Spanish Inquisition: Did you mean...?

Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478-1541) was a conquistador who led the Spanish conquest of the Inca civilization from 1532. With only a small group of men, Pizarro took advantage of his superior weapons and the fact that the Incas were...

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (24 February 1500 to 21 September 1558) reigned from 1519 until his abdication in 1556 and was one of the most powerful rulers in the history of the Habsburg dynasty. Through a series of...

The Florentine Codex is an encyclopedic accounting of life in 16th-century Mexico and an invaluable resource for understanding the exchange between European and Indigenous cultures during...

Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713) was the second major colonial conflict in North America, fought between the colonies of England – Great Britain after 1707 – and those of France and...

During the 18th century, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico formed one of the most strategically contested regions of the Atlantic world. Initially dominated...

The emergence of Spain as a global imperial power began with the dynastic union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon under Isabella I of Castile (reign 1474–1504) and Ferdinand II of Aragon (reign...

A 17th-century painting by Juan de la Corte showing a Spanish galleon under attack. (Museo del Prado, Madrid)

Juan Ponce de León (1474-1521) was a Spanish conquistador who led expeditions from Puerto Rico to the coast of Florida, giving the region its current name. He also served as the first governor of Puerto Rico and discovered the...

Elizabeth I reigned as queen of England from 1558 to 1603. Her 44-year reign was so long and packed with momentous events that the second half of the 16th century is now known as the Elizabethan era and still regarded as...

The Manila galleons were Spanish treasure ships which transported precious goods like silk, spices, and porcelain from Manila in the Philippines to Acapulco, Mexico, between 1565 and 1815. The Atlantic treasure fleets then shipped...