Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/455

* SPAIN. 391 SPAIN. Prominent among the late Castilian monarchs ■were Ferdinand 111., who extended the dominions of Castile far into Andalusia, conquering Cor- dova in 1236 and Seville in 1248; Alfonso X.. the Wise, famous as a legislator, writer, and patron of learning; Alfonso XL; Peter the Cruel; and Isabella, whose marriage with Ferdinand the Catholic (1409) brought about the union of Castile and Aragon in 1479. Among the sov- ereigns who raised Aragon to the position of an important power and extended its dominion be- yond the bounds of the Iberian Peninsula were James I. (121.3-76). who conqiiered Valencia and the Balearic Islands; Pedro 111. (1276-85), who obtained Sicily (1282); James II. (1291-1327), who annexed Sardinia; Alfonso V. (1416-58), who conquered Naples ; and Ferdinand V., the Catholic (1479-1516), who became the ruler of the whole of Spain. The mediaeval history of Castile and Aragon is marked by a vigorous development of constitutionalism as embodied in the assertion of their power by the es- tates of the realm. (See Cortes.) In both king- doms the cities enjoyed great political freedom, of which they were gradually deprived after the consolidation of Spain into a single monarchy. The union of Castile and Aragon enabled the Christians of Spain to undertake the subversion of what remained of Jloorish dominion in the peninsula. In 1482 Ferdinand and Isabella en- tered upon a war for the subjugation of the King- dom of Granada, and at the beginning of 1492 the sovereigns made their entry into the Moorish capital. All Spain, with the exception of Navarre, was now practically one power. The shrewd policy of Ferdinand the Catholic, who followed the tendency of the age and strengthened the royal power at the expense of the privileges both of the feudal nobility and the people, enaliled Spain to grow in external power and influence, and to assume a military preeminence among the countries of Europe. In Italy the arms of .Spain, under Gonsalvo de Cordova, triumphed over those of France. In 1512 Ferdinand made himself master of Navarre, with the exception of the district north of the Pyrenees, and thus completed the unification of Spain. The discovery of the New World by Columbus and his successors under Spanish auspices in the closing years of the fifteenth century made Spain the pioneer colonial power, and for a considerable period the greatest. The expulsion of the Jews from the Spanish do- minions in 1492 deprived them of a large body of industrious citizens. In 1516 Charles I. (from 1519 Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V.), the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella, and of Jlaxi- milian of Austria and Mary of Burgundy, in- augurated the Hapsburg dynasty on the throne of Spain. He was the ruler of the Netherlands, which became part of the Spanish realm, and he acquired the Duchy of Milan (embracing most of Lombardy), which was made a Spanish possession. Mexico and Peru, whose mines poured the precious metals into Spain in an inexhaus- tible supply, were acquired during his reign. Charles was the most powerful Cliristian mon- arch of his time. His reign was taken up with endless contests with the French, and. as C4er- man Emperor, with efforts to suppress Protest- antism, as well as with war against the Turks. (See Charles V., Holy Roman Emperor.) His son Philip II. (q.v.) (1550-98), who succeeded to the Spanish possessions of the House of Haps- burg, jirepared the way by his narrow and bigoted policy for the decline of Spain. He developed the IiKjuisitiou, which had been introduced by Ferdinand and Isabella, into a powerful engine for the repression of religious and political dis- sent, and his attempt forcibly to root out the Reformation in the Netherlands brought about a rising which resulted in the severance of the Dutch provinces from Spain. With England he waged long wars., which were disastrous to the Spanish naval power. (See Armada; Drake.) In 1580 Philip II. conquered and annexed Portu- gal. The Spaniards took possession of the Philip- pines in his reign. Under Philip III. (1598- 1621 ), in whose reign the Moriscos were expelled, and under Philip IV. (1621-65). in whose reign the Dutch Netherlands were definitively given up and Portugal reasserted its independence, the de- cadence of the nation proceeded at a rapid rate. The male line of the Hapsbnrgs became extinct in Charles II. (1665-1700) and tlie conflicting claims to the throne produced the war of the Spanish Succession (see Succession Wars), in which England and Holland were allied with Austria, Prussia, the CJerman Empire, and Savoy against Louis XIV. to prevent the aggrandize- ment of France by the acquisition of Spain as an appanage of the 'House of Bourbon. When the rival Austrian claimant became Emperor and head of the Austrian dominions as Charles VI., in 1711, a similar objection existed to his obtain- ing the throne of Spain, and the allies conceded the succession to Philip of Anjou, who had been proclaimed King of Spain as Philip V. in 1700, and was confirmed by the Peace of Utrecht in 1713. This was the beginning of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain. Spain emerged from the War of Succession stripped of the Belgian Nether- lands. Naples, Sicily. Sardinia, and her Lombard territories. She had to cede Gibraltar to the English, who had captured it in 1704. A few years later Spain, whose policy was at this time directed by Alberoni, made an effort to recover .some of her lost possessions, but her aggressions were promptly met by the Quadruple Alliance of 1718 between Great Britain, France, Austria, and Holland, and the schemes of the able Prime Minister came to naught. In the War of the Polish Succession, however. Don Car- los, son of Philip V., wrested the Two Sicilies from Austria and established the Bourbon dynasty there. Philip was succeeded by his son, Ferdinand VI. (1746-59), in whose reign numerous reforms were introduced in the administration. Ferdi- nand was succeeded by his half-brother Charles III. (1759-88), who, on ascending the Spanish throne, relinquished the Two Sicilies to his son, Ferdinand IV. Charles brought into Spain from his Italian domains a new spirit, and initiated reforms in the internal administration, foreign policy, .and economics of the State. As a result of the Seven Years' War. in which Spain joined France. Florida was ceded to Great ijritain and Louisiana acquired from France (176.T). In 1767 the .Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish do- minions. In 1779 Spain became the ally of France in the war again.st England, and in 1783 she recovered Florida, which in 1819 was ceded