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Treaty of Tordesillas
The 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas (Tordesilhas) was an agreement between the monarchs of Spain and Portugal to divide the world between them into two spheres of influence. The imaginary dividing line ran down the centre of the Atlantic Ocean...
Definition
Spanish Treasure Fleets
From the 16th to 18th centuries, two treasure fleets sailed each year, one to Mexico and the other to Central America, then part of the Spanish Empire. There they collected precious eastern goods and the riches of the Americas, including...
Definition
Abd al-Rahman I
Abd al-Rahman was the founder of the Emirate of Cordoba and ruled as Abd al-Rahman I from 756-788 CE. As one of the lone survivors of the Umayyad Dynasty after the Abbasids defeated the Umayyad Caliphate, Abd al-Rahman bridged the Umayyad...
Definition
Abd al-Rahman III
Abd al-Rahman III was an Umayyad prince who reigned as Emir of Cordoba, and later Caliph of Cordoba, from 912 to 961 CE. His reign is remembered as a golden age of Muslim Spain and Umayyad rule, epitomized by his declaration of the second...
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Viceroyalty of New Spain, c. 1800
This map illustrates the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the earliest and most extensive administrative division of the Spanish Empire. At its peak, it encompassed a vast array of territories across North America, the Caribbean, and Asia, serving...
Definition
Battle of Pydna
The Battle of Pydna in June 168 BCE was a decisive Roman victory that ended the Third Macedonian War and established Rome as the dominant power in the Mediterranean. The Roman Republic was expanding, enlarging its sphere of influence along...
Definition
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War (The Hannibalic War) was fought between Carthage and Rome between 218 and 201 BCE. The war involved confrontations in Spain, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, and North Africa. Hannibal led the Carthaginians, one of the most gifted...
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Death of King Philip or Metacom
An early 20th-century illustration showing the death of King Philip, aka Metacom (l. 1638-1676) who led a coalition of Native American tribes in King Philip’s War (aka Metacom’s War, 1675-1678) against English colonists.
Definition
Buccaneer
The buccaneers were privateers who attacked enemies of their state, namely Spain, in the Caribbean and on the American coast (the Spanish Main) throughout the 17th century. Initially hunters and then seamen and soldiers, the buccaneers successfully...
Definition
Wyatt Rebellion
The Wyatt Rebellion of January-February 1554 CE saw Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger lead a group of several thousand Kent rebels in a march on London with the primary aim of preventing Mary I of England (r. 1553-1558 CE) from marrying Spain's...