An important element in the formation of Spain's empire was the dynastic union between Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1469, known as the Catholic Monarchs, which initiated political, religious and social cohesion but not political unification.[13]Castile (formed in 1230 from the Kingdoms of Leon and Asturias) became the dominant kingdom in Iberia because of its jurisdiction over the overseas empire in the Americas.[14] The structure of the empire was further defined under the Spanish Habsburgs (1516–1700), and under the Spanish Bourbon monarchs, the empire was brought under greater crown control and increased its revenues from the Indies.[15][16] The crown's authority in the Indies was enlarged by the papal grant of powers of patronage, giving it power in the religious sphere.[17][18]
In the beginning, Portugal was the only serious threat to Spanish hegemony in the New World. To end the threat of Portuguese expansion, Spain invaded its Iberian neighbour in 1580, defeating Portuguese, French, and English forces. After the Spanish victory in the War of the Portuguese Succession, Philip II of Spain obtained the Portuguese crown in 1581, and Portugal and its overseas territories came under his rule with the so-called Iberian Union, considered by some historians as a Spanish conquest.[19][20][21][22] Philip respected a certain degree of autonomy in its Iberian territories and, together with the other peninsular councils, established the Council of Portugal, which oversaw Portugal and its empire and "preserv[ed] its own laws, institutions, and monetary system, and united only in sharing a common sovereign."[23] In 1640, while Spain was fighting in Catalonia, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands, Portugal revolted and re-established its independence under the House of Braganza.[24] Iberian kingdoms retained their political identities, with particular administration and juridical configurations. Although the power of the Spanish sovereign as monarch varied from one territory to another, the monarch acted as such in a unitary manner[25] over all the ruler's territories through a system of councils: the unity did not mean uniformity.[26]
Beginning with the 1492 arrival of Christopher Columbus and continuing for over three centuries, the Spanish Empire would expand across the Caribbean Islands, half of South America, most of Central America and much of North America. In the 16th century, the Spanish Empire conquered and incorporated the Aztec and Inca empires, retaining indigenous elites loyal to the Spanish crown and converts to Christianity as intermediaries between their communities and royal government.[27][28] After a short period of delegation of authority by the crown in the Americas, the crown asserted control over those territories and established the Council of the Indies to oversee rule there.[29] The crown then established viceroyalties in the two main areas of settlement, New Spain and Peru, both regions of dense indigenous populations and mineral wealth. The Maya were finally conquered in 1697. The Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation—the first circumnavigation of the Earth—laid the foundation for Spain's Pacific empire and for Spanish control over the East Indies. In the early 1500s, Spanish forces captured several Muslim cities in North Africa, forcing them to pay tribute to Spain.[30]
The structure of governance of its overseas empire was significantly reformed in the late 18th century by the Bourbon monarchs. Although the Crown of Castile attempted to keep its empire a closed economic system under Habsburg rule, Castile was unable to supply the Indies with sufficient consumer goods to meet demand. This allowed foreign merchants from Genoa, France, England, Germany, and the Netherlands to take advantage of the trade, with silver from the mines of Peru and New Spain flowing to other parts of Europe. The merchant guild of Seville (later Cádiz) served as middlemen in the trade. The crown's trade monopoly was broken early in the 17th century, with the crown colluding with the merchant guild for fiscal reasons in circumventing the supposedly closed system.[31] Spain was largely able to defend its territories in the Americas, with the Dutch, English, and French taking only small Caribbean islands and outposts, using them to engage in contraband trade with the Spanish populace in the Indies.
Spain experienced its greatest territorial losses during the early 19th century, when its colonies in the Americas began fighting their wars of independence.[32] By 1900, Spain had also lost its colonies in the Caribbean and Pacific, and it was left with only its African possessions. In Latin America, among the legacies of its relationship with Iberia, Spanish is the dominant language, Catholicism the main religion, and political traditions of representative government can be traced to the Spanish Constitution of 1812.
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^Parker, Geoffrey. Philip II. The definitive biography. Planet. 2010. ISBN978-8408094845: "However, the rapid and complete conquest of all of Portugal is listed as one of the most impressive military feats of the 16th century." Page 728. "Ten days after learning of Enrique's death, Felipe took off his mask and signed orders for the mobilization of troops throughout Castile for the" Jornada de Portugal ". Page 721. "In May, Felipe traveled to Mérida (...) to review an impressive army of 20,000 Italian, German and Spanish infantrymen, 1,500 cavalrymen and 136 artillery pieces." Page 725. "The seventy-three-year-old Duke (of Alba) then fought one of the most successful campaigns of the sixteenth century." Page 726. «The viceroy of India proclaimed him king (Philip II) in Goa in September 1581, followed by other outposts of the Portuguese empire, creating the first global empire in history: from Madrid and through Lisbon, Madeira, Mexico, Manila, Macao and Malacca, to India, Mozambique, Angola, Guinea, Tangier, and again to Madrid. The fifteen triumphal arches erected for the king's entry into Lisbon in June 1581 reflected this unprecedented concentration of power. ' Page 730.
^Thomas, Hugh. The lord of the world. Felipe II and his empire, 2013, Planeta, ISBN978-8408118497: «On June 13, Felipe realized that some military action might be necessary to win the Lisbon crown and mobilized an army of 20,000 infantrymen and 1,500 cavalry under the command of the now loaded but always ready Duke of Alba. In two weeks he ordered this force to enter Portugal. Despite his defeat in the Azores, Antonio de Crato had proclaimed himself king and, had Philip not intervened, he would certainly have ruled. The main cities of Setúbal, Santarém and even Lisbon had taken sides for him. He followed a military campaign of some importance. (...) The fight was greater than expected, but anyway it ended with the victory of the Duke of Alba. The battle of Alcántara culminated the rapid and triumphant military campaign. Then, all of Portugal passed to the dominion of Felipe, who was declared king on September 12, 1580. Don Antonio fled but was defeated again in Terceira, in the Azores ». Page 297.
^Schneider, Reinhold. The King of God, 2002, page 148, Edit. Figure. ISBN8495894041: «There was never a peak moment of any nation as brilliant as the conquest of Portugal by Felipe (...) When Felipe had realized, both through diplomatic means and through war, his claims, that they were, at least, as well founded as those of the other claimants and that, in addition, they represented the right, regardless of documents, of the most capable, the circle of Spanish power around the earth was in fact closed.», Manuel Fernández Álvarez, "Felipe II and his time" Edit. Espasa Calpe, 1998, p. 537, ISBN8423997367: "Definitely, under the reign of Felipe II, Portugal became a province.", John Lynch, Los Austrias (1516–1598) (1993), Edit. CRITICA, ISBN8474235650, p. 370: «In the first months of 1580, and encouraged by the government, the Castilian nobles began to recruit forces at their own expense, while the cities contributed troops, ships and money in a national effort that further highlighted the inaction Portuguese. (...) Felipe II boasted saying: "I inherited it, I bought it, I conquered it" »
^Braudel, Fernand. The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the time of Felipe II, Volume II, Edit. Fondo de Cultura Económica, second edition in Spanish, 1976, ISBN8437500974, pp. 713–716: «The war in Portugal, which was no more than a simple military walk, was developed according to plans. (...) It was the speed with which the Spaniards acted, and not the weakness attributed by some to the prior, that led to the failure of the suitor. For Portugal to be entirely occupied by the Spaniards, then, four months were enough. Upon receiving the news, the Portuguese Indies submitted in turn, without combat. The only serious difficulties arose in the Azores. (...) the Azores affair in the years 1582 and 1583, where the archipelago was saved and where, at the same time, with the Strozzi disaster, the dream of a French Brazil was dispelled; (...) ». The resistance in the Azores was put down by Álvaro de Bazán and his fleet.
^Raminelli, Ronald (25 June 2019). "Color and Race in Portuguese America, 1640–1750". Color and Race in Portuguese America, 1640–1750. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.725. ISBN978-0199366439.
^Lynch, John. "Spanish American Independence" in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Latin America and the Caribbean 2nd edition. New York: Cambridge University Press 1992, p. 218.