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The Spanish Empire: The Rise Of Imperial Spain

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Origin of the empire
In 1504, Queen Isabella died, King Ferdinand ruled Isabella’s side of Spain with their eldest surviving child Joanna of Castile, who also known as “The mad”. In 1516, Ferdinand’s death led to a new chapter of Spain, Joanna and Phillip I’s son Charles ruled the Spanish empire and created the Holy Roman Empire. In 1556, he stepped down and passed the Holy Roman Empire to his brother, Ferdinand. The Spanish empire to his only surviving son Phillip II who after a succession crisis in Portugal also became Phillip I of Portugal.
Politics
There are many reasons for the rise of Imperial Spain. First of all, political advantage was one of the main factor.1469 marked the union of two major dynasties, with the marriage of Ferdinand …show more content…

For Spain, Christopher Columbus motivated by economy competition and imperialism during that period, proposed to reach the East Indies, Spanish royalty saw the opportunities of spice trade with Asia countries so eventually supported him. The First voyage of Columbus he reached the New World which is Latin America. Spanish coveted one thing particular in this new world, gold. There was a silver mountain in Bolivia and mining produce 150000 tons of silver, making them the richest nation in Europe. This "Golden Age" allowed them to build one of the most modern societies ever, as well as the largest, most powerful military in the world. "There were also many other growing industries in the sixteenth -century Spain, such as the production of paper in Segovia, manufacture of leather of leather good in Cordoba and Ship building and iron founding in the Basque country". (Israel 1981, 174) "Rise and fall of Commercial Power in Spain History Essay." UKessays.com. 11 …show more content…

The linguistic advances of the 15th century, the development of new literary genres, the refinements of plateresque art all foreshadowed it. Isabel called scholars together, encouraged the importation of text hooks and printing” (Pierre Vilar, Robert Brian Tate 41). Technology played an important role that made Spanish powerful and the vanguard of the colonization. Before the exploration started, they improved or self-invented many essential things for navigation such as sextant and astrolabe. So Spanish exploration really success towards the end of 15th century due to the new technology of triangular sails, these sails allowed ships to sail into the wind further than ever before, which precipitated a major rise in explorative

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