The Spanish Habsburgs and the Golden Age (1516–1643)
The 16th and 17th turies are sometimes called “the Golden Age of Spain”. As a result of the marriage politibsp;of the Reyes Católicos, their Habsburg grandson Charles ied the Castilian empire in Ameribsp;the Aragone Empire in the Mediterranean (including a large portion of modern Italy), as well as the of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Low tries, Franche–té, and Austria (this one, along with the rest of hereditary Habsburg domains was almost immediately transferred to Ferdinand, the Emperor’s brother). After his defeat of the Castilian rebels (uneros) in the Castilian War of the unities, Charles became the most powerful man in Europe, his rule stretg over an empire in Europe unrivalled ient until the Napoleonic era. It was often said during this time that it was the empire on which the sun . This sprawling overas empire of the Spanish Golden Age was trolled, not from inland Valladolid, but from Seville.
The Castilian Empire abroad was initially a disappoi. It did stimulate some trade and industry, but the trading opportunities entered were limited. Matters began to ge in the 1520s with the large scale extra of silver from the ribsp;deposits of Mexico’s Guanajuato region, but it was the opening of the silver mines in Mexico’s Zacatebsp;and Bolivia’s Potosí in 1546 that became legendary. During the 16th tury, Spain held the equivalent of US$1.5 trillion in gold and silver received from New Spain. Ultimately, however, the imports diverted iment away from other forms of industry and tributed to inflation in Spain in the last decades of the 16th tury. “I learnt a proverb here,” said a French traveler in 1603. “Everything is dear in Spain except silver”. This situation was aggravated (though not as much as popular myth asrts) by the loss of much the ercial and artisan class with the expulsions of the Jews (1492) and Moriscos (1609). The vast imports of silver ultimately made Spain overly depe on fn sources of raw materials and manufactured goods.
The Spanish Habsburgs and the Golden Age (1516–1643)
The 16th and 17th turies are sometimes called “the Golden Age of Spain”. As a result of the marriage politibsp;of the Reyes Católicos, their Habsburg grandson Charles ied the Castilian empire in Ameribsp;the Aragone Empire in the Mediterranean (including a large portion of modern Italy), as well as the of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Low tries, Franche–té, and Austria (this one, along with the rest of hereditary Habsburg domains was almost immediately transferred to Ferdinand, the Emperor’s brother). After his defeat of the Castilian rebels (uneros) in the Castilian War of the unities, Charles became the most powerful man in Europe, his rule stretg over an empire in Europe unrivalled ient until the Napoleonic era. It was often said during this time that it was the empire on which the sun . This sprawling overas empire of the Spanish Golden Age was trolled, not from inland Valladolid, but from Seville.