The Spanish Empire: A Comprehensive Overview

The Spanish Empire

Political Structure

Empire: A state that governs different territories with inhabitants of diverse cultural backgrounds.

Composite Monarchy: A set of territories united under a single monarch, with each territory maintaining its own institutions.

Capital: The seat of government.

Parliament: The most powerful institution in each state of the kingdom, composed of the high nobility, high clergy, and high bourgeoisie.

Concejos: Collegiate institutions that advise the king on territorial, thematic, and state matters.

Governor, Viceroy, Corregidor: Officials who govern a territory or city on behalf of the king.

Audiencias and Chancelleries: Courts of justice.

Justicia de Aragon, Generalitat de Catalunya: Institutions that defend the laws and privileges of their respective territories.

Economic Growth and Expansion

The Spanish Empire experienced significant economic growth, characterized by:

• Increased food production and population growth.
• Expansion of crafts, trade, and banking.
• Search for new raw materials and markets.
• Technical improvements, such as new types of ships and instruments.

Social Hierarchy and Beliefs

Ethnicism: The belief in the superiority of one ethnic group over others.

Limpieza de Sangre: The practice of requiring individuals to prove their absence of Muslim or Jewish ancestry.

Mayorazgo or Progeniture: A system of inheritance where the eldest son inherits all property, which cannot be divided or sold.

Discovery of America

Christopher Columbus: Believing the Earth was round and smaller than it actually is, Columbus proposed reaching India by sailing west across the Atlantic. With funding from the Catholic Monarchs, he set sail in 1492 and landed in the Americas, mistakenly believing he had reached the East Indies.

Amerigo Vespucci: Realized that the discovered lands were a new continent, later named America.

Conquistadors: Spanish explorers and conquerors, such as Hernán Cortés (Aztecs), Francisco Pizarro (Incas), and Miguel López de Legazpi (Philippines).

Mestizos: Children of Spanish and indigenous parentage.

Europeanization: The adoption of European culture by indigenous peoples.

Mestizaje: The blending of European and indigenous cultural traits.

Mercantilism and the Scientific Revolution

Mercantilism: An economic theory that equated a kingdom's wealth with its accumulation of precious metals.

Galileo Galilei: Confirmed the heliocentric model of the solar system.

Johannes Kepler: Formulated the laws of planetary motion.

Isaac Newton: Established the law of universal gravitation and the general theory of light.