Spanish: Did you mean...?

In this gallery of seven maps, we examine the vast overseas territories of the Spanish Empire from the late 15th century to the 19th century. The empire reached its height during the Age of Exploration and included...

Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540-1596 CE) was an English mariner, privateer and explorer who in 1588 CE helped defeat the Spanish Armada of Philip II of Spain (r. 1556-1598 CE) which attempted to invade the kingdom of Elizabeth I of England...

The War of Jenkins' Ear (1739-1748) was a colonial conflict fought between Great Britain and Spain, primarily in the Caribbean and off the coast of South America. Looking to protect...

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...

Sir John Hawkins (1532-1595 CE) was an Elizabethan mariner, merchant and naval administrator who has the inglorious (if not wholly accurate) record of being England's first slave trader. In the 1560s CE Hawkins trafficked slaves...

This map illustrates the rise and expansion of the Spanish Colonial Empire during the Age of Exploration, from the late 15th to the early 19th century. Emerging after the completion of the Reconquista in 1492 and...

A map illustrating the route and failing fortunes of the Spanish Armada (from Spanish - Grande y Felicísima Armada, “Great and Most Fortunate Fleet”) in 1588. A crucial part of a planned invasion of...

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 sea dogs, as they were disparagingly called by the Spanish authorities, were privateers who, with the consent and sometimes financial support of Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603 CE), attacked and...

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...