Habsburg Spain

Habsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries (1506–1700), when Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Habsburg dynasty (also associated to its role in the history of Central Europe). The Habsburg rulers (chiefly Charles I and Philip II), reached the zenith of their influence and power, controlling territory including the Americas; the East Indies in Asia; the Low Countries, territories now in France and Germany in Europe; from 1580 to 1640 the Portuguese Empire; and various other territories such as small enclaves like Ceuta and Oran in North Africa. Altogether, Habsburg Spain was, for well over a century, the world's greatest power. For this reason, this period of Spanish history has also been referred to as the "Age of Expansion."

Under the Habsburgs, Spain dominated Europe politically and militarily for much of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries but experienced a gradual decline of influence in the second half of the seveneenth century under the later Habsburg kings.

The Habsburg years were also a Spanish Golden Age of cultural efflorescence. Among the most outstanding figures of this period were Diego Velázquez, El Greco, Miguel de Cervantes, Teresa of Ávila, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Francisco de Vitoria, Domingo de Soto and Francisco Suárez.