Discover Spain's Rich History

A Brief History of Spain

Spain has a rich history dating back to the pre-Roman peoples of the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula.
During Classical Antiquity, the peninsula was colonized by Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans, who referred to the entire Peninsula as Hispania.
Germanic tribes invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the 4th and 5th centuries AD, resulting in the loss of Roman rule and the establishment of Germanic kingdoms, most notably the Visigoths and the Suebi.
The region became known as Al-Andalus after the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711, and remained under Muslim-lead states for much of the Early Middle Ages, a period known as the Islamic Golden Age.
Christians from the north gradually expanded their control over Iberia during the High Middle Ages, a period known as the Reconquista, resulting in the formation of several Christian kingdoms.
The early modern period is generally dated from the union of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon under the Catholic Monarchs in 1469, marking the foundation of unified Spain.
1492 was a critical inflection point in Spanish history, as it marked the conquest of Granada, the end of the Reconquista, and the voyages of the various explorers and Conquistadors of Spain during the subsequent decades.
King Carlos I established the Spanish Habsburg dynasty, under whose rule the Spanish Golden Age flourished and the Spanish Empire reached its territorial and economic peak.
The 18th century saw the beginning of the slow decline of Spanish influence in Europe, culminating in the loss of most of Spain's territory in the Americas during the Spanish American wars of independence.
The 20th century began with foreign and domestic turmoil, including the Spanish-American War, a series of military dictatorships, and ultimately, the Spanish Civil War.
Francisco Franco led a fascist dictatorship for almost four decades, which ended with his death and ushered in a return of the monarchy under King Juan Carlos I.
A new liberal Constitution was established in 1978, and Spain entered the European Economic Community in 1986 and the Eurozone in 1998.
Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014 and was succeeded by his son Felipe VI, the current king.The History of Spain from the Visigothic Kingdom to Islamic Al-Andalus and the Christian Reconquest
The Visigoths conquered all of Hispania and ruled until the early 8th century, when the peninsula fell to the Muslim conquests.
The Visigoths assimilated Roman culture and language during their tenure and tended to maintain more of the old Roman institutions.
The Liber Iudiciorum or Lex Visigothorum was a legal code that brought about legal unification by applying it to the entire population.
The Visigothic ruling class looked to Constantinople for style and technology, and the economy depended primarily on agriculture and animal husbandry.
Arianism was the official religion in Hispania, but the Visigothic king at Toledo, Reccared, converted to Catholicism and launched a movement to unify the various religious doctrines.
The Umayyad Caliphate in North Africa sent an Islamic Berber conquering party, led by Tariq ibn Ziyad, to intervene in a civil war in the Visigothic Kingdom.
The Muslim conquerors were Arabs and Berbers; following the conquest, conversion and arabization of the Hispano-Roman population took place.
Christians and Jews were allowed to live as subordinate groups under the dhimmah system, although Jews came under scrutiny for their religious practices.
The Muslim population was divided per ethnicity, and the supremacy of Arabs over the rest of the group was a recurrent cause for strife, rivalry, and hatred.
The consolidation of a Christian polity that came to be known as the Kingdom of Asturias ensued after the defeat of the Muslim force at the Battle of Covadonga.
Islamic power in Spain specifically climaxed in the 10th century under Abd-ar-Rahman III, and he declared the Caliphate of Córdoba, effectively breaking all ties with the Egyptian and Syrian caliphs.
Al-Andalus coincided with La Convivencia, an era of relative religious tolerance, and with the Golden age of Jewish culture in the Iberian Peninsula.
Muslim interest in the peninsula returned in force around the year 1000 when Al-Mansur (also known as Almanzor) sacked Barcelona and other Christian cities were subjected to numerous raids.A Brief History of Spain
After the death of the caliph's son, the caliphate fell into a civil war and splintered into the "Taifa Kingdoms", which competed against each other not only in war but also in the protection of the arts, leading to a brief cultural renaissance.
The Almohads, who took control of the Almoravids' territories, treated non-believers harshly, leading to the expulsion of many Jews and Christians.
By the mid-13th century, the Emirate of Granada was the only independent Muslim realm in Spain, surviving until 1492 as a vassal state to Castile.
Medieval Spain was the scene of almost constant warfare between Muslims and Christians, with most of Hispania back under Christian rule by 1250, except for the Muslim kingdom of Granada.
In the 13th century, Castilian gained prominence as the language of culture and communication, and many universities were founded in León and Castile.
The dynastic union of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, united the crowns and set the stage for the creation of the Kingdom of Spain, with each region retaining its own political and judicial structure.
The Catholic Monarchs oversaw the final stages of the Reconquista and expelled the Jews and Muslims from Spain under the Alhambra Decree.
The Castilian conquest of the Canary Islands, completed in 1495, began Spain's colonial expansion and conquests in the New World.
The Spanish Empire became one of the largest empires in world history in the 16th and 17th centuries, with religion playing a strong role in the spread of the empire.
Spain's Habsburg dynasty reached the peak of its power in the 16th and 17th centuries, with Charles I becoming king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, and Philip II treating Castile as the foundation of his empire.
Philip II's plans to consolidate control of the Netherlands led to unrest and the Calvinist leadership of the revolt, leading to the Eighty Years' War.Spain from the 16th to the 18th Century
The Dutch armies successfully avoided set piece battles, consuming much Spanish expenditure in the late 16th century, including the Spanish Armada, which cost 10 million ducats and saw over 8,000 English sailors die from diseases while the Spanish Armada was at sea.
Castile experienced economic and administrative problems, rising inflation, financially draining wars in Europe, and dependency on silver imports, causing several bankruptcies and economic crises in the country, especially in Castile. The great plague of 1596-1602 killed 600,000 to 700,000 people, or about 10% of the population.
The Spanish Golden Age (Siglo de Oro) saw flourishing arts and letters in the Spanish Empire, coinciding with the political decline and fall of the Habsburgs. El Escorial, Diego Velázquez, El Greco, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Luis de Milán, Alonso Lobo, Miguel de Cervantes, and Lope de Vega were all great artists and writers of this period.
Spain's severe financial difficulties began in the mid-16th century, and continued for the remainder of Habsburg rule, leading to monetary inflation, mercantilism, and various government monopolies and interventions. Spanish kings declared sovereign defaults nine times between 1557 and 1666.
The Count-Duke of Olivares was the inept prime minister from 1621 to 1643. He over-exerted Spain in foreign affairs and unsuccessfully attempted domestic reform, leading to a renewal of the Eighty Years' War and Spain's involvement in the Thirty Years' War. His attempts to centralize power and increase wartime taxation led to revolts in Catalonia and Portugal.
During the Thirty Years' War, France provided subsidies to Habsburg enemies, especially Sweden. Spain was also embroiled in the Thirty Years' War, and Olivares' policy of committing Spain to recapture Holland led to a renewal of the Eighty Years' War. In 1640, both Portugal and Catalonia rebelled. Portugal was lost to the crown for good; in northern Italy and most of Catalonia, French forces were expelled and Catalonia's independence was suppressed.
Spain's decline during the 17th century was due to a variety of factors, including heavy taxation of peasants, depopulation, heavy reliance on the export of luxurious Merino wool, and the Crown's dedication to destroying Protestantism through almost constant warfare, which created a cultural ethos among Spanish leaders that undermined the opportunity for economic modernization or industrialization.
The War of the Spanish Succession (1700–1714) pitted proponents of the Bourbon succession against those for the Habsburg. The treaty of Utrecht recognized Philip, Duke of Anjou, Louis XIV's grandson, as King of Spain, and Spain became culturally and politically a follower of absolutist France. Philip made reforms in government, and strengthened the central authorities relative to the provinces.
The rule of the Spanish Bourbons continued under Ferdinand VI and Charles III. Under the rule of Charles III and his ministers, the economy improved, and Spain regained Florida with the Treaty of Paris (1783), which ended the American Revolutionary War. However, there were no reforming impulses in the reign of Charles IV, seen by some as mentally handicapped.
The Catholic Church and Spain showcased a