Habsburg Spain

Habsburg Spain is a contemporary historiographical term referring to the huge extent of territories (including modern-day Spain, a piece of south-eastern France, eventually Portugal and many other lands outside the Iberian Peninsula) ruled between the 16th and the 18th centuries (1516–1700) by kings from the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg (also associated with its role in the history of Central and Eastern Europe). Habsburg Spain was a composite monarchy and a personal union. The Habsburg Spanish monarchs (chiefly Charles I and Philip II) reached the zenith of their influence and power ruling the Spanish Empire. Spain, or "the Spains", referring to Spanish territories across different continents in this period, initially covered the entire Iberian peninsula, including the crowns of Castile, Aragon and from 1580 Portugal. It then expanded to include territories over the five continents, consisting of much of Latin America and the West Indies in the Americas, the Low Countries, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italian territories and France in Europe, Portuguese possessions such as small enclaves like Ceuta and Oran in North Africa, and the Philippines and other possessions in Southeast Asia. The period of Spanish history has also been referred to as the "Age of Expansion".

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Monarchy of Spain[1][lower-alpha 1] Monarchia Hispaniae[lower-alpha 2]
1516–1700
Cross of Burgundy (since c. 1525) Coat of arms of Habsburg Spain (1668–1700)
1570 map of the Iberian Peninsula
Capital	Madrid (1516–1601; 1606–1700) Valladolid (1601–1606)
Religion	Catholicism
Demonym(s)	Spaniard, Spanish
Government	Composite monarchy
Monarch
• 1516–1556 (first)	Charles I
• 1665–1700 (last)	Charles II
Legislature	Cortes of Castile Courts of Aragon Courts of Catalonia Courts of Valencia Cortes of Navarre Cortes of Portugal
Historical era	Early modern period
• Accession of Philip I of Castile	26 November 1504
• Ascension of Charles I	23 January 1516
• Dutch Revolt	1568–1648
• Iberian Union	1580–1640
• Franco-Spanish War	1635–1659
• Portuguese Restoration War	1640–1668
• Death of Charles II	1 November 1700
• War of the Spanish Succession	1701–1714
Currency	Spanish real and others
Preceded by Succeeded by Crown of Castile Crown of Aragon Kingdom of Navarre Kingdom of Naples Habsburg Netherlands Bourbon Spain Dutch Republic Kingdom of Sardinia Iberian Union Knights of Saint John

Part of a series on the
History of Spain
Prehistory Prehistoric Iberia
Early history Pre-Roman peoples Carthaginian Spain (575–206 BC)
Roman Hispania Roman Conquest (206–27 BC) Hispania (218 BC-472 AC) Romanization Diocese of Hispania
Early Middle Ages Kingdom of the Suebi (409–585) Kingdom of the Visigoths (418–721) Spania (552-624)
Middle Ages Muslim conquest (711–716) Al-Andalus (711–1492) Reconquista (711–1492) Christian kingdoms (718–1479)
Early modern period Catholic Monarchs (1479–1516) Granada War (1482–1492) Colonisation of the Americas (1492–1898) Habsburgs (1516–1700) Golden Age (1556–1659) Bourbons (1700–1808) War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) Nueva Planta Decrees (1707–1716)
Peninsular War Abdications of Bayonne (1808) Napoleonic Spain (1808–1813) Cortes of Cádiz (1810–1814) Constitution of Cádiz (1812) Treaty of Valençay (1813)
Absolutist restoration Trienio Liberal (1820–1823) Ominous Decade (1823–1833)
Reign of Isabella II Regency of María Cristina (1833–1840) First Carlist War (1833–1840) Regency of Espartero (1840–1843) Década moderada (1844–1854) Second Carlist War (1846–1849) Bienio progresista (1854–1856) Glorious Revolution (1868)
Sexenio Democrático Provisional Government (1868–1871) Reign of Amadeo I (1870–1873) Third Carlist War (1872–1876) First Republic (1873–1874)
Restoration Spain Reign of Alfonso XII (1874–1885) Regency of María Cristina (1885–1902) Spanish–American War (1898) Spain during World War I (1914–1918) Rif War (–1927) Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1923–1930) Dictablanda of Dámaso Berenguer (1930–1931)
Second Republic Provisional Government (1931) First Biennium (1931–1933) Second Biennium (1933–1936) Revolution and Asturian miners' strike (1934) 1936 general election (1936) 1936 coup d'état (1936) Civil War (1936–1939) Nationalist victory (1939)
Francoist Spain Spanish Maquis (1939–1965) Spain during World War II (1939–1945) Blue Division (1941–1944) Basque conflict (1959–2011)
Contemporary history Transition to democracy (1975–1978) Current constitution (1978) 1981 coup d'état attempt Madrid train bombings (2004) 2008–2014 financial crisis 2017 Barcelona attacks Coronavirus pandemic (2020–present)
Topic Economic history Law enforcement LGBT history Military history Religious history
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With the Habsburgs, Spain was one of the greatest political and military powers in Europe and the world for much of the 16th and 17th centuries. During the Habsburg's period, Spain ushered in the Spanish Golden Age of arts and literature producing some of the world's most outstanding writers and painters and influential intellectuals, including Teresa of Ávila, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Miguel de Cervantes, Francisco de Quevedo, Diego Velázquez, El Greco, Domingo de Soto, Francisco Suárez and Francisco de Vitoria.

The marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1469 resulted in the union of the two main crowns, Castile and Aragon, which eventually led to the de facto unification of Spain after the culmination of the Reconquista with the conquest of Granada in 1492 and of Navarre in 1512 to 1529. Isabella and Ferdinand were bestowed the title of "Catholic King and Queen" by Pope Alexander VI in 1494,[3] and the term Monarchia Catholica (Catholic Monarchy, Modern Spanish: Monarquía Católica) remained in use for the monarchy under the Spanish Habsburgs.

Spain as a unified state came into being de jure after the Nueva Planta decrees of 1707 had succeeded the multiple crowns of its former realms (except for Navarre). After the death in 1700 of Spain's last Habsburg king, Charles II, the resulting War of the Spanish Succession led to the ascension of Philip V of the Bourbon dynasty, which began a new centralising state formation.