Spain 1479–1579: The First Century of a Global Power

Spain’s first imperial century began with a dynastic union, not a single modern state. From 1479 to 1579, the crowns of Castile and Aragon conquered Granada, crossed the Atlantic, survived rebellion, fought France and the Ottoman Empire, and built a monarchy spanning Europe and the Americas. This documentary follows Ferdinand and Isabella, Columbus, Joanna of Castile, Charles V, and Philip II through the conquest of Granada, the expulsion of the Jews, Atlantic colonization, the Comunero revolt, Pavia, Tunis, the conquest of Mexico and Peru, Potosí silver, the Dutch Revolt, and Lepanto. It also confronts forced conversion, colonial coercion, epidemic disease, debt, and inequality. A century of astonishing expansion made Spain powerful—and exposed the contradictions inside its golden age. #Spain #SpanishEmpire #History #CharlesV #PhilipII