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Hapsburg Spain

Spanish Monarchy
Monarchy of Spain
Monarchia Hispanica
Monarchia Hispaniae
1516–1700
Cross of Burgundy Flag Arms of Charles I
1570 map of the Iberian peninsula
Capital Madrid (1561–1601; 1606–1700)
Valladolid (1601–06)
Government Composite monarchy
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
Currency Spanish real
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Crown of Castile
Crown of Aragon
Kingdom of Naples
Habsburg Netherlands
Bourbon Spain
Habsburg Monarchy
Minorca
Gibraltar
Dutch Republic
Piedmont-Sardinia
Brandenburg-Prussia
Portugal
Ottoman Empire
Knights of Saint John
Today part of  Algeria
 Belgium
 France
 Gibraltar
 Italy
 Luxembourg
 Libya
 Malta
 Morocco
 Netherlands
 Portugal
 Spain
 Tunisia
And others

Habsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries (1516–1700), when it was ruled by kings from the House of Habsburg (also associated with its role in the history of Central Europe). The Habsburg rulers (chiefly Charles I and Philip II) reached the zenith of their influence and power. They controlled territory that included the Americas, the East Indies, the Low Countries and territories now in France and Germany in Europe, the Portuguese Empire from 1580 to 1640, and various other territories such as small enclaves like Ceuta and Oran in North Africa. This period of Spanish history has also been referred to as the "Age of Expansion".

Under the Habsburgs, Spain dominated Europe politically and militarily for much of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries but experienced a gradual decline of influence in the second half of the seventeenth century under the later Habsburg kings.

The Habsburg years were also a Spanish Golden Age of cultural efflorescence. Among the most outstanding figures of this period were Teresa of Ávila, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Miguel de Cervantes, El Greco, Domingo de Soto, Francisco Suárez, Diego Velázquez, and Francisco de Vitoria.


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