Spanish Inquisition: Did you mean...?

In 1533 CE the Inca Empire was the largest in the world. It extended across western South America from Quito in the north to Santiago in the south. However, the lack of integration of conquered peoples into that empire, combined with a civil...

The Aztec empire flourished between c. 1345 and 1521 CE and dominated ancient Mesoamerica. This young and warlike nation was highly successful in spreading its reach and gaining fabulous wealth, but then all too quickly came the strange visitors...

An illustration showing the torture of indigenous American peoples by Spanish conquistadors. From the 1552 edition of A Very Brief Recital of the Destruction of the Indies by Bartolomé de las Casas which was a graphic indictment of the exploitation...

A c. 1589 map showing the port of Cartagena on the Spanish Main (now in modern Colombia). Cartagena was one of the main ports for the Spanish treasure fleets and acted as a collecting point for gold, silver, emeralds, and pearls from Colombia...

A map showing the route of the Spanish Armada from May to October 1588 CE. The Armada was sent by Philip II of Spain (r. 1556-1598 CE) to invade the kingdom of Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603 CE) but was defeated by the Royal Navy and...

A 17th century CE painting by Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen of the Spanish Armada which sailed to invade England in 1588 CE. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)

A 16th-century print by Theodor de Bry showing indigenous peoples gaining revenge on Spanish Conquistadores in the Americas by pouring molten gold down their throats. (From Grand Voyages Accounts to the Americas, and to Africa and the Orient...

A c. 1590 CE painting by an unknown Flemish artist of English fireships being sent in to cause havoc amongst the vessels of the Spanish Armada of 1588 CE. (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich)

Fireships being sent into the Spanish Armada by Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540-1596 CE) in July 1588 CE. A 1796 CE painting by Philip James de Loutherbourg. (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England)

The European colonization of the Americas was the process by which European settlers populated the regions of North, Central, South America, and the islands of the Caribbean. It is also recognized as the direct cause for the cultures of the...