The Spanish Empire was one of the world's largest empires during the 16th and 17th centuries (Elliot, 2002). Spain ruled a vast area conquering several territories stretching from Europe to Africa, "New World" and the Philippines. The Spanish Empire was unrivaled, perhaps due to the influential Catholic Church that reigned in the 17th century. The empire exerted economic powers across the region, and the influence resulted from the ease of access to precious mineral materials, including land, silver, and gold from the Americas. However, it was not until the late 17th century that the Spanish Empire witnessed a decline in its reign. This decline may have resulted from the excessive pressure of the Catholic Church to overreach various territories (Elliot, 2002). Different religious alignments emerged in the earlier 18th century and significantly led to the decline of the empire (Maltby, 2008). The paper gives detailed research on the religious arrogance and the fall of the Spanish Empire.
The Hispanic Monarchy Domain
The Spanish monarchy comprised of the ruling monarch, family members, and the royal households that formed part of the reigning homestead; the King was the commander-in-chief. The Spanish monarchy was constitutionally recognized and referred to as "The Crown" and was the highest public office in Spain. Currently, King Felipe VI and her Royal Highness Queen Letizia are the rulers in office. The King was entitled to serve the Ibero-American State Organization, which, comprised of over 700 million people from the twenty-four member countries globally (Elliot, 2002). The Spanish monarchy began during the fall of the Roman Empire, termed as one of the root causes of the decline of the empire. The Hispanic monarchs developed dominance from the catholic marriage between Ferdinand II King of Aragon and Isabell I, the Queen of Castile; the duo were members of the House of Trastamara (Maltby, 2008). The marriage united the two kingdoms enabling the conquering the Granada Kingdom in southern Spain, which was the only left Muslim zone in the Iberian Peninsula.
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The Defeat of the "Moors" and the Beginnings of the Expansion
"Moors" referred to the Muslim inhabitants in Spain during the Spanish Empire in the Middles Ages; they formed the indigenous group of Maghrebine Berbers. The Moors established troops from northern Africa leading the Umayyad invasion of Hispania. Early in the 14th century, "Moors" who formulated most of the Muslims in Span in Sicily area got expelled by the European Christians. The fall of Granada in the mid-15th era marked the end of Muslim ruling in Iberia; however, a minority of Muslims continued until the 1609 expulsion (Elliot, 2002). The Christian religion used the Spanish language to extinct "Moors" as the commonly used Andalusian Arabic, was dissolved, causing their expulsion. The majority of the "Moors" were Sub-Saharan Africans absorbed into the al-Andalus to serve as slaves and soldiers; they quickly converted to Christianity, causing the defeat of "Moors" and the beginning of expulsions. In January 1492, the only remaining Muslim leader of the Granada stronghold surrendered his armies to the opponents who pushed harder; united Christian in Spain collaborated to form the "catholic Monarchs" (Maltby, 2008). The other Muslim nations failed to facilitate help to rescue the kingdom from the ruthless Catholic Church rulers who wanted to dominate the world for their selfish interests.
The Cross and the Sword
The Spanish Empire was determined and firmly pushed for political invasion by the assist of energetic Catholic patrons in support of the empire. Elliot (2002) asserts that the vast expansion of the non-Christianity led to the development of cruelties of subjugation and Muslim exploitation. The political zeal and uphold of the Catholic Church led to the division of religious faith affecting Latin Americans and the natives' culture. The conflict spread and colonization of the Spanish Empire marked the cross and sword period when they conquered the "New World" by use of violence and faith. The battle that lasted for two centuries between Christian religion believers and Muslims led to crossovers and violence against humanity, weakening the Spanish Empire's supporter’s objectives. The Spanish Empire had its people concentrated on religious wars forgetting to cultivate. This condition led to a decline in the State's economy, causing a reduction in support and later, downfall. With an estimated 68% of Spaniards professing Catholic faith, the church attempted to overcome other beliefs and religions claiming to have isolated themselves from the population (Maltby, 2008).
Columbus, Cortes and the Americas
Christopher Columbus, an astronomy and theology scholar sailed across the world to the "New World" crossing the Atlantic Ocean (Elliot, 2002). After failing to gather support in Portugal, Columbus decided to move north towards Spain and won massive support of the Catholic Royals. Ferdinand, King of Aragon, and Isabella, Queen of Castle gave him warm support in terms of finance to complete his venture across the ocean. Landing on the dry land from Palos de la Frontera to the coastal of the Caribbean, marked the start of America's defeat by the Spanish Empire. During his trip in the unknown destination, Columbus traveled to Hispaniola and Cuba, home of the Dominican Republic and present-day Haiti, respectively (Maltby, 2008). In the second expedition, Columbus, supported with the Spanish Soldiers and priest, conquered the Americas before establishing permanent colonies in the region. It formulated to the religious arrogance by the leadership of the Spanish Empire. The empire was left with minimal armies to protect its interest and the priest to influence more supporters for the Catholic Church. Hernan Cortes, the Spaniard Catholic Monarch, enslaved and conquered different people from hundreds of mixed indigenous populations in the "New World" who are perceived to have been carried away by the vast riches of the Inca and Aztec empires (Thomas, 2003). When Cortes came across the new locals for the first time, they embraced friendship giving them women and gold as gifts instead of propitiating Spanish. However, it was not until they gained trust that Cortes representatives fueled their intended dreams. They wanted to raid the peoples' treasures and conquer the regions taking control over their silver, gold mines, and land overreaching their desires. 20% of the collected wealth from the conquered areas was channeled to the Spanish Empire initially. Two decades later, the loyalists to the empire stopped submitting their collections, leading to the decline of the Spanish Empire (Maltby, 2008). Instead of collecting treasuries from the slaves and captivated regions, Hernan Cortes focused more on collecting women for himself and his soldiers. It provoked internal conspiracy to end the long-ran torture and slavery by the Spanish Empire and its representatives across the ocean.
Catholic Influence in the New World
In the mid-16th century, the Spanish Empire built on the Catholic faith, began to conquer the Americas, forcing them to adopt Christianity. The Catholic faith acquired support from the Spanish Empire, which gave the military to help take over the "New World," the representatives came across. Many of the 'conquistadors' sailed for the "New World" with personal interests instead of those of the Spanish Empire. These self-interests led to its decline in the few decades after its formation. During the invasion, Spaniards, whose majority was Catholic, advocated for the establishment of Iberian society and Iberian Catholicism. In the South and North America, Iberian Catholicism was highly recognized with strong Marianismo and mysticism developed from the concept of the Immaculate Conception. Catholicism held that Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, was born free from original sin (Feros, 2006). The Catholic Church formed several pools of missionaries sent across the ocean, especially Africa, the newly conquered world with the mission to convert the natives. In the late 15th century, Queen Isabella, the Catholic follower, ordered the expulsion of Jews who refused to convert to Catholicism. According to Maltby (2008), Castile became progressively intolerant in the 14th and 15th centuries with the Jews and ordered for their persecution. Castile announced for the independence of the papacy in 1478 and managed to convince the courts to use the Holy Office, the then Roman Catholic Church, in the interest of protecting the faith and enforce Catholic orthodoxy watching converts not to exercise their abandoned beliefs (Maltby, 2008) secretly.
Subjugation and Conversion
The Catholic Church mainly viewed the Reconquista as a crusade to unshackle formerly Christian lands from the intruders and the papacy that fully supported the movement. Crusaders incorporated the majority of military people giving orders such as Calatrava and Santiago with many privileges from the Spanish leadership to eject non-Christians. Increased suppression and violence by the Catholic soldiers and missionaries led to Iberian monarchs, and Jews' resistance defeat and conversion to Christianity or murder for wealth gain and profits. The Iberian rulers and Jews' defeat begun overseas in the 15th century with the crusaders applying psychological conversions before expansion into the Canary Islands (Thomas, 2003). The crusade was perceived to carry the true faith to non-Christians in the New World, justifying conquest, and forming the basis for expansion into the Americas. The Catholic missionaries on their mission to deliver Christianity across the ocean sought to fulfill personal interests of wealth and profits while saving the souls of pagans and infidels. This diversion formed the basis for the decline of the Spanish Empire. Later in the era, the papacy made several franchises to the Castile Crown the royal patronage in exchange for financing evangelization and Catholic Church organization in its newly conquered territories (Thomas, 2003). As a result, the crown gained much influence over the Catholic Church and the Spanish Empire marking the starting point of its weakening by the persons with self-interest outside the kingship family.
The Spanish Habsburgs
Marriage between relatives and especially biological families was common in Europe until when Queen Elizabeth II married her third cousin. The Spanish Empire grew on and practiced Habsburgs hastily; as said, nine out of eleven marriages that ruled Spain from the 16th to 18th centuries were incestuous (Feros, 2006). According to anthropologies, the generations of inbreeding among the Spanish Empire caused its decline (Feros, 2006). Due to incest in Spanish Empire and leadership, the family's genetic line increasingly deteriorated as Charles II became the last male heir. He was unable to produce children bringing Habsburg ruling to an end. Habsburg jaw was one of the problems caused by religious arrogance. It is a physical trait resulting from inbreeding and often referred to as mandibular prognathism by doctors. The condition interferes with a human speech by elongating the lower jaw and creating an underbite.
The Golden Age
Throughout, the Habsburg lineage acquired significant powers leading many territories where they were previously strangers. The Spanish Empire did not understand that even after presenting the long triumphant marriage line, it was not guaranteed reprieve from past troubles caused before accepting the new subject. It was not until the period when Habsburg gained more support by raiding many regions that the Spanish Empire witnessed its downfall (Thomas, 2003). Blood ties to the former Spanish rulers were never enough to restrain them from the kingship ideology of Catholicism and Christianity as they later teamed against the will and defeated the empire.
Moreover, local elites in the Habsburg communities played significant roles in advising the rulers of the land and insisting that they leave their close relatives as their governors. During the era, the local elites in the middle ages could then approach the governors and lure them into cross marriages and incest marriages. They did this to get closer to the ruler before taking over the lands. For instance, Philip, the ruler of Castile, faced opposition by his father-in-law, the then ruler of Aragon Ferdinand, in 1504 (Callahan William, 1984). Charles, the heir to Ferdinand of Aragon, was rejected as well after making peace with the organizational administration he led established with eighteen Castilian towns. The rightful heir was enforced to Hispanicize his court and contract an Iberian marriage before ascending the crown.
Indulgence and Revolts in Europe
Charles' victory in 1525 at the battle of Pavia shook the world, and more so Germans and Italians, causing concerns over his future fame and superiority (Edwards, 2000). The Catholic Church leadership loyal to his late father, Pope Clement II, switched sides and teamed to working with the prominent Italian and France against Habsburg ruler during the League War of Cognac. Since the Spanish Empire had started facing financial challenges, the inability to pay the armies led to the sacking of the command by Rome itself for alleged looting. The Catholic Church leadership then made deals with secular authorities. Francis I, the then ruler of France, publicly announced his unparalleled association in 1543 with Sultan Ottoman and Suleiman by taking over Nice initially controlled by the Spanish Empire (Callahan William, 1984). Henry VIII of England assisted Charles, bearing the grudge for standing on his way for the divorce. Unfortunately, Spain lost the Battle of Ceresole, and England did better as France picked up their terms. In Germany, the protestant reformation had begun against Catholicism ideologies in 1517, and in 1524 German Peasant's War broke out putting down the country in 1526 (Callahan William, 1984). At the end of the Peasant War, the Protestants prepared themselves under the emerged defensive league determined to conquer Charles in fear of forceful Catholicism ideology against their wishes.
The Beginning of the End
The protestant revolution in Germany marked the beginning of the end of the imposed Catholic faith by the Spanish Empire. The German's efforts to defeat the defensive league failed as the group joined hands with the French in the war against Spain. Led by Saxon elector Maurice, the Protestants refused to hear Charles calls for the reunion and went into the battle feeling betrayed by the Catholic council (Edwards, 2000). Charles opted to use force by raiding Germany hoping to restore the lost authority but ended up losing against Protestants and was forced to sign the Peace of Augsburg, the Protestants nation. It is therefore clear that the Spanish Empire began to feel its decline much earlier. Phillip II, three years in power, tried hard to lock out Protestants from invading Spain. He prohibited students from travelling outside the country in 1559, and put Catholic leaders in charge of censorship (Callahan William, 1984). Phillip II held several campaigns against Calvinist and Lutheran literature in the Spanish territories to avoid chaos witnessed in France and Germany.
Plague, Plunder, and Greed
Driven by greed and self-interest over wealth and profits in the New World, the Spanish Empire declined across the ocean leading to its fall. The Spanish Empire and Catholicism ideology lacked population support in the newly conquered States. The motives looked great but they later barred significant cities in coastal regions and mined their minerals such as Potosi. Unlike the other European empires, the Spanish enslaved, subjugated, and executed the locals instead of trading peacefully to maintain a veneer of goodwill. The Spanish Empire was extended mainly across the ocean, making it difficult to govern. The scholars argue that no empire can span a continent and achieve centralization without Steam Age technologies (Elliot, 2002).
Brief Respite
The Spanish Empire took breaks fighting against the New World invasion and non-Christianity. It is at such a time that the Duke of Medina Sidonia sent a swift message warning of continued war. The two rival fleets sailed up in the hostile regions silent in companionship; the Englishman heedful not to encounter an active force and the Spaniard determined not to come across the Englishman. The fear of battling the opponents signified the weakening of the Spanish Empire. Early in the morning, heavily armed Spanish armies with 130 ships encountered 150 English frigates and sloops; in the far distance along the coast were Dutch vessels geared in all sizes (Callahan William, 1984). The Dutch and English had a friendly relationship associated with a variety of causes; they all represented New World and non-Christianity struggling against the founded church. With the help of the land-batteries, the Spaniard ships had protection from the teaming groups of Englishmen and Dutch. They were preventing the co-operation of the fleet and the land-forces.
End of the Global Empire
Global Empire is the imperial concept of the world's domination belonging to the imperialistic category purported to be mighty, influential, and with vast territory ownership around the world. According to Callahan William (1984), the Global Empire means the ruler must attain a minimum of 90 degrees latitude and 180 degrees longitude. For instance, the Spanish Empire crossed all over the world and was commonly referred to as "Empire of the Sun" in the 16th century, as did the British in the 19th century (Elliot, 2002). Germany and Japan reunited and the Japanese re-established sovereignty to govern their State. Different nations under powerful leadership emerged conquering Spanish Empire declining its functions across the ocean. It later led to World War I and WWII that marked the end of the Global Empire.
Conclusion
The Spanish Empire influenced many countries across the ocean, including the Philippines, South and North Americas, Asia, and Africa. The empire's primary goal of spreading Christianity, especially the Catholic faith, was successful at the beginning but was later failed by its representatives, including the soldiers and missionaries. The missionaries and soldiers on course exercised impunity against human life by enslaving the subjugated population and persecuting resistant locals found in the newly invaded regions. Personal interest in forcefully acquiring silver, gold, and land from the people led to resistance of the Catholic Church in many parts they conquered. The anti-Catholicism Protestants' defensive league in Germany proved the weakening of the Spanish Empire in its acquired territories. Continued inbreeding that led to the emergence of the Habsburg spearheaded Spanish Empire's failure as the closest family members opposed it.
References
Callahan, William J. (1984). Church, Politics, and Society in Spain: 1750 - 1874 . Harvard U.P.
Edwards, J (2000). The Spain of the Catholic Monarchs, 1474– 1520. New York: Blackwell.
Elliot, J.H. (2002). Imperial Spain 1469-1716. UK. Penguin.
Feros, A. (2006). The Journal of Modern History, 78 (1), 240-242. doi:10.1086/502753
Maltby, W (2008). The Rise and Fall of the Spanish Empire. New York. Macmillan.
Thomas, H (2003) Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan. New York: Random House.
