Monday, 17 May 2010
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire (Spanish: Imperio Español) consisted of the territories and colonies administrated directly by Spain in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania. In the peak of its power, it was one of the largest empires in world history, and one of the first global empires. It lasted from the 15th century through—in the case of its African holdings—the latter portion of the 20th century. Spain had emerged in the latter 1480s with a personally unified monarchy, by the marriage of the 'Catholic Monarchs' (los Reyes Catolicos), monarchs of the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. Rule was separate but internal and foreign policy was coordinated finally. In 1492 their final Reconquista of the Iberian peninsula from Islamic Moorish Al-Andalus, in the Battle of Granada, opened resources for exploration and colonization in Empire building. That same year Christopher Columbus commanded the first Spanish exploratory voyage west across the Atlantic Ocean, leading to Europe's eventual colonial engagement with the Americas. The Western Hemisphere thereby became the focus of the Castile and then the Spanish crown in the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
