The Spanish Empire (Spanish: Imperio Español; Latin: Imperium Hispanicum), historically known as the Hispanic Monarchy (Spanish: Monarquía Hispánica), the Catholic Monarchy (Spanish: Monarquía Católica) or as the Universal Catholic Monarchy (Spanish: Monarquía Católica Universal) was composed of kingdoms, vice-royalties, provinces and other territories ruled or administered by Spain and its predecessor states between 1492 and 1976. One of the largest empires in history, Spain controlled a huge overseas territory from the 16th century to the early 19th century in the Americas, the archipelago of Philippines, various islands in the Pacific and territories in Europe and Africa. It was one of the most powerful empires of the Early Modern Period. The Spanish Empire became known as "the empire on which the sun never sets" and reached its maximum extent in the 18th century. Under Charles V and Philip II, Spain exerted a dominance over Western Europe which was unprecedented since Roman times.
Castile became the dominant kingdom in Iberia because of its jurisdiction over the overseas empire in the Americas and the Philippines. The structure of empire was established under the Spanish Habsburgs (1516–1700), and under the Spanish Bourbon monarchs the empire was brought under greater crown control and increased its revenues from the Indies. The crown's authority in the Indies was enlarged by the papal grant of powers of patronage, giving it power in the religious sphere. An important element in the formation of Spain's empire was the dynastic union between Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, known as the Catholic Monarchs, which initiated political, religious and social cohesion but not political unification. Iberian kingdoms retained their political identities, with particular administration and juridical configurations. Although the power of the Spanish sovereign as monarch varied from one territory to another, the monarch acted as such in a unitary manner over all the ruler's territories through a system of councils: the unity did not mean uniformity. In 1580, when Philip II of Spain succeeded to the throne of Portugal (as Philip I), he established the Council of Portugal, which oversaw Portugal and its empire and "preserv[ed] its own laws, institutions, and monetary system, and united only in sharing a common sovereign." The forced union remained in place until 1640, when Portugal re-established its independence under the House of Braganza.The Spanish Empire in the Americas was formed after conquering indigenous empires and claiming large stretches of land, beginning with Christopher Columbus in the Caribbean Islands. In the early 16th century, it conquered and incorporated the Aztec and Inca empires, retaining indigenous elites loyal to the Spanish crown and converts to Christianity as intermediaries between their communities and royal government. After a short period of delegation of authority by the crown in the Americas, the crown asserted control over those territories and established the Council of the Indies to oversee rule there. The crown then established viceroyalties in the two main areas of settlement, Mexico and Peru, both regions of dense indigenous populations and mineral wealth. The Mayans were conquered in 1697. The Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation—the first circumnavigation of the Earth—laid the foundation for the Pacific Oceanic empire of Spain and began the Spanish colonization of the Philippines.
The structure of governance of its overseas empire was significantly reformed in the late 18th century by the Bourbon monarchs. Although the crown attempted to keep its empire a closed economic system under Habsburg rule, Spain was unable to supply the Indies with sufficient consumer goods to meet demand, so that foreign merchants from Genoa, France, England, Germany, and the Netherlands dominated the trade, with silver from the mines of Peru and Mexico flowing to other parts of Europe. The merchant guild of Seville (later Cadiz) served as middlemen in the trade. The crown's trade monopoly was broken early in the 17th century, with the crown colluding with the merchant guild for fiscal reasons in circumventing the supposedly closed system.Spain was largely able to defend its territories in the Americas, with the Dutch, the English, and the French only taking small Caribbean islands and outposts, using them to engage in contraband trade with the Spanish populace in the Indies. In the 17th century, the diversion of silver revenue to pay for European consumer goods and the rising costs of defense of its empire meant that "tangible benefits of America to Spain were dwindling...at a moment when the costs of empire were climbing sharply." The Bourbon monarchy attempted to expand trade within the empire, by allowing commerce between all ports in the empire, and took other measures to revive economic activity to the benefit of Spain. The Bourbons had inherited "an empire invaded by rivals, an economy shorn of manufactures, a crown deprived of revenue... [and tried to reverse the situation by] taxing colonists, tightening control, and fighting off foreigners. In the process, they gained a revenue and lost an empire."Spain experienced its greatest territorial losses during the early 19th century, when its colonies in the Americas began fighting for independence. By the year 1900 Spain had also lost its colonies in the Caribbean and Pacific, and it was left with only its African possessions. In Spanish America among the legacies of its relationship with Iberia, Spanish is the dominant language, Catholicism the main religion, and political traditions of representative government can be traced to the Spanish Constitution of 1812. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, the Spanish Empire's establishment in the 15th century ushered in the modern global era and the rise of European dominance in global affairs.
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