The Rise and Fall of Spain

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In the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Spain experienced her social, economical, and political golden age. However, due to inferior planning and decisions, Spain declined as a worldwide super power. Spain’s monarchs caused Spain to maintain the riches of the New World, and another set of monarchs caused Spain to become a third-rate power. The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille in 1469 united Spain under one crown and enabled the country to achieve a successful and productive monarchy. This marriage provided the financial means to fund foreign ventures as well as the royal support needed to maintain power overseas. In 1492, Christopher Columbus, sailing under the Spanish flag, discovered land in a New World, which he claimed for the Spanish Monarchy. His claims paved the way for future Spanish imperialism. Due to the social structure of Spain, ambitious men sought to advance, socially and economically, through overseas expeditions. In 1519, conquistador Hernando Cortes and his army invaded Mexico. Within three years, he captured the Aztec Empire, plundered its enormous amount of wealth and claimed the land as New Spain. In the same year, Ferdinand Magellan was commissioned to find a new route to Asia. Magellan sailed around the world which gave the Spanish advanced knowledge about sailing and the general geography of the world. Other Spanish explorers came to the Americas and conquered large amounts of land in the name of Spain. Between 1531 and 1536, Francisco Pizzaro entered and seized the wealthy and prominent Incan Empire in South America. At its peak, Spain conquered four viceroyalties in the New World; all of which existed and had laborers solely for the benefit of the monarchy. Wealth from the New World flowed into Spain’s port of Seville because Spanish expansion was based on finding and transporting precious metals, such

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