Spain - An Empire of Gold

The Political History

Political Chronology

• 476 - 484 A.D. - Visigoths complete conquest of Spain.
• 711 - 718 - Muslim conquest of Spain.
• 718 - Visigothic Christian leader, Pelayo, begins Reconquest and establishes kingdom of Asturias.
• 756 - Independent Muslim monarchy in Córdoba by Abd al-Rahman I.
• 777 - 778 - Charlemagne invades Spain.
  Basques defeat Franks.
• 801 - Charlemagne annexes Barcelona.
• 976 - 1009 - Al-Mansur rules Islamic Spain.
• 1031 - Caliphate collapses.
• 1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile and Christian crusaders capture Toledo.
• 1094 - El Cid takes Valencia.
• June 1212 - Victory of Christian kingdoms under Alfonso VIII at Las Navas de Tolosa.
• 1217 - 1252 - Reign of Ferdinand III of Castile.
• October 19, 1469 -
  Marriage between Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon.
• 1478 - Isabella establishes the Inquisition.
• 1479 - Aragon and Castile united under joint rule of Ferdinand and Isabella.
• February 6, 1481 -
  First auto-da-fé (public burning) in the history of the Spanish Inquisition.
• 1482 -
  Ferdinand and Isabella begin military campaign to take Granada.
• January 2, 1492 -
  Moorish king, Mohammed XI, surrenders Granada to Ferdinand and Isabella.
• August 2, 1492 -
  Columbus sails with three ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María, from Palos.
  
• 1504 -
  Death of Isabella.
• January 1515 -
  Charles of Luxemburg (son of Philip), proclaimed ruler of Habsburg Netherlands.
  (Charles later becomes Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.)
• 1516 -
  Ferdinand dies.
  Charles succeeds to thrones of Castile and Aragon.
• September 17, 1517 -
  Charles I sets foot in Spain.
• November 1, 1517 -
  Martin Luther nails 95 theses to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral.
• 1519 -
  Hapsburg Emperor Maximilian I dies.
• 1520 - 1550 - Prices double in Spain, partially result of influx of precious metals.
• 1519 - 1522 -
  Hernán Cortés conquers Mexico.
• 1525 - Battle of Pavia
  French army defeated and French king, Francis I, taken prisoner.
• 1529 -
  Coronation of Charles I as Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in Bologna.
• 1531 - 1535 -
  Francisco Pizarro conquers Peru.
• 1535 -
  Charles personally leads attack on Turkish-held Tunis and captures city.
• 1546 -
  Death of Martin Luther.
• 1547 - Battle of Mühlberg.
• 1554 - Prince Philip marries Mary I, queen of England.
• 1555 - Pirate Jacques Sores, with only two ships and a hundred men, captures and razes Havanna.
• 1556 -
  Charles abdicates thrones of Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands in favor of his son Philip.
• 1556 - 1598 - Reign of Philip II.
• 1558 - Mary I dies.
  November - Elizabeth becomes queen of England
• 1562 - 26 English seamen, captured by Spanish authorities raiding Spanish shipping burned at the stake by the Spanish Inquisition in an auto-da-fé.
• 1567 -
  Rebellion breaks out in Netherlands.
• August 1567 -
  Duke of Alva arrives in Netherlands with 10,000 Spanish and Neapolitan troops.
• 1568 -
  John Hawkins's ships, trading in African slaves in the Caribbean, attacked by Spanish ships while in the Mexican port of San Juan de Ulúa.
  May - June - Rebel naval force, the Sea-Beggars, established by Count Louis, in the Ems estuary in the Netherlands.
  December - English seize Spanish silver shipment, worth 450,000 ducats, in Southampton intended to pay Alba's troops in the Netherlands.
  Morisco revolt breaks out in the Alpujarras.
  December 29 - Alba impounds English property in the Netherlands.
• October 7, 1571 - Battle of Lepanto.
  John of Austria defeats Turkish squadron off Lepanto.
• 1572 -
  Francis Drake sails to Isthmus of Darie to attack Spanish shipping.
• July 19, 1572 - Holland towns in revolt assemble at Dordrecht as States of Holland.
• October 1573 - Battle of the Zuider Zee.
  Sea Beggers defeat Spanish fleet in shallow waters of Zuider Zee.
• Autumn 1575 - Philip suspends interest payments on the royal debt.
• April 1577 - Spanish troops leave Netherlands.
• July 1577 - Don Juan flees Brussels.
  Recalls Spanish troops.
• 1578 -
  King Sebastian of Portugal killed in battle of Alcazarquivir in Morocco.
• January 23, 1579 - Union of Utrecht -
  Dutch Republic comes into existence with the signing of the Union of Utrecht.
• July, 1579 -
  Spanish force of 3,000 landed on west coast of Ireland.
• 1580 -
  Duke of Alba leads invasion force into Portugal to reinforce Philip's claim to Portuguese throne.
  Francis Drake returns to England after round the world voyage in the Golden Hind.
  Value of treasure in the Golden Hind set at £600,000.
• July 1582 - Spanish fleet under Santa Cruz defeats French fleet under Filippo Strozzi in the Azores. French losses include 11 ships and between 1,200 and 1,500 dead.
• October 1582 - Spanish troop strength in the Netherlands reaches 61,000.
• July 1583 - Santa Cruz conquers the Azores with a force of 98 ships and 15,000 men.
• July 1584 - Prince of Orange assassinated at headquarters in Delft in the Netherlands.
• 1585 -
  Francis Drake sails on raiding expedition.
  Raids Spanish port of Vigo.
  Sacks towns of Santiago and Porto Praya in the Cape Verde Islands.
  Attacks city of Santo Domingo, in the Indies, and sacks Cartagena, capital of the Spanish Main.
  Raids cause Spanish credit rating to tumble.
  As a result, Philip is unable to borrow funds to pay Spanish troops in Flanders.
• August 20, 1585 - - Treaty of Nonsuch
  Queen Elizabeth agrees to aid Dutch with military expedition.
  6,350 foot soldiers and 1,000 cavalry dispatched, commanded by earl of Leicester.
• February 18, 1587 - Mary Queen of Scots beheaded.
• April 1587 -
  Francis Drake raids Spanish port of Cádiz.
  Spanish loss of 24 ships destroyed, valued at 172,000 ducats.
• 1588 -
  May 11 - Spanish Armada sails from Lisbon.
  Force of 130 vessels, 8.000 sailors, and 20,000 troops.
  June 19 - Armada ordered in to port of Corunna to re-provision.
  Water and food supplies had spoiled and crew disabled by dysentery.
  July 22 - Armada sails from Corunna.
  July 29 - Armada arrives off Plymouth.
  July 31 - Fleets skirmish off Plymouth; 900-ton San Salvador blows up in the afternoon.
  English shadow Spanish fleet as it moves up the coast.
  Tuesday, August 2 - Battle off Portland Bill.
  Thursday, August 4 - Battle off the Isle of Wight.
  Sunday, August 7 - English release eight fire ships against Spanish ships, anchored at Calais, panicking Armada, and scattering fleet.
  Monday, August 8 - Battle of Gravelines.
  Friday, August 12 - English fleet pursuing Armada breaks off as Armada sails north past Scottish border.
  Armada size reduced from 130 to 100 ships.
  August 13 - 18 - Strong winds carry Armada north.
  60 ships of original 130 eventually return to Spain. Heaviest losses along the west coast of Ireland.
• 1596 -
  Philip sends second Armada against England.
  Half of fleet destroyed by storm near the Bay of Biscay.
• 1598 -
  Death of Philip II.
• 1598 - 1621 -
  Reign of Philip III of Spain.
• 1601 -
  Spain lands small invasion force of 5,000 men on southern coast of Ireland.
  Surrender to English after three months.
• April 25, 1607 - Battle in Bay of Gibraltar.
  Dutch fleet of 26 warships defeats Spanish fleet.
  All ten of large Spanish galleons destroyed.
  Dutch admiral Jacob van Heemskerck killed.
• 1621 - 1665 - Reign of Philip IV of Spain.
• 1628 -
  Mexican treasure convoy captured by WIC fleet under Piet Heyn (Hein) off Cuban coast, at Matanzas.
• 1628 - 1631 - Franco-Spanish conflict over Mantuan Succession forces Spain to divert funds and troops to Italy.
• 1630 -
  WIC captures Recife in northern Brazil.
• May 1635 -
  France declares war on Spain.
  Franco-Dutch invasion of Spanish Netherlands fails.
• October 21, 1639 -
  Battle of the Downs.
  Dutch fleet under Maarten Tromp destroys Spanish squadron.
• 1639 -
  Spanish treasure fleet fails to cross the Atlantic.
• 1640 - Armed revolt breaks out in Catalonia.
  Mobs attack representatives of Castilian government in Barcelona on Corpus Christi Day.
• October 24, 1648 - Treaty of Westphalia or Münster.
  End of Thirty Years' War.
  End of Eighty Years' War (Beginnings of Dutch revolt dated from events of 1568.)
• 1655 - 1660 -
  Anglo-Spanish War.
• 1668 -
  Triple Alliance of 1668 -
  Dutch Republic, England, and Sweden form armed coalition to mediate between France and Spain.
  Demand end to French hostilities with Spain.
  Louis orders halt to invasion.
• June 2, 1676 -
  Battle of Palermo, Sicily.
  French fleet destroys Dutch and Spanish fleets.
• 1688 - 1697 -
  Nine Years' War (War of the League of Augsburg).
  Austria, Sweden, Dutch Republic and several German states form alliance against France.
  Spain, Savoy, and England later join League.
• 1702 - 1715 - War of the Spanish Succession.
• May 1702 -
  War of the Spanish Succession begins.
  Dutch Republic, Britain, Austria and Prussia declare war on France and Bourbon Spain.
• October 13, 1702 - Anglo-Dutch fleet attacks French and Spanish fleets anchored in harbor of Vigo, Spain.
• 1793 - French Republic declares war on Spain.
• 1805 - Spain enters the War of the Third Coalition against England.
  Spanish fleet destroyed by Nelson at Trafalgar.
• 1807 - French armies invade Spain.
• 1808 - 1814 - Peninsular War (Spanish War of Independence).
  England provides military support against French.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War.