Spain
France versus Spain – Thirty Years’ War I
The Loss of Breda 1637 Spain’s mounting problems concerned the Empire because they undermined Philip IV’s war against the Dutch. A Spanish success in the Netherlands would enable Ferdinand III to withdraw his troops from Luxembourg, while a Spanish defeat would free France to reinforce its army in Germany. As the war dragged on, Ferdinand urged his cousin to at…
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Spain’s Eighteenth Century
Philip V (Spanish: Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724, and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. Philip instigated many important reforms in Spain, most especially the centralization of power of the monarchy…
Elizabeth I – Opening New Fronts Against Spain Part I
Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud was the Moorish ambassador to Elizabeth in 1600. A life-size portrait of Sultan Murad III (1574-1595), attributed to a Spanish artist, 17th century. Europe 1600 Elizabeth was enjoying the final few days of her summer progress at Nonsuch late in September 1598 when the news filtered…
Elizabeth I – Opening New Fronts Against Spain Part II
Philip III of Spain, 1599-1601 The Somerset House Conference between English and Spanish diplomats that brought an end to the Anglo–Spanish War (1585–1604). At the very last moment, Philip III’s ships sailed not northwards for England or Ireland, but southwards for the Azores, where a formidable fleet of Dutch warships…
Imperial Spain I
An elderly Karl V (also known as Don Carlos I of Spain), ruler of the Holy Roman Empire Carlos I of Spain is better known as Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Of the Habsburg dynasty, he was born in 1500 in Ghent, Flanders, of today’s Belgium. His advent to the…
Imperial Spain II
Battle of Lepanto, on October 7, 1571, by Paolo Veronese In 1555 the Turks seized two of Spain’s North African strongholds, Tripoli and Bona. In 1559, Philip permitted his viceroy of Sicily and the Knights of Malta to attempt the recovery of Tripoli. They failed and suffered heavy losses in…
The Manila Galleons
The replica of the Galeon Andalucia visits the Philippines in celebration of the Dia del Galeon Festival, a commemoration of the 16th century galleon trade. Video by Yahoo! Southeast Asia sports producer Izah Morales. Photos by Voltaire Domingo/NPPA Images. Pacific Routes-Manila Galleons They sighted Cape San Lucas on 2 November…