Spanish Empire: Did you mean...?

Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478-1541) was a conquistador who led the Spanish conquest of the Inca civilization from 1532. With only a small group of men, Pizarro took advantage of his superior weapons and the fact that the Incas were weakened...

A map showing the route of the Spanish Armada from May to October 1588 CE. The Armada was sent by Philip II of Spain (r. 1556-1598 CE) to invade the kingdom of Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603 CE) but was defeated by the Royal Navy and...

A 17th century CE painting by Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen of the Spanish Armada which sailed to invade England in 1588 CE. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)

Spanish Gypsies, painting by Evgraf Sorokin (1821-1892), 1853.

A c. 1590 CE painting by an unknown Flemish artist of English fireships being sent in to cause havoc amongst the vessels of the Spanish Armada of 1588 CE. (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich)

Fireships being sent into the Spanish Armada by Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540-1596 CE) in July 1588 CE. A 1796 CE painting by Philip James de Loutherbourg. (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England)

A rapier signed by the Spanish swordmaker Juan Martinez in 1580 CE. The handle is decorated with gold, copper wire, wood, and velvet. Toledo, Spain. (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Battle between Dutch and Spanish ships on the Haarlemmermeer, 26 May 1573, oil on canvas by Hendrik Cornelisz Vroom, c. 1629. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

The Council of the Indies (El Real y Supremo Consejo de las Indias) operated from 1524 to 1834 and was the supreme governing body of the Spanish Empire in the Americas and Spanish East Indies. Reporting directly to the monarch, the Council...

The Roman Empire, at its height (c. 117), was the most extensive political and social structure in western civilization. Building upon the foundation laid by the Roman Republic, the empire became the largest and most powerful political and...