Spanish Empire - Definition

Definition

The land of the Iberian peninsula was commonly called Hispania since Roman times and during the Visigothic Kingdom. The process of the Reconquista produced the emergence of four Christian realms: Castile, Aragon, Navarre and Portugal.

The dynastic union between the Crown of Castile (which will include the kingdom of Navarre since 1515) and the Crown of Aragon, initiated a political authoritarian system in force until the beginning of the eighteenth century labelled as Hispanic monarchy: the Spanish sovereign acted as monarch in a unitary manner over all his territories through a polisynodial system of Councils, but his power as king or lord varied from one territory to another one, since each territory retained its own particular administration and juridical configuration. The unity did not mean uniformity. The conditions of incorporation were agreed, and Aragon, Navarre and the Basque provinces retains much of its civil laws and administrative policies, even under the aegis of the throne of Castilla and its law of succession, but with the mandatory obligation to recognize by their king the person who was proclaimed sovereign legitimately under the laws of succession of Castile.

According to this political configuration, independently of the denominations given to the "dynastic union" between 1580 and 1640, the scholars argue that the Portuguese Empire kept its own administration and jurisdiction over its territory as the other kingdoms and realms ruled by the Spanish Habsburgs. Nevetheless, whereas some historians assert that at that time, Portugal was a kingdom which formed part of the Spanish Monarchy; others draw a clear distinction between the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Empire.

The Spanish Empire includes the dominions of the Spanish monarch in the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Africa, but some disputes exist as to which European territories are to be counted. For instance, normally the Habsburg Netherlands are included as they were part of the possessions of the King of Spain, governed by Spanish officials, and defended by Spanish troops. However, authors like the British historian Henry Kamen contend that these territories were not fully integrated into a Spanish state and instead formed part of the wider Habsburg possessions. Some historians use "Habsburg" and "Spanish" almost interchangeably when referring to the dynastic inheritance of Charles V or Philip II.