treaty of Alcaçovas, the king John II of Aragon passed away and his son Ferdinand II of Aragon inherited the thrones of the Crown of Aragon; therefore, it was created with Castile a personal union, each with their own administrations, but ruled by to common monarchy.[22]
After a war of 10 years, the Granada War, in 1492, the Reyes Católicos drove out the last Moorish king of Granada. After their victory, the Catholic monarchs negotiated with Christopher Columbus, a Genoese sailor attempting to reach Cipangu by sailing west. Castile was already engaged in a race of exploration with Portugal to reach the Far East by sea when Columbus made his bold proposal to Isabella. In the Capitulations of Santa Fe, dated on April 17, 1492, Christopher Columbus obtained from the Catholic Monarchs the appointment as viceroy and governor in the lands already discovered[23] and that of he might discover thenceforth;[24][25] thereby, it was the first document to establish an administrative organization in the Indies.[26] Columbus' discoveries inaugurated the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
Spain's claim to these lands was solidified by the Inter caetera papal bull dated on 4 May 1493, and Dudum siquidem on 26 September 1493. Since the Portuguese wanted to keep the line of demarcation of Alcaçovas running east and west along the latitude south of Cape Bojador, a compromise was worked out which was incorporated by the Treaty of Tordesillas dated on 7 June 1494, in which the globe was divided into two hemispheres between Spanish and Portuguese claims. These actions gave Spain exclusive rights to establish colonies in all of the New World from Alaska to Cape Horn (except Brazil), as well as the easternmost parts of Asia. The treaty of Tordesillas was confirmed by the Pope Julius II in the bull Ea quae pro bono pacis on 24 January 1506.[27] Spain's expansion and colonization was driven by economic influences, a yearning to improve national prestige, and a desire to spread Catholicism into the New World.
On the other hand, the treaty of Tordesillas[28] and the treaty of Cintra (18 September 1509)[29] established the limits of the Kingdom of Fez for Portugal, and outside of these limits the Castilian expansion was allowed, beginning with the conquest of Melilla in 1497.
[edit] Tags:Granada,Christopher Columbus,New World,Papal Bulls,Canary Islands,Conquest Of The Canary Islands,Guanche,Henry Iii Of Castile,Norman,Jean De Béthencourt,Crown Of Castille,Gran Canaria,Tenerife,Isabella I Of Castile,Ferdinand Of Aragon,War With Portugal,Treaty Of Alcáçovas,Madeira,Azores,Cape Verde,Cape Bojador,Kingdom Of Fez,Pope Sixtus Iv,John Ii Of Aragon,Ferdinand Ii Of Aragon,Personal Union,Granada War,Reyes Católicos,Genoese,Cipangu,Race Of Exploration,Far East,Capitulations Of Santa Fe,Spanish Colonization Of The Americas,Inter Caetera,Papal Bull,Treaty Of Tordesillas,Alaska,Cape Horn,Pope Julius Ii,Melilla, | |
| Struggles for Italy | |
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The Catholic Monarchs had developed a marriage politics aiming at isolating their traditional enemy: France. The Monarchs' children got married with the heirs of Portugal, England and the House of Habsburg. Following the same strategy, the Catholic Monarchs decided to support the Aragonese house of Naples against Charles VIII of France in the Italian Wars from 1494. As King of Aragon, Ferdinand had been involved in the struggle against France and Venice for control of Italy; these conflicts became the center of Ferdinand's foreign policy as king. In these battles, which established the supremacy of the Spanish Tercios in the European battlefields, the forces of the kings of Spain acquired a reputation for invincibility that won't last until the mid-17th century.
The death of French general Gaston de Foix at the Battle of Ravenna (1512).
After the death of Queen Isabella, Ferdinand as Spain's sole monarch adopted a more aggressive policy than he had as Isabella's husband, enlarging Spain's sphere of influence in Italy and against France. Ferdinand's first investment of Spanish forces came in the War of the League of Cambrai against Venice, where the Spanish soldiers distinguished themselves on the field alongside their French allies at the Battle of Agnadello (1509). Only a year later, Ferdinand became part of the Holy League against France, seeing a chance at taking both Milan—to which he held a dynastic claim—and Navarre. The war was less of a success than that against Venice, and in 1516, France agreed to a truce that left Milan in its control and recognized Spanish control of Upper Navarre.
[edit] Tags:House Of Habsburg,Naples,Charles Viii Of France,Italian Wars,King Of Aragon,Venice,Spanish Tercios,Gaston De Foix,Battle Of Ravenna,War Of The League Of Cambrai,Battle Of Agnadello,Holy League,Milan,Upper Navarre, | |
| First settlements in America | |
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The Capitulations of Santa Fe granted excessive power to Columbus, and the Catholic Monarchs reacted when Colon discovered mainland in 1498.[30] The news were learnt in May 1499, and taking advantage of a revolt against Columbus in La Española, appointed to Francisco de Bobadilla as governor of the Indies with civil and criminal jurisdiction over the lands discovered by Columbus, but he was soon replaced by Nicolás de Ovando in September 1501.[31] Thenceforth the Crown could authorize to individuals voyages to discover territories in the Indies with previous license,[32] and since 1503, the monopoly of the Crown was assured by the Casa de Contratación at Sevile. But the successors of Columbus litigated against the Crown until 1536[33][34] for the fulfillment of the Capitulations of Santa Fe in the pleitos colombinos.
In the metropolitan Spain, the direction of the issues of the Indies was taken over by the Bishop Fonseca[35][36] between 1493-1516,[37] and again between 1518-1524, after a brief period of Jean le Sauvage.[38] Since 1504 the figure of the secretary was added, so then between 1504-1507 Gaspar de Gricio taked charge,[39] between 1508-1518 Lope de Conchillos followed him,[40] and since 1519, Francisco de los Cobos.[41] In 1511, the Junta of The Indies was constituted as a standing committee belonging to the Council of Castile to address issues of the Indies,[42] and this junta constituted the origin of the Council of the Indies in 1524.[43]
Following the settlement of Hispaniola which was successful towards the end of the 15th century, the colonists began searching elsewhere to begin new settlements. Those from the less prosperous Hispaniola were eager to search for new success in a new settlement. From there Juan Ponce de León conquered Puerto Rico and Diego Velázquez took Cuba.
In 1508, the Board of Navigators met in Burgos concurred the need to colonize the mainland, that which was entrusted to Alonso de Ojeda and Diego de Nicuesa as governors subordinated to the governor of Hispaniola,[44] who was the newly appointed Diego Columbus,[45][46] with the same legal authority that Ovando.[47] The first settlement on the mainland was Darién in Panama, settled by Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1512. In 1513, Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama, and led the first European expedition to see the Pacific Ocean from the West coast of the New World. In an action with enduring historical import, Balboa claimed the Pacific Ocean and all the lands adjoining it for the Spanish Crown.
The judgment of Seville of May 1511 recognized the viceregal title to Diego Columbus but limited to Hispaniola and to the islands discovered by his father, Christopher Columbus,[48] nevertheless his power was limited by royal officers and magistrates[49][50] constituting a dual regime of government.[51] Therefore, the king Ferdinand II of Aragon as regent of his daughter the queen Joanna separated the territories of mainland, designated as Castilla de Oro,[52] from the viceroy of Hispaniola, establishing as General Lieutenant to Pedrarias Dávila in 1513[53] with functions similar to those of a viceroy, remaining Balboa subordinated as governing of Panama and Coiba[54][55] on the Pacific Coast,[56] and that after his death returned to Castilla de Oro. The territory of Castilla de Oro did not include either Veragua (which was comprised approximately between the river Chagres[57] and cape Gracias a Dios[58]), due to this territory was subject to a lawsuit between the Crown and Diego Columbus, or the region farther north, towards the Yucatán, explored by Yáñez Pinzón and SolÃs in 1508-1509,[59] due to its remoteness.[60] The conflicts of the viceroy Columbus with the royal officers and with the Audiencia, created in 1511,[61][62] caused his return to the Peninsula in 1515.
[edit] Tags:Settlement,Cuba,Puerto Rico,La Española,Francisco De Bobadilla,Nicolás De Ovando,Casa De Contratación,Pleitos Colombinos,Metropolitan,Fonseca,Jean Le Sauvage,Lope De Conchillos,Francisco De Los Cobos,Junta, | |
| Campaigns in Africa | |
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After the conquest of Melilla in 1497, the Spanish expansionist policy in North Africa was developed during the regency of Ferdinand the Catholic in Castile, stimulated by the Cardinal Cisneros, once the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula was finished. That way, several towns and outposts in the North African coast were conquered and occupied by Castile: Mazalquivir (1505), Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera (1508), Oran (1509), Algiers (1510), Bugia (1510), and Tripoli (1511). In the Atlantic coast, Spain took possession of the outpost of Santa Cruz de Mar Pequeña (1476) with support from the Canary Islands, and it was retained until 1525 with the consent of the treaty of Cintra (1509).
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| The Spanish Habsburgs: The Sun Never Sets (1516–1643) | |
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The Pillars of Hercules with the motto "Plus Ultra" as symbol of the Emperor Charles V in the Town Hall of Seville (16th century)
The 16th and 17th centuries are sometimes called "the Golden Age of Spain" (in Spanish, Siglo de Oro). As a result of the marriage politics of the Reyes Católicos, their Habsburg grandson Charles inherited the Castilian empire in America, the Aragonese Empire in the Mediterranean (including a large portion of modern Italy), as well as the crown of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Low Countries, Franche-Comté, and Austria (this one, along with the rest of hereditary Habsburg domains was almost immediately transferred to Ferdinand, the Emperor's brother). After his defeat of the Castilian rebels (Comuneros) in the Castilian War of the Communities, Charles became the most powerful man in Europe, his rule stretching over an empire in Europe unrivalled in extent until the Napoleonic era. It was often said during this time that it was the empire on which the sun never set. This sprawling overseas empire of the Spanish Golden Age was controlled, not from inland Valladolid, but from Seville.
The Castilian Empire abroad was initially a disappointment. It did stimulate some trade and industry, but the trading opportunities encountered were limited. Matters began to change in the 1520s with the large scale extraction of silver from the rich deposits of Mexico's Guanajuato region, but it was the opening of the silver mines in Mexico's Zacatecas and Bolivia's Potosà in 1546 that became legendary. During the 16th century, Spain held the equivalent of US$1.5 trillion (1990 terms) in gold and silver received from New Spain. Ultimately, however, these imports diverted investment away from other forms of industry and contributed to inflation in Spain in the last decades of the 16th century: "I learnt a proverb here", said a French traveler in 1603: "Everything is dear in Spain except silver".[63] This situation was aggravated (though not as much as popular myth asserts) by the loss of much the commercial and artisan classes with the expulsions of the Jews (1492) and Moriscos (1609). The vast imports of silver ultimately made Spain overly dependent on foreign sources of raw materials and manufactured goods.[citation needed]
The wealthy preferred to invest their fortunes in public debt (juros), which were backed by these silver imports, rather than in production of manufactures and the improvement of agriculture. This helped perpetuate the medieval aristocratic prejudice that saw manual work as dishonorable long after this attitude had started to decline in other west European countries. The silver and gold whose circulation helped facilitate the economic and social revolutions in the Low Countries, France and England and other parts of Europe helped stifle them in Spain. The problems caused by inflation were discussed by scholars at the School of Salamanca and arbitristas but they had no impact on the Habsburg government.[citation needed]
The Habsburg dynasty spent the Castilian and American riches in wars across Europe on behalf of Habsburg interests, defaulted on their debt several times, and left Spain bankrupt several times. Tensions between the Empire and the people of Castile exploded in the popular rebellion of the Castilian War of the Communities (1520–22).
The Habsburgs' political goals were several:
Access to the resources of the Americas (gold, silver, sugar) and products of Asia (porcelain, spices, silk)
Undermining the power of France and containing it in its eastern borders.
Maintaining Catholic Habsburg hegemony in Germany, defending Catholicism against the Protestant Reformation. Charles attempted to quell the Reformation at the Diet of Worms but Martin Luther refused to recant his 'heresy.' However, Charles's piety could not stop his mutinying troops from plundering the Holy See in the Sacco di Roma.
Defending Europe against Islam, notably the Ottoman Empire.
To spread religion to the unconverted souls of the new world. With conflict between Catholics and Protestants raging in Europe, the new world was an ideal place for more Catholics to be recruited.
[edit] Tags:Low Countries,Napoleon,Germany, | |
| Struggles of Charles V for Italy | |
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With the ascent of the king Charles I in 1516 and his election as sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire in 1519, Francis I of France found himself surrounded by Habsburg territories, invaded the Spanish possessions in Italy in 1521, and inaugurated the second war of Franco-Spanish conflict. The war was a disaster for France, which suffered defeat at the Battle of Biccoca (1522), the Battle of Pavia (1525, at which Francis was captured), and the Battle of Landriano (1529) before Francis relented and abandoned Milan to Spain once more.
The Battle of Pavia (1525)
King Charles I (Charles V (Holy Roman Emperor) achieved victory at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 and surprised many Italians and Germans and elicited concerns that Charles would endeavor to gain ever greater power.[citation needed] Pope Clement VII switched sides and now joined forces with France and prominent Italian states against the Habsburg Emperor, in the War of the League of Cognac. In 1527, Charles grew exhausted with the pope's meddling in what he viewed as purely secular affairs, and sacked Rome itself, embarrassing the papacy sufficiently enough that Clement, and succeeding popes, were considerably more circumspect in their dealings with secular authorities.[citation needed] In 1533, Clement's refusal to annul the first marriage of King Henry VIII of England was a direct consequence of his unwillingness to offend the emperor and have his capital sacked for perhaps a second time. The Peace of Barcelona, signed between Charles V and the Pope in 1529, established a more cordial relationship between the two leaders. Spain was effectively named the protector of the Catholic cause and Charles was crowned as King of Italy (Lombardy) in return for Spanish intervention in overthrowing the rebellious Florentine Republic.
In 1528, the great admiral Andrea Doria allied with the Emperor to oust the French and restore Genoa's independence, opening the prospect for financial renewal: 1528 marks the first loan from Genoese banks to Charles.[64]
In 1543, the king Tags: | |
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