Spanish III

1479-1598 CE

From 1479 to 1598 CE, the Spanish united two crowns and conquered a world — Ferdinand and Isabella completing the Reconquista at Granada, funding Columbus's mad voyage west, their grandson Charles inheriting half of Europe while conquistadors toppled empires with handfuls of men. Philip II built the Escorial as a monument to God and paperwork, his galleons carrying American silver to fund wars against heretics everywhere — until the Armada scattered and the golden century began its slow fade.