Silver in the Americas

The discovery of massive deposits of silver in New Spain and Peru from the mid-16th century set in motion a chain of events that reverberated across the globe. Large-scale silver production in Spanish America not only transformed local, regional, and colonial economies across large parts of the Americas.

It also fueled a price revolution in Europe, accelerated the growth of the nascent African slave trade, and heightened imperial competition between Europe’s early modern nation-states, particularly Spain and England.

American silver proved crucial in providing the Spanish imperial state with the fiscal base necessary to build and defend its overseas empire, while also sparking keen interest in American exploration and colonization by Spain’s European rivals. At every level—local, regional, colonywide, and global—the economic, social, and political transformations wrought by large-scale silver production in Spain’s New World holdings were enduring and profound.

Two main centers of silver production emerged in 16th-century Spanish America: the region north and west of Mexico City, centered on the provinces of Zacatecas and Guanajuato, and the “mountain of silver” at Potosí in the Peruvian Andes. (Silver production at Potosí is treated elsewhere in these website.)


The development of New Spain’s silver industry, with its epicenter at Zacatecas, followed a very different trajectory. Unlike Peru’s, the silver deposits of New Spain had not been systematically mined by pre-Columbian polities.

The Zacatecas mining region, with its low rainfall and infertile soils, had been outside the Aztec sphere of influence and had few sedentary inhabitants prior to the conquest of Mexico. Silver ores were first discovered there in September 1546 by Juan de Tolsa, commander of a detachment of Spanish soldiers exploring the arid region.

In the next few years, the discovery prompted a vast silver rush, rapidly and permanently transforming the regional economies of Zacatecas, Guanajuato, and, farther south, the Bajío, the breadbasket of the colony, in response to rising demands for food, clothing, and other products required by the emergent mining economy.

the “mountain of silver” at Potosí in the Peruvian Andes

New Spain Production

As in Peru, large-scale silver production in New Spain required huge infusions of both labor and capital, along with long-term investments and substantial technical expertise. Labor shortages soon proved the principal bottleneck to New Spain’s silver economy.

As in Peru, the Spanish Crown, eager to collect its quinto real (“royal fifth,” a tax comprising 20 percent of all production), played a central role in creating and fostering the colony’s silver mining industry, in some cases slashing its quinto in half to stimulate production.

The Crown claimed all subsoil rights, but in order to attract sufficient labor and capital, and to induce prospectors to find new deposits, the imperial state came to rely on a combination of state-directed and private initiatives.

Deep-shaft mines and their accompanying refining facilities were invariably owned by private individuals, primarily encomenderos in the mid- and late 1500s, followed by men of sufficient wealth and experience to own and operate such large and complex enterprises.

Indian and mestizo laborers were lured into the region from the Basin of Mexico and elsewhere mainly by relatively high wages and related incentives. By the 1550s, African slaves also began to play an increasingly important role in the mining industry, a development that provided an important stimulus to the Atlantic slave trade during its earliest phase.

Unlike the situation in Peru, where a modification of the preconquest mita labor in the Andean highlands generated a hellish environment for mineworkers, symbolized by the “infernal pits” of Potosí, in New Spain silver mine workers comprised a kind of aristocracy of labor, with relatively greater privileges and freedoms than Indians held in encomienda. Still, working conditions in the mines were dangerous and accidents common.

Hispanization proceeded more quickly among Indian, African, and mestizo mineworkers in Zacatecas than it did elsewhere in New Spain, creating a large, mostly proletarian Spanish-speaking male labor force. New Spain’s silver mines, along with its obrajes, were thus the first to develop private labor relationships, including wage labor, independent of state mediation or control, leading some scholars to interpret the mining economy as a key locus of the origins of capitalism in Mexico.

Ancillary industries, necessary to feed, clothe, and shelter mineworkers, mushroomed within the mining zones and beyond, including artisan work and craftwork, stock raising, agriculture, cloth production, and related enterprises. As in Peru, the ripple effects generated by the silver mining industry transformed local and regional economies far from the actual sites of production.

After the refinement of the mercury amalgamation process in the 1570s, silver production in Spanish America soared. While Potosí’s production declined from its height in the early 1600s, New Spain’s output remained relatively stable from the 1550s to around 1700, increasing dramatically thereafter.

In 1700, New Spain’s silver production hovered around 5 million pesos annually. By the 1780s, the figure had quadrupled. As early as 1600, silver ore, bullion, and coins constituted some 80 percent of New Spain’s exports, making it far and away the largest and most important industry in Spain’s wealthiest and most important colony.

Inflation in Spain

These massive infusions of silver into Spain’s economy contributed to an inflationary spiral that had profound ripple effects across large parts of Europe. The causes of the so-called price revolution that socked western Europe beginning in the 1560s were numerous and complex.

Along with steady population increases and the glacial pace of agricultural innovation, chief among the most common explanations for this dizzying rise in prices for food and manufactured goods in western Europe from the 1560s is the dramatic increase in the amount of silver coinage in circulation, a circumstance directly attributable to the enormous influx of silver into Spain from Peru and New Spain.

Scholarly consensus holds that overall, this price revolution disproportionately benefited wealthier classes and harmed the poor, as the relentless rise in the price of bread, cloth, and rents was not matched by rising wages or productivity.

Spain’s example also spurred its rivals, especially England and France, to try to replicate Spain’s stunning successes in their own schemes of conquest and colonization in the Americas.

Yet the very different histories of these emergent nation-states generated very different models of colonization, with the English, French, Portuguese, and Dutch states playing a far lesser role than the Spanish Crown, and with a much greater role for private and entrepreneurial enterprises, most notably joint-stock companies, such as the Virginia Company, as the principal engines driving the initiatives that constituted the next wave of American conquests and colonization.

Bourbon Dynasty in Latin America

Bourbon Dynasty in Latin America

In 1700 Philip V became king of Spain and inaugurated the House of Bourbon, which was to rule Latin America until Napoleon deposed King Ferdinand VII in 1808 and put his (Napoleon’s) own brother, Joseph, on the Spanish throne. In the events that followed, all of Latin America gradually gained its independence.

When Philip V became king of Spain the Spanish dominions in the Americas were divided into two viceroyalties—the Viceroyalty of New Spain and the Viceroyalty of Peru. New Spain consisted of the Viceregal Audencia of Mexico (established in 1529) and the interlinked Audencias of Santo Domingo (1511), Panama (1538), Guatemala (1544, as Audencia de los Confines), Manila (1583), and Guadalajara (New Galaicia) (1549).

Thus it controlled Mexico, the Spanish Caribbean, Central America, and the Philippines. The Viceroyalty of Peru included the Viceregal Audencia of Lima (1542), the Audencias of Santa Fé de Bogotá (New Granada) (1549), Chile (1609), Buenos Aires (1661–71), Characas (1559), and Quito (1564). The audencias were further divided into provinces.


Strictly speaking the two viceroyalties held the same position as the kingdoms of Valencia, Catalonia, Aragon, León, and Castile. All colonial matters since 1524 had been decided by the Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies, and this process continued until 1714 when most functions were assumed by the Ministry of Marine and the Indies, although the council remained in existence until 1834.

The Bourbon rulers in Spain always felt that their American colonies could deliver more in tax revenue. Philip V (r. 1700/01–1724, 1724–46) started a campaign to reorganize the administration, assume greater control, and increase trade. One of the greatest handicaps to trade with South America was that goods from Spain to the Americas had to go through Lima. This led to emerging centers for contraband.

The most important of these was the town of Colonia, founded by the Portuguese in 1680 on the east bank of the Río de la Plata (River Plate), directly opposite Buenos Aires. From there Spanish, Portuguese, and British goods were smuggled across the river while the city authorities in Buenos Aires proclaimed themselves helpless to deal with the problem.

Sailing Regulations

In 1720, measures were introduced to regulate the sailing of ships to remove the need for people to buy smuggled goods. During the 1720s and 1730s, there was a rebellion in Paraguay with settlers attacking the Jesuit privileges. The religious order had established communes (known as reductions) in southern and eastern Paraguay and the low prices of their crops undercut many small farmers.

The Communero Revolt saw many farmers march on Asunción and the governor, José de Antiquera, refuse to accept a new governor sent from Lima. However the rebels were ousted by Indian levies from the Jesuit reductions.

A force from Buenos Aires arrived in 1724, and two years later Antiquera was captured. At the same time there was also a small rebellion among the Araucanian Indians in southern Chile. In 1736–37, there was also a small rebellion led by Juan Santos with Indians rebelling against harsh conditions in mines in central Peru. The rebels damaged the city of Oruro but then dispersed.

A more serious conflict broke out in 1735 when the Spanish took advantage of being on the opposite side to Portugal in the War of the Polish Succession. A small Spanish force from Buenos Aires captured Colonia, but two years later the British persuaded them to return it.

The task of reforming the colonial administration was left to Philip V’s successor, Ferdinand VI (reigned 1746–59). He established the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1739 with a viceroy taking up the position in the following year.

However the Anglo-Spanish War of 1739–48 (known in England as the War of Jenkins’ Ear) initially hampered links between Spain and its colonies. Further attempts were made to reduce smuggling but too much was at stake, especially in Buenos Aires, where people still objected to goods’ having to be shipped through Lima.

In the Treaty of Madrid of 1750 the Portuguese finally agreed to hand over Colonia, in return for taking the region of the Upper Paraná. When some Jesuits refused to hand over the latter, Portugal sent in soldiers who easily drove back the lightly armed Indians in the Jesuit reductions.

As it felt that Spain had not honored its side of the treaty, the Portuguese held on to Colonia. This caused Charles III of Spain to annul the treaty in 1761 and send in soldiers, who finally captured Colonia in 1762. Smuggling, however, continued.

Seven Years’ War

The Seven Years’ War (1756–63) resulted in a humiliating defeat for Spain. It had stayed out of the war for the first three years, and when in 1760, it entered the conflict, the British attacked the Philippines and Cuba, taking both territories. Spain did manage to take most of the Banda Oriental (now Uruguay).

Both the Philippines and Cuba were returned at the Treaty of Paris at the conclusion of the war, but Spain conceded Florida to the British. The easy losses that Spain sustained at the hands of the British illustrated the military vulnerability of Spain’s American colonies. King Charles III (r. 1759–88) decided to push ahead with further administrative reforms.

One of the first measures was to increase taxes to help pay for the costly and futile involvement in the Seven Years’ War. In 1765, people in Quito rioted. The colonial administration held firm, and in 1776 Charles III created the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata, with a viceroy taking up the position in 1778.

It covered modern-day Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay and eroded further the power of the Viceroyalty of Peru. This move followed a delineation of the land boundary between Portuguese Brazil and the Spanish territories that confirmed the east bank of the River Plate, covering modern-day Uruguay, as Spanish.

Buenos Aires was made capital of the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata, and the important silver mines in Upper Peru (modern-day Bolivia) were given to the new viceroyalty. Trade was now allowed to come from Europe. In one stroke, smuggling was reduced and the revenue from tariffs increased.

Gálvez, fresh from his triumphs in Mexico, returned to Madrid and was appointed minister of the Indies in 1776. He sent officials who worked on increasing revenue, bolstering defenses, and helping increase agriculture and mining.

One of the first changes was the Law of Free Trade in 1778, which enabled one part of the Spanish Americas to trade with another more easily. This further reduced smuggling. Gálvez then introduced the position of intendant.

This person worked in the Americas but was directly responsible to the Spanish Crown, not the viceroy, so was able to give an independent report on events in the Americas. An intendant was introduced in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1782, in Peru two years later, and finally, in 1786 in New Spain.

Although these moves followed the economic liberalization that was taking place in Europe, the government in Spain also introduced new laws that served to destroy much of their support in the Americas. New laws reduced the ability for governors to appoint officials. Massive dissent arose, some of it leading to talk of rebellion and even moves for independence.

This coincided with the Tupac Amaru rebellion; the great-grandson of Inca leader Tupac Amaru rallied his followers near Cuzco in modern-day Peru. He led the first major uprising against the Spanish in two centuries. At its height tens of thousands of Indians joined the rebellion with the Spanish having to send in large numbers of soldiers to restore colonial rule at the cost of thousands of lives. The rebellion was brutally crushed.

The Tupac Amaru rebellion also showed that there might not be enough Spanish soldiers in Latin America should another large rebellion or external invasion take place. Furthermore a brief stand-off with the British over the Falkland Islands in 1771 had ended when France indicated itself not willing to give military assistance to Spain.

In 1715, there were only 500 soldiers in Buenos Aires. These were largely for protection of the governor and in case Portuguese from Colonia caused trouble. In 1765, the numbers had been increased to 5,500 and 7,000 in 1774.

The same happened in Asunción, Santiago, Caracas, Quito, and Bogota. In 1776, the Spanish were sufficiently strong to take back Colonia; at the Treaty of San Ildefonso, Colonia, and the Banda Oriental was awarded to Spain forever.

Spain’s involvement in the American Revolution was expected to have brought greater wealth to the Spanish colonies. However, as with the French, it was a costly venture and although it broke up the British Empire in the Americas, it left both Spain and France with large bills to pay.

Furthermore exposure to the ideas of democracy affected soldiers like Francisco de Miranda (1750–1816), who, after time in the United States, served in the French Revolutionary Army before trying to free Venezuela from Spanish rule. When Spain sided with France against Britain in the first part of the Napoleonic Wars, 1796–1808, some people in the Americas saw it as their opportunity to use the British to gain independence.

Furthermore Britain at the time was unable to sell any of its goods to Europe because of Napoleon’s rigorously enforced “Continental System” and thus also had a commercial motive in South American independence. When Napoleon ousted the king of Spain and placed Joseph Bonaparte on the throne, the days of Bourbon rule in Spain were numbered.

War of the Spanish Succession

War of the Spanish Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14) was a great European conflict fought over which claimant would assume the vacant throne of Spain.

Throughout the 16th century, Spain had been ruled by the Habsburg dynasty, which also controlled Austria and other parts of Europe. Charles II (1661–1700), the last Habsburg king of Spain, had no legitimate heir. He named Philip, duc d’Anjou (1683–1746), as his successor.

The Bourbon dynasty, which ruled France, had been long-standing rivals of the Habsburgs; the closest claimant to the Spanish throne was Louis XIV’s eldest son with Maria-Theresa. However, the princess had been barred from her rights to the Spanish throne as part of her marriage contract.


This condition was contingent upon receipt of the bride’s dowry, which was never paid. Since the promotion of Louis XIV’s son to the Spanish throne would unite the thrones of both France and Spain and certainly prompt a reaction from the European powers, Louis XIV advocated that his younger grandson, duc d’Anjou, rule Spain.

Leopold I (1640–1705), Holy Roman Emperor, king of Austria, and member of the Habsburg family, attempted to preserve his family’s control of Spain by forwarding himself as the rightful successor to Charles II. Such a situation would unite the thrones of Austria and Spain, a situation unacceptable to the European powers, and Leopold I advocated his son, Archduke Charles (1685–1740), as king of Spain.

Expanding French Influence

Milan regiment (Spanish)

Louis XIV’s attempts to expand French influence on the European continent prompted England and the Netherlands to side with the Holy Roman Empire against France in order to preserve the balance of power.

The son of Leopold I’s daughter, Prince Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria (1692–99), was the preferred candidate as king of Spain by the European powers, who feared either family’s gaining too much dominance. Prince Joseph Ferdinand was agreed upon as heir in 1698, but he died of smallpox in 1699. England then ratified the Treaty of London (1700) recognizing Archduke Charles as heir to the Spanish throne.

Charles II died in 1700. He declared the duc d’Anjou his successor and Louis XIV quickly declared his grandson Philip V king of the Spanish empire. England could not afford war with France and recognized Philip V as king of Spain in 1701.

Louis XIV attempted to solidify his newfound influence by severing both England and the Netherlands from Spanish trade. The blow to both countries’ commercial interests forced them into an alliance with Austria against France and Spain.

The Treaty of the Hague (1701) of the Netherlands, England, and Austria recognized Philip V as king of Spain but transferred sections of Italy and the Netherlands under Spanish rule to Austria. It also confirmed England’s and the Netherlands’s commercial rights in Spain.

The war began in 1702, when Austrian forces invaded Spanish territories in Italy, forcing French intervention. England, the Netherlands, and several German states sided with Austria while Bavaria, Portugal, and Savoy supported France and Spain. Other opportunist states joined sides in the conflict, expanding fighting throughout Europe and North America, where the conflict became known as Queen Anne’s War.

The Royal Regiment of Dragoons circa (spanish)

The duke of Marlborough captured territories in the Netherlands in 1702–03 while Prince Eugene held French forces in Italy. The French, under the duc de Villars, scored a victory at Friedlingen in 1702. Success in Alsace, located between France and the Holy Roman Empire, presented the opportunity for an invasion of Austria in 1703, but dissention among French commanders ruined this opportunity.

Marlborough moved his troops from the Netherlands to Bavaria, linking with Prince Eugene’s forces to defeat the French at the Battle of Blenheim (1704). Meanwhile, Portugal and Savoy switched sides, joining the coalition headed by England, Austria, and the Netherlands. In 1704, England captured the strategic island of Gibraltar.

The French, under the duc de Villars, scored a victory at Friedlingen in 1702

French Invade Italy

In 1706, French forces evacuated Italy following Prince Eugene’s victory at Turin and the Netherlands following Marlborough’s victory at Ramillies. In 1708, following Prince Eugene’s disastrous expedition into Provence the previous year, Marlborough and Eugene won at Oudenarde and captured Lille.

French forces retreated, losing an additional battle at Malplaquet (1709). Allied campaigns in Spain (1708–10) garnered little success in weakening Philip V’s position. Louis XIV opened peace negotiations, but his refusal to join against his grandson brought negotiations to a halt.

In 1711, the death of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I (1678–1711) resulted in the ascension of Archduke Charles (Charles VI) to the thrones of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire. The English opened negotiations to end the war.

The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) ended hostilities among France, Spain, England, and the Netherlands. Charles VI continued the war, finally ending hostilities by signing the Treaties of Rastatt and Baden (1714), which complemented the general settlement of the Treaty of Utrecht.

The Battle of Malplaquet. This Pyrrhic victory began to revive French fortunes in the war.

Philip V retained the Spanish throne under the condition that he and his descendants were barred from the throne of France. Austria gained territory in Italy and the Netherlands previously belonging to Spain while England gained Gibraltar, Minorca, and exclusive rights to slave trading in Spanish America for 30 years.

France recognized Anne as queen of England and surrendered some of its American territories. France’s dominance over the European continent was checked and the notion of the preservation of the balance of power emerged as the cornerstone of European politics for centuries to come.

Ferdinand V and Isabella I of Spain

Ferdinand V and Isabella I of Spain

Ferdinand (1452–1516) and Isabella (1451–1504) united Castile and Aragon creating modern Spain under a dual monarchy, initiated the Spanish Inquisition, conquered Granada, expelled the Moors and the Jews who would not convert to Christianity, funded Christopher Columbus, and established royal authority.

Ferdinand was born at Sos, Aragon, on March 19, 1452, as the son of John II of Aragon and Navarre (1397–1479) and Juana Enriquez, his second wife. As heir to the throne of Aragon, Ferdinand became king of Sicily in 1468. He was skillful, ruthless, ambitious, self-centered, and political in all his endeavors. Ferdinand was often deceitful in his agreements, repudiating treaties and other agreements soon after they were signed.

Ferdinand married his equally ambitious, pious, but wiser cousin Isabella of Castile and León. She was born at Madrigal de las Torres in Castile on April 22, 1451, the daughter of feeble-minded King John II of Castile and León (1405–54) and Isabelle of Portugal, his strongminded second wife.

Isabella had a more ethical character than Ferdinand. She inherited an extensive royal lineage from several generations of European dynasties. The couple maintained exceptionally close ties to the papacy.


Isabella’s imbecilic half brother Henry IV (1425–74), also known as the Impotent, ascended the throne after their father died in 1454. Along with her younger brother, Alfonso, Isabella was brought to Henry’s court for protection and stricter supervision. Isabella became a pawn in her brother’s plans to make her future marriage economically beneficial and politically advantageous for Castile.

He wanted her to marry, among others, the king of Portugal, the French dauphin, or an English prince, all of whom she firmly refused. After Alfonso’s death in 1468, Henry proclaimed the prudent and gentle Isabella his heir on September 19, 1468, when they both affixed their signatures to the Accord of Toros de Guisiando.

Isabella secretly married her cousin Ferdinand at Ocaña, on October 19, 1469, without Henry’s consent. He disowned her, promptly revoked the Accord of Toros de Guisiando, and named his alleged daughter Princess Juana la Beltraneja (1462–1530) princess of Castile and by 1475 the wife of King Afonso V of Portugal (1432–81), as his heir. Juana was the illegitimate daughter of Henry’s wife and Beltrán de la Cueva.

After Henry died on December 10, 1474, Isabella ascended the throne on December 13 at Segovia. Her claim was immediately contested by Juana and Afonso; the struggle became a civil war. Isabella had strong support from Aragon and her countrymen.

Ferdinand defeated Juana’s forces at the Battle of Toro on March 1, 1476, and again on February 25, 1479. The Treaty of Alcaçova on September 1479 concluded the civil war. Juana entered the convent of Santa Clara of Coimtra in 1480.

To solidify firmer control over Spain once they became comonarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella subdued all the resistance groups, captured the insubordinate towns and fortresses, and vanquished all rebellions against their rule.

Then they proceeded to reconstruct the Cortes (Parliament), revamped the government’s administration, and produced a legal framework for Spain that granted greater power to the monarchy at the expense of the nobility, who had become dangerously powerful under previous monarchs.

When Ferdinand’s father died in 1479, Ferdinand and Isabella’s union merged the two largest kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula and created 90 percent of present-day Spain. The astute Isabella insisted that there be joint rule and that she govern Castile herself.

The saying “Tanto monta, monta tanto” (They are one and the same), became their motto. Isabella also insisted that both their names be placed on each royal document and that she preside at each state transaction. She also allowed their coat of arms to be united.

She collected important artworks, was widely read, learned Latin after the age of 30, established schools, and supported the Franciscan order of the Poor Clares. Together they reformed the church and the monasteries in Spain, as both had become corrupt and ineffective.

The couple had five children: Isabella of Aragon (1470–98), Juan of Aragon (1478–97), Juana of Castile (1479–1551), Maria of Aragon (1482–1517), and Catherine of Aragon (1485–1536), to whom Isabella was devoted. They all received the same classical education and were taught the basics of household duties such as sewing, making beds, and cleaning.

The children were married into European royal dynasties mainly to outflank French territorial ambitions. Juan married Margaret of Austria but died within six months and left no children. Juana became insane after the death of her husband, Habsburg archduke Philip the Handsome (1478–1506). Isabella married King Afonso V of Portugal (1432–81) and then King Manuel I of Portugal (1469–1521).

She died in childbirth, and her son Miguel died within two years. Maria married her brother-in-law Manuel I of Portugal after her sister’s death. At the conclusion of at least 13 years of negotiations, Catherine married Arthur Tudor, prince of Wales (1486–1502) on November 14, 1501. Arthur died six months later.

After Arthur’s death, because her father had not yet completed payment of her dowry, Catherine would marry the future king Henry VIII (1491–1547) on June 11, 1509. He divorced her on March 30, 1533. Ferdinand and Isabella’s grandson by Juana and Philip inherited their and Philip’s parents’ huge territorial inheritance; he would become Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1519–56).

Ferdinand and Isabella believed that religious conformity was crucially important for Spain. They also realized the political and economic advantages for their monarchy and zealously instigated the Spanish Inquisition, deeming saving souls and eradicating heresy as their most sacred duty.

During their reign, heterogeneous Spain had Europe’s largest Jewish population. Ferdinand and Isabella insisted that Spain become white (non-Moorish) and of pure Christian blood, or sangre limpia. On the threat of withdrawing military support from the pope Sixtus VI (1521–90), who deemed their actions as a plot to gain Jewish property, Ferdinand demanded that Spain initiate the Inquisition.

After a number of arguments between Ferdinand and Sixtus, the pope issued the Papal Bull of 1478 that created the Inquisition in Seville. It then expanded throughout Spain and began a lengthy period of religious cleansing.

Pope Innocent VIII (1432–92) appointed the Dominican priest Tomás de Torquemada (1420–98), Isabella’s confessor and himself a grandson of a convert, to head the Spanish Inquisition. The partially converted Jews, the Marranos, secretly maintained their Jewish cultures and customs.

To force them to confess, Torquemada imposed increasingly penurious methods. He forfeited Jewish property, which conveniently financed a war against another minority in Spain. Torquemada humiliated the Marranos by forcing them to wear a sambenito, a yellow shirt containing crosses that exposed their genitals in public.

Some 130,000 conversos were tried at tribunals from 1480 to 1492. Some Marranos were burned at the stake. The ruthless Torquemada staged the LaGuardia show trial in 1490 where no guilt was proved yet the victims were burned at the stake. Some 30,000 Jews were ritually murdered during the Spanish Inquisition.

Ferdinand and Isabella issued the Edict of Expulsion on March 31, 1492. The Jews were commanded to leave Spain and never return. With his work done, Torquemada retired to St. Thomas monastery in Ávila, where he died in 1498. Historical debate lingers about the number of victims of the Inquisition in Spain.

Ferdinand and Isabella relied greatly on the expertise of her next confessor, Cardinal Francisco Gonzalo Jiménez de Cisneros (1436–1517), who helped raise Spain to unprecedented predominance on the European continent. The couple gained control over the military orders of Calatrava, Alcántara, and Santiago, which greatly increased their power, wealth, and territory.

Ferdinand and Isabella revived the centuries-long Reconquista. They waged a costly 10-year war against the Moors and finally conquered Granada, the last Moorish stronghold, in 1491. They triumphantly entered Granada on January 2, 1492. Isabella, more so than Ferdinand, was responsible for the horrific slaughter of the Moors who would not convert to Christianity.

In 1501, Ferdinand and Isabella offered the Moors the alternative of baptism or exile; those who remained became known as Moriscos. In 1492, Pope Innocent VIII (1432–92) granted Ferdinand and Isabella the title of “Most Catholic Majesties” for spiritually unifying Spain. The Reconquista was completed.

Isabella was largely responsible for initiating the golden age of exploration for Spain. She financially supported the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World. She had rejected his request numerous times, but when he threatened to petition funds from France she relented and Columbus sailed in August 1492.

When he brought 150 natives to Spain, she bought some and gave them their freedom. Ferdinand and Isabella were strongly involved with the establishment of the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 that divided the non-Christian world overseas between Portugal and Spain.

Isabella died at Medina del Campo on November 26, 1504. Ferdinand married Germaine de Foix on October 19, 1505. Ferdinand served as regent of Castile after Juana died and later for his grandson Charles V. Ferdinand also fought in lengthy Italian Wars against France.

His generals conquered Naples in 1504, and in 1512 he annexed Navarre. He also joined the League of Cambrai in 1508 to thwart Venetian objectives and the Holy League in 1511 to counteract France. Ferdinand also founded universities.

Ferdinand died at Midrigalejo, Spain, on January 23, 1516. He is buried beside Isabella, at the Capilla Real in Granada alongside Juan, Philip, and a grandson.

Spain

Post–World War II Spain was still affected strongly by the results of the Spanish civil war of 1936–39. Francisco Franco’s authoritarian regime continued to censor the press and did not abide by a constitution.

After the defeat of fascist governments in World War II, Franco did mitigate some fascist tendencies within his government, stressing instead the Roman Catholic Church, the monarchy, and society as the corporatist pillars of Spain, but not enough to prevent economic isolation by other international actors.

However, at the same time industrialization and economic development contributed to a contrary force of secularization. The corporatism of the state thus began to depend more and more on Franco.

Spain’s colonial influence would not succeed Franco, either. The Spanish ended their rule over Spanish Morocco in 1956, and over the rest of their African colonies over the next two decades. In 1968 Spanish Guinea gained independence and renamed itself Equatorial Guinea.


Right before Franco died, Morocco’s King Hassan II took advantage of Spain’s weakness and took over Spain’s only remaining colony—Western Sahara—in the Green March. However, despite these colonial losses, Franco did pass on to his successor, King Juan Carlos, the beginnings of an economic and political liberalization that would reap the "Spanish Miracle".

Indeed, the hierarchical nature of the state did not persist after Franco’s death in 1975. Juan Carlos appointed Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez to rush in an kala of democratization through legislation sometimes referred to as the "new Bourbon restoration". Suárez was elected in 1977 under the Unión de Centro Democrático party.

After the elections, the Spanish constitution was drafted in 1978 by a committee made up of the deputies of most of the main political groups. It was signed by the king in 1979. Suárez’s power weakened, however, and he resigned as president and party leader on January 29, 1981.

Finding a successor was difficult in what became a very tense political and economic climate due to economic struggle, difficulty creating a new territorial organization of Spain, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (or ETA, a Basque separatist organization) terrorist attacks, and the army’s lukewarm support of democratic institutions.

In this political atmosphere, democratic governance in Spain was tested by a 1981 coup that was called 23-F and El Tejerazo. Antonio Tejero, with 200 armed officers from the Guardia Civil, stormed the Spanish Congress of Deputies as it was electing Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo the new Spanish president.

Tejero and the officers held the cabinet and parliament hostage. No one was harmed and the coup ended largely because the king called upon the army to abide by the orders of the democratically elected civilian authorities.

Social democratic rule began in 1982 with Felipe González’s Socialist Party winning the elections. Spain’s democratic rule was fairly stable from that point until 1996. Domestic reforms under González’s administration included the legalization of abortion, education reforms, and increased personal freedoms.

Also during this era, Spain made many advances in integrating back into the international economic and political community. It joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Economic Community in 1986. With integration came some important changes for the Spanish economy.

Technological and industrial investment in the country increased, despite its persistently high unemployment rate. Ironically, although Spain was able to make progress in international integration, it still suffered from regional separatism and regional groups seeking autonomy from Spain.

In 1996 González was defeated, in part due to government corruption, and José María Aznar’s Popular Party (PP) took over. During the PP’s term, Spain’s economy benefited from high domestic demand and export-led growth.

It continued down the path of European integration, joining the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and adopting the euro in 1999. Yet again Spain suffered from internal divisions. ETA attacked tourists and Spanish officials again in 1999. Nevertheless, the PP won the 2000 elections.

The attacks continued. In 2001 army Lieutenant Colonel Pedro Antonio Blanco García was assassinated. An enormous street demonstration of over 1 million Spaniards protesting the assassination occurred the next day. Unfortunately, the killings continued.

After some ETA members were killed in a car bomb that August, the ETA retaliated with a series of the bloodiest attacks since 1992, which included the assassination of Supreme Court justice José Francisco Querol Lombardero, his driver, bodyguard, and a bystander, and injuries to 60 others.

In 2003 Aznar supported the U.S. "War on Terror" in the Iraq War, possibly resulting in the March 11, 2004, train bombings in Madrid. Nearly 200 people were killed and over 1,500 injured. Although the government blamed ETA, al-Qaeda operatives carried out the attacks.

In the elections that followed, the PP lost to the Socialist Party. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero took over as prime minister. Aznar, however, had decided not to run, despite not being barred from running for a third term.

Zapatero immediately withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq. Under his administration, Spain approved a same-sex marriage law with the support of a majority of the population. In contrast to Aznar, Zapatero’s relations with the United States were strained. However, he maintained good relations with the United Nations and the European Union.

Muslim Spain

Inside Alhambra, Granada, Spain

In 711 the Muslims had conquered the southern parts of the Iberian Peninsula. By 714 following the decline of the Visigoths, the Muslims had gained a strong grip on virtually the entire Iberian Peninsula. The parts in southern Spain that were under Muslim rule were called al-Andalus.

The vast region was divided into five administrative provinces—Lusitania, and the Ebro region. The administrative system was subject to change as the Christians regained more power over parts of Muslim Spain in the following centuries.

However Muslim Spain was not restricted to the region named al-Andalus. The Muslims also controlled parts of Aragon-Catalonia and Navarre. Parts of southern France fell briefly under Muslim rule but a strong French military force under Charles Martel managed to drive them away in 756.


Although Córdoba was not the capital city of previous rulers such as the Byzantines and the Romans, it lay at the crossroads of important trade routes. Moreover the city possessed rich agricultural resources. From there the caliphs ruled parts of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula.

The Muslims had, in fact, amassed a vast empire stretching from Spain to India and ruled diverse groups of people, who contributed to the later development of a sophisticated culture in a cosmopolitan setting found in Muslim capitals such as Córdoba. By 757 al-Andalus had been clearly established as a Muslim polity with a mainly Arab and Berber population, but also with many converts.

Within Muslim Spain, the Umayyad dynasty ruled over Arabs from various locations as well as Berbers, Jews, Christians. The lingua franca used by diverse groups of people within al-Andalus was Arabic.

Umayyad Dynasty

In 750 after a series of rival wars between various Muslim factions, the Umayyad Abd al-Rahman Mu’awiya, also known as Abd al-Rahman I, refused to acknowledge the Abbasid Sunni Caliphate based in Baghdad.

By this time the Abbasid dynasty was considered corrupt and weak. This led Abd al-Rahman to set up his own dynasty of emirs of Córdoba, first by ousting the previous ruler, Yusuf al-Fihri.

Abd al-Rahman proclaimed himself the first emir of Córdoba in the mosque of Córdoba on May 14, 756. The powerful Fatimid dynasty, based in Egypt, opposed the installation of the Umayyad Caliphate on Córdoba. The Fatimid dynasty had a strong hold over North Africa.

inside Cordoba (former) Mosque

Abd al-Rahman thus enlisted the help of the Zanata Berber tribe enemies of the Sinhaja tribe, allies of the Fatimids. Pro-Umayyad rebellions against the Fatimids were quashed and Abd al-Rahman was unable to advance into North Africa, as he was preoccupied with skirmishes with the Christians.

He ruled independently of the Abbasid Caliphate for 33 years, consolidating sufficient support for Umayyad authority to ensure the longevity of his dynasty. Abd al-Rahman succeeded in fending off Yusuf al-Fihri’s allies as well as the supporters of the Abbasid Caliphate within al-Andalus.

Later on the emirate became known as the Umayyad Caliphate, which was in fact modeled upon the older Abbasid Caliphate. The Umayyads, who were members of the prophet Muhammad’s tribe Qureish, claimed to be descendants from the prophet Muhammad.

Prior to conquering parts of the Iberian Peninsula the Umayyads had already ruled a huge part of the Muslim world including the important city of Samarkand at the eastern edge of their kingdom. Their conquests stretched to al-Andalus in the west with its capital in Córdoba.

By the time of Abd al-Rahman I’s death in 852, al-Andalus was already a major diplomatic power in the Mediterranean with emirates established over North Africa. Links had also been established with the Byzantine emperor, another major player in Mediterranean politics.

Visigoth Resistance

Visigoth Resistance

Initially the Muslim power that was responsible for the great wave of Muslim expansion was based in their distant capital city of Damascus. In Muslim Spain, however, Córdoba was made the capital, where the Muslim invaders settled down as property owners soon after their victory over the Visigoths.

One way land was acquired in Córdoba was through marriage with important members of the Visigothic aristocracy. This had the added advantage of staving off potential opposition from the Visigoths, who had been the ruling class in Córdoba before their defeat at the hands of the Muslims.

Despite the Visigoths’ apparent truce with the Muslims within Spain, members of the Visigothic aristocracy who had fled up north of the Iberian Peninsula continued to resist Muslim rule in the south.

This was an impetus for the Muslims to invade the northern mountainous region of the peninsula, as well as France. The Muslim invaders were especially looking to gain resources in France rather than the inaccessible regions in northern Spain. This expansion came to an end when the three major military expeditions to France during the eighth century ended in disastrous defeats.

Umayyad caliphs in al-Andalus had a policy of tolerance toward the non-Muslims under their rule. Non-Muslim residents had to pay a poll tax (jizya) and a land tax. Thus the greatest source of tax revenue, was the non-Muslim inhabitants of al-Andalus. This contributed to the policy of tolerance of the Christian and Jewish population. Conversion to Islam escalated under the reign of the Umayyad Caliphate.

During the ninth century mass conversions took place. The benefits of conversion included employment opportunities in government. Not only did Muslims pay significantly less tax than non-Muslims, they could also gain better positions in the bureaucracy.
In fact the unifying bonds between the various groups of people were culture and literature, rather than religion, which created a harmonious setting. There was a large Christian group within Muslim Spain known as the Seville.

They adopted a Muslim lifestyle, in terms of fashion, architecture, and literature, without converting to Islam. These Mozarabs suffered religious persecution in 1139 by fellow Christians after the raids of King Afonso I (Henriques) of Portugal on Seville, as they were not considered true Christians.

Umayyad Dynasty of Cordoba

Umayyad Dynasty of Cordoba

The caliph of Córdoba, formerly known as the emir of Córdoba, ruled Spain for slightly more than a century, from the year 929 to 1031, beginning with the reign of the most powerful Muslim ruler, Abd ar-Rahman III, who claimed the caliphate in 929.

The caliph was especially skilled at projecting his image as a powerful Arab leader. Abd ar-Rahman III made sure he was visible to his people in the many ceremonies and processions organized for him. The caliph presented himself as an effective leader of his own military troops. In his image campaign, newsletters and poems were glowingly written of his military prowess and piety.

During this period, in addition to having a reputation as an illustrious commercial center, al-Andalus also became an eminent center of knowledge and learning. Al-Andalus was a great civilization, compared with the rest of Europe at that time. Many Islamic works of art were produced during this kala of Muslim rule.

Umayyad caliph Abd Al-Rahman III had a keen interest in the arts, as well as the religious and secular sciences. He amassed many books from other intellectual centers such as Baghdad, which were then stored in the library. Scholars were also hired to supplement further the amount of written knowledge imported.

Drawn to the bastion of knowledge and culture, many philosophers and scientists began to migrate to al-Andalus, making it a renowned center of learning. Intellectual life in Córdoba peaked during the reign of Al-Hakam II, who was in power from 961 to 967.

He was responsible for establishing a massive library filled with hundreds of thousands of volumes, a useful repository of knowledge in the Mediterranean world. During this period several intellectuals achieved prominence in Muslim Spain.

Spanish Muslim intellectuals excelled in the fields of mathematics, medicine, and astronomy. The most famous example is Ibn Rushd, otherwise called Averroës, who was a philosopher, theologian, physician, and sometime royal consultant, born and educated in Córdoba.

Christian Reconquest

Simultaneously the territories owned by the caliph of Córdoba decreased just as aspects of commerce and culture thrived. Internal dissension among different Arab factions weakened the Umayyad power base in Córdoba as they disintegrated into warring divisions.

The lack of Muslim unity proved crucial to Christian success. During the reign of Hisham II, the Umayyad Caliphate disintegrated into party-kingdoms in 1009. He was executed in 1013, only to be succeeded by another weak ruler, Hisham III, the last caliph of Córdoba.

Hisham III was exiled to Lerida. Nominal rule continued under the short-lived Hasanid dynasty until 1054. The further remaining territories dwindled into mere Muslim principalities, better known as independent taifas, ruled by mainly Berber rulers, though there were also non-Berber rulers.

With their defenses weakened because of lack of unity, these taifas often had to hire mercenaries from North Africa or Christian mercenaries to protect their principalities, which were constantly at war with each other. This chaotic situation in the Muslim states was conducive to Christian reconquest.

Christians in the northern parts of the Iberian Peninsula had already begun to consolidate their military and political power as early as the eighth century, and into the latter half of the ninth century.

Under the reign of Alfonso II (791–842), the Christians in the northern region had stabilized themselves. He was able to install Visigothic institutions in his kingdom with his capital in Oviedo.

The Christians viewed the reconquest of southern Spain (al-Andalus) as justified, since they were reclaiming what rightfully belonged to the Visigoths. Further impetus was provided by the discovery of the tomb of St. James the apostle, a patron saint around whom the Christians could rally.

From the eighth to the 10th century the Christian north had possessed an inferior economic system and cultural milieu compared to al-Andalus in the south. However they were already clearly formed political entities with military forces that were able to stave off attacks from their enemies from the south. This enabled them to reconquer Muslim Spain upon its disintegration during the 10th and 11th centuries.

In 1056 the Almoravid Empire took over as the rulers of Muslim Spain. They were replaced by the dynasty of Almohads in 1130. The decline of the Almohads in 1269 enabled the Christians to conquer parts of Muslim Spain with more ease.

The important cities of Córdoba and Seville had already fallen into Christian hands in 1236 and 1248, respectively, leaving only Granada as the last Muslim stronghold. In 1469 through the union of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille, much of Spain was united. By 1492 a stronger Christian Spain finally took over Granada.

Christopher Columbus

Genoese navigator and explorer, most renowned for his voyage to the Americas on October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón) ranks among the most important actors in the early modern era. His encounter with the Americas ranks among the most consequential events in world history, placing Old World and New into sustained contact with repercussions that are still being felt today.

Sometimes erroneously credited with the notion that the Earth was spherical and that sailing west would permit reaching the Far East, Columbus was but one of many European navigators in the late 1400s to hold such views.

His fame is not based on his pursuit of an original idea, but on his dogged determination, despite many setbacks, to achieve his goals, combined with the striking good fortune to be the first to reach the Americas and return with evidence of a world that hitherto had lain beyond the ken of Europe.

As a youth Columbus followed his father’s trade and worked as a weaver, also spending some of his time at sea. In 1475, in his early 20s, he journeyed to the eastern Mediterranean. The following year he arrived in England.


Settling in Lisbon in 1477, he married and became enmeshed in the heady world of Portuguese navigators, who at that time were in the forefront of European efforts to reach India and China by sea and thus skirt the Muslim-dominated lands of the Middle East.

Adopting the conviction, widespread among experienced navigators, that uncharted lands lay west across the sea, Columbus for several years tried and failed to secure the patronage of King João II of Portugal for his exploratory venture.

Rebuffed in Lisbon, Columbus took his scheme to the court at Castile, the largest and most powerful of the Spanish Christian kingdoms, and at that time in the selesai stages of expelling the Moors from Iberia. After eight years, his persistence finally paid off, when Ferdinand V and Isabella I of Spain, flush with their victory over the Moors in Granada, agreed to patronize the scheme of the Genoese navigator.

Setting sail from Palos, Spain, on August 3, 1492, Columbus commanded three small caravels: the Santa María, which he himself captained; the Pinta under experienced navigator Martín Alonso Pinzón; and the Niña under Vicente Yáñez Pinzón.

After replenishing supplies in the Canary Islands, the convoy headed due west from September 6 to October 7, changing course to southwest at the suggestion of Martín Pinzón. Quelling a small mutiny on October 10, Columbus and his convoy sighted land on October 12, probably Watling Island in the Bahamas.

claiming the land for Spain

Erecting a cross, planting a flag, and claiming the land for Spain, Columbus christened the island San Salvador. He also interrogated the natives about the source of the gold ornaments they were wearing. As in subsequent expeditions, gold was paramount in the litany of marketable commodities from which Columbus and his subordinates were seeking to profit.

After exploring and charting neighboring islands, on October 27, the convoy sighted Cuba, and on December 5, Hispaniola. Earlier, in late November, in an act of insubordination, Martín Pinzón took the Pinta east in search of the island of Babeque, reputed to be a source of gold.

Columbus did not see Pinzón again until January 6, 1493, when they reunited on the north coast of Hispaniola. On December 20, the Santa María and Niña sailed into Acul Bay on the north coast of Hispaniola. On December 24, in the midst of Christmas Eve celebrations, the Santa María drifted onto a coral reef and was destroyed.

Interpreting the wreck as a sign from God, Columbus used what remained of the Santa María to create the rudiments of the first European settlement in the New World, which he called Villa de la Navidad (Christmas Village).

Leaving some 40 men behind at Navidad, Columbus linked up with the Pinta under Pinzón, and together they continued exploring the north coast of Hispaniola. On January 15, 1493, Columbus decided to return to Spain. After a brief and unexpected stop in Lisbon, he, Pinzón, their crews, and six native Taínos sailed into Palos, Spain, on March 15.

Received at the court with great pomp and majesty, Columbus was granted a coat of arms and other high honors, including being named Admiral of the Ocean Sea as stipulated in his contract. Less than two months later, on April 29, his letter to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella describing his discoveries was published in Italy, and within the year was circulating widely throughout Europe.

The overall effect was electrifying and distinguishes Columbus’s voyage from others who may have reached the Americas before him. Its political impact was also immediate and profound, ratcheting up the competition between Spain and Portugal in particular.

Fortunately for Spain, Pope Alexander VI declared Spain’s right to claim all new lands west of a north-south line 100 leagues (less than 500 kilometers) west of the Azores, into which all of the Americas fell. In 1494, the line was modified, to the benefit of Portugal, in the Treaty of Tordesillas.

Columbus made three subsequent voyages to the New World in 1493, 1498, and 1502, making many additional discoveries, none of which, however, compared to his first.

During this period, his reputation at the Spanish court declined markedly, as he proved a great explorer and self-promoter but a very poor direktur of the numerous settlements he had founded. Indeed in 1500, the newly appointed governor of Hispaniola sent Columbus back to Spain in chains in consequence of the colony’s dismal conditions.

Until the end of his days, Columbus was convinced that he had reached the East Indies, while the scramble for lands and resources that his discoveries initiated forever transformed the face of Europe, Africa, and the Americas.