Spanish American Imperialism

Back when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the new monarchs of Spain, were ruling, Spain was split into two distinct regions and was extremely disunited. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella originated from the two regions Aragon and Castile, respectively. Ferdinand and Isabella married to unify the two regions but the two remained separate politically and economically. The Spanish Empire had no sense of nationalism which could be dangerous if any group of people wanted to take over Spain and the Spanish people had no pride in them to defend themselves. The Spanish Catholic Church proved to be the kindling for the feeling of national identity in Spain. To fuel the fire, Ferdinand and Isabella completed the Reconquista. The Reconquista had been

going on for centuries after the defeat of the Catholics against the Moors during the Crusades, but Ferdinand and Isabella put an end to it once and for all by taking Granada in 1492. The Fall of Granada, as it was called, occurred when the “Catholic Monarchs,” Ferdinand and Isabella, conquered the Alhambra Palace where the rulers of the Moors lived in Spain. With the last part of Spain reconquered the Spanish people started to feel proud of their home and religion, as they felt they had won back what they rightfully deserved. Thus came the expulsion of the Jews and Moors. The Expulsion of 1492 was the period of time when the Muslims and Jews who did not convert to Christianity were forced out of Spain. Their presence in Spain must have caused great unrest and posed a threat to the national identity revolving around the church that Ferdinand and Isabella caused the once tolerant Spain to suddenly become intolerant. Ferdinand and Isabella probably wanted to continue their efforts of centralization and feared that the presence of Jews and Muslims would prohibit them from doing so. Ferdinand and Isabella also used an institution to enforce their laws against heresy called the Inquisition. There was a fear that some Jewish and Muslims only converted to Christianity to avoid expulsion and those people might cause a disruption of the peace. The Inquisition were church courts that these Moriscos and Marranos were taken to. The Inquisition was efficient at keeping order because the punishments they offered were severe. Ferdinand and Isabella’s efforts at centralization and nationalism around the church led them to create a unified country with one single faith and loyalty to their monarchs. The religious drive in Spain brought the country more land like Granada containing the beautiful Alhambra Palace and led them to make more campaigns defending their religion and spreading it to new places (Palmer 75). Spain under the new monarchs had become strong and determined, as was Ferdinand and Isabella’s goal.
The Holy Roman Empire was a new monarchy that was not as successful as the others.

However, achievements were made and some characteristics of a new monarchy were met or attempted, so the Holy Roman Empire was a new monarchy. The Holy Roman Empire was perhaps the most decentralized out of all the new monarchies and consisted of many diverse states . The three types of states included the princely states, the church/ecclesiastic states, and the imperial free states. The states liked the liberties they had under this feudalistic government and had, for many years, prevented electing an emperor who would try and take away these liberties (Palmer 76). They did this by making the emperorship an elective office, which would re-establish states’ rights every election and prevent a hereditary dynasty from gaining too much power and interfering with their rights. The title of Holy Roman Emperor was a joke by this time because the emperor had basically no authority whatsoever. The Habsburg family tried to change this and establish some characteristics of a new monarchy in the Holy Roman Empire. The Habsburgs, who had considerable power in Austria, managed to maintain the title of emperor for their family for about 300 years by “using the resources of their hereditary possessions in Austria (and later elsewhere) and by delicately balancing and bribing the numerous political forces within Germany” (Palmer 76). Establishing this hereditary line was a big change for the confederation of states that had planned so carefully to prevent it, and would start to lead the Holy Roman Empire on its way to becoming a new monarchy. The first Habsburg ruler was Maximilian I who ruled from 1493 to 1519. Maximilian attempted to organize and centralize the government by creating some government institutions. He tried to divide the government into administrative circles and create an Imperial Chamber and Council, but both endeavors proved ineffective against the liberties of the states. Though

Maximilian’s efforts of centralization were fruitless, he did manage to add a vast amount of territory to his empire and extend his influence throughout it. Through meticulously designed marriages, Maximilian’s grandson ended up inheriting Austria, the Netherlands, a part of Burgundy, Castile and Aragon in Spain, Spanish America, and some territories in Italy and the Mediterranean and of course all of Germany when he became emperor (76). Charles was considered the most powerful ruler of the time and ruled from 1519 to 1555. Charles faced many problems during his reign that prevented him from making any improvements to the centralization of the empire. Such limitations included the Protestant Reformation, which decentralized the government further; the war with France, who sought to make the empire disunited; and the war with the Ottomans who were threatening to take over Europe (notes). Though the “newness” of the Holy Roman Empire was not as clear as that of the others, the Habsburgs still possessed some of the characteristics of a new monarch and did strengthen their country.
The instability that came with the feudalistic governments of the Middle Ages meant that changes had to be made. The new monarchs of the late 1400s and early 1500s tried to fix this by approaching the problems in a way that had not been done before. They had characteristics that monarchs before them had not possessed, and therefore, were able to centralize their governments and help their countries. England, France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire all benefited from these new tactics, whether slightly or dramatically, which means that the rulers of those countries warranted the label new.