The Golden Age of the Spanish Empire

The eternal empire (1521-1643),16 and17th centuries are sometimes called the golden age of Spain.

/kloc-in the 6th century, Spain got gold and silver equivalent to $65,438 +0.5 trillion (1.990) from New Spain. At that time, its territory was vast, and it was often called "the empire where the sun never sets". The dysfunctional empire in the golden age, its power center is not in the inland of Madrid, but in Seville. The Habsburg dynasty squandered the wealth obtained from Castilla and American colonies, fought many wars in Europe for its benefit, defaulted on loans several times, and bankrupt Spain. The contradiction between the empire and the people of Castile finally triggered the Castile community uprising in 1520-22. Habsburg's political goals are several:

Obtain products from America (gold, silver and sucrose) and Asia (porcelain, spices and silk).

Weaken France and prevent it from moving eastward.

Maintain the hegemony of the Catholic Habsburg dynasty in Germany and help Catholics resist the religious reform.

Resist the Muslim threat to Europe, especially to the Ottoman Empire.

The political marriage of two Catholic monarchs (ReyesCatólicos) made his grandson Charlie inherit the throne of Castilla in America, Aragon in the Mediterranean (including most of Italy today), the Holy Roman Empire, the Low Countries and Conte in France. Therefore, this empire was established by territorial inheritance, not by war.

After Charles put down the uprising in Castile community, he became the most powerful man in Europe, and his European empire was unparalleled until Napoleon's time. In addition, he tried to curb the religious reform of the Ai Cao Parliament, but Martin Luther refused to publicly give up his "heresy". Moreover, his devotion to religion did not stop his rebel army from looting the Vatican.

After Columbus, a group of explorers called Spanish conquistadors continued to colonize the New World. These troops take advantage of the disputes between local nationalities and countries to profit. Some local forces, such as the Incas and the Aztecs, were too eager to form an alliance with the Spanish in order to defeat their stronger enemies. Later, other European colonial forces often used the same tactics. And the spread of the epidemic also made it easier for the Spanish to conquer the American continent. Epidemic diseases (such as smallpox) are common in Europe, but they have never appeared in the New World, resulting in the death of a large number of Native Americans. This caused a shortage of labor, so the colonists started the Atlantic slave trade informally from the beginning (see the history of native American population for details).

Perhaps the most successful Spanish colonial leader was Hernando Cortes. With the support of about 200,000 native Americans, he led a small army to conquer the powerful Aztec Empire from 1, 5 19 to 2 1 and incorporated Mexico into the territory of the Spanish Empire as the basis for establishing a new Spain. In addition, equally important, Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire and later became the governor of Peru. After the Mexican conquest, Huang Jincheng's rumors (Quevila and Quevila and Sibola in North America; In Sivola; Huang Jinguo El dorado in South America caused more explorations, but many of them returned empty-handed; Even those who find a city find that their income is far below expectations. In fact, after the establishment of the mine, American colonies began to bring most of the benefits to the royal family, such as the Potosí mine (1546).

152 1 year, French king Francois I found his country surrounded by Habsburg territory, so he attacked Spain's territory in Italy, which once again triggered the conflict between the two countries. France suffered a crushing defeat and suffered setbacks in the battles of Bika (1522), pavia (1525, Fran? ois himself was captured) and Landriano (1529). As a result, Francois withdrew from the war and abandoned Milan for Spain again. The Battle of pavia and the Peace Treaty of Augsburg (1525-1555)1525, Charles V defeated France in the Battle of pavia, which surprised many Italians and Germans and worried that he would continue to expand his power. At that time, Pope Clemens VII defected, supported some important French and Italian city-states, and participated in the cognac alliance war against Habsburg Empire, but failed.

Later, in 1527, Charlie was tired of the Pope's intervention in matters that he thought had nothing to do with religion, and captured Rome, which humiliated the Pope. As a result, Kemian VII became more cautious when dealing with secular forces with his successor, the Pope.

1529, the Pope and Charlie signed the Barcelona Peace Treaty, which established a more harmonious relationship. Spain officially became the protector of Catholicism, and Charles was crowned king of Italy (Lombardy). And Spain needs to send troops to overthrow the Republic of Florence.

1533, Clemens VII refused to divorce Henry VIII, mainly because he didn't want to offend Charles V, and Rome was looted again.

1522, Portuguese ferdinand magellan led a Spanish fleet around the world and died in the Philippines on the way. JuanSebastiánElcano will take over the leadership and make the voyage a success.

1528, the famous Admiral Andrea allied with Charles V, defeated the French army, made Genoa independent again, and gave Charlie a chance to improve his finances. In the same year, the bank in Genoa lent money to Charlie for the first time.

Spain established colonies in the New World more actively, establishing New Granada (now Colombia) in A.D. 1530 and Buenos Aires in A.D. 1536.

Spain enacted laws to protect the aborigines of its American colonies. The first law was established in 1542. The legal significance of legislation has become the basis of modern international law. When European colonists felt that their power was limited by the remoteness of the colonies, they launched a rebellion and some new laws (LeyesNuevas) were abolished. Later, laws with weak binding force were enacted to protect the aborigines, but the records show that these laws are not effective enough. The Encomienda system was re-established, and Indians were not protected, but exploited.

1543, French king Francois I announced his first alliance with Sultan Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire and occupied the Spanish-controlled city of Nice with the Ottoman army. Although Henry VIII was dissatisfied with Charles V's prevention of his divorce, he was even more dissatisfied with France, so he invaded France with Charles V. Although Spain was defeated in the battle of Savoy Cheresole, France still could not threaten Milan controlled by Spain, and was defeated by Henry VIII in the north and was forced to accept unfavorable conditions. Charles V's younger brother Ferdinand led the Austrian army and continued to fight the Ottoman army in the east. Charles dealt with the outstanding domestic problem earlier, that is, the Schmahl-Kalden Alliance composed of the Lutheran German Governor and other Protestant countries.

The alliance formed an alliance with France and prevented some Germans from trying to destroy it. However, in 1454, the French king Francois was defeated, which disintegrated his alliance with Protestants and gave Charlie an opportunity. First, 1545, Trento's Great Council was convened, and Charlie tried to hold peace talks. But the Protestant leadership felt betrayed by Catholics at the meeting, so they took part in the war launched by Saxon elector Hou Moritz. So Charlie led Dutch and Spanish troops to invade Germany, hoping to restore imperial rule. 1547, Charlie's army defeated Protestants in the important battle of Milberg, which led to the disintegration of the Schmahl-Kalden alliance. 1555, Charlie signed the Peace Treaty of Augsburg with Protestant countries, and according to the principle that "the religion of the ruler is the religion of the people" (Latin: cuiusregio, eiusreligio), he rebuilt the stability of the German region, but it was not welcomed by religious figures in Spain and Italy. Charlie's policy towards Germany made Spain the protector of the Roman Catholic Church and Habsburg. This precedent allowed Spain to enter the war 70 years later, ending its leading position in Europe.

Charlie decided to fight the Ottoman army more on the coast, and as a result, he curbed the Ottoman army's attempt to invade Venice and American territory in the eastern Mediterranean. When the Ottoman army invaded the east coast of Spain, Charlie personally led his troops to attack the African continent (1545). During the Battle of Saint Tancan to Lebanto (1556- 157 1), Philip II, the only legally married son of Charles V (1556-98 reigned), and his uncle Ferdinand I divided up the territory of the Habsburg dynasty. Philip II regards Spain as the foundation of his empire, but the population of Spain is only one third of that of France, so it is difficult to provide enough troops for the empire. Later, Philip married Queen Mary I of England, making Spain an alliance with Britain.

However, Spain still has no peace. 1547, the ambitious French king Henry II ascended the throne, and soon clashed with Spain. After Philip II succeeded to the throne, he continued the Spanish-French War and defeated the French in the battles of San Conten and Gravorin in picardie. 1559, the two countries signed the Cato-Cambre Peace Treaty, which permanently confirmed Spanish sovereignty in Italy. After the signing of the peace treaty, a celebration ceremony was held. Henry was stabbed by a broken spear while taking part in a carbine competition, and died a few days later. In the next 30 years, France fell into a long-term civil war and turmoil, so it could not compete with Spain and Habsburg in the competition of European powers. Thus, from 1559 to 1643, Spain's national strength reached its peak and its territory expanded to the maximum.

1557, Spain ruled by Philip II faced bankruptcy, which gave Genoa banking consortium the opportunity to develop. They threw Deutsche Bank Group into chaos and replaced the financial giants in Spain. Habsburg system is complicated, and Genoa Bank provides it with current loans and reliable and stable income. Wang Chao helped the bank quickly transport Seville's unreliable silver from the United States to Genoa to provide more capital.

1565, PedroMenendezdeAviles established St. Augustine and established a colony in Florida. Later, French naval officer JeanRibault and 150 compatriots attempted to establish an illegal colony in Florida, Spain, and were quickly defeated by De Aviles. Saint Augustine soon became an important strategic place for Spanish ships carrying gold and silver to sail from New World colonies to Spain.

On April 27th of the same year, MiguelLópezdeLegaspi established the first Spanish permanent colony in the Philippines, and the Manila galleon officially entered service. These galleons transport goods from Asia to Acapulco on the Mexican coast via the Pacific Ocean; Then, the goods were transported to the Spanish treasure fleet in Mexico and finally returned to Spain. 1572, Spain established Manila to promote this trade activity.

At that time, Spain needed troops to occupy Portugal in order to stabilize its rule. 1576 bankrupt Spain is still recovering. 1584, willem van oranje was assassinated by a crazy Catholic. The death of the popular resistance leader in the Netherlands seems to have ended the war, but it is just the opposite. 1586, Elizabeth I sent troops to support Protestants in the Netherlands and France. Her subordinate Francis Drake attacked Spanish merchant ships in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean, especially the port of Cadiz. 1588, in order to stop Elizabeth I's intervention, Philip sent an armada to attack Britain. It was sunny at that time, and England sent smaller and more agile warships to prepare for the war with the help of Dutch spies. As a result, Britain defeated more and more well-prepared Spanish warships. Although Spain suffered great setbacks, the subsequent Drake Norris Expedition (1589) was the turning point of the Spanish-English War (1585 to 1604), which gave Spain the upper hand. Almost everyone is convinced that the Spanish fleet is the strongest in Europe. Until the Battle of Downs in 1639, Spain, which was gradually exhausted and weak, was defeated by the Dutch navy.

After the death of King Henry II of France, Spain took part in the religious war in France. 1589, Henry III, the last king of the Valois dynasty, died outside Paris. His successor, Henry IV of Navarra, the first French king of Bourbon, was an outstanding leader. He defeated the French Catholic Union in the Battle of Alcatel (1589) and the Battle of Ifri (1590) and won important victories. Determined to prevent Henry from becoming king of France, Philip II sent troops to Holland and invaded France in 1590.