Spanish Golden Age: Art, Empire, and Decline

Posted on Mar 1, 2025 in History

The Spanish Golden Age was a historical period in which Spanish art and letters flourished, coinciding with the political and military boom of the Spanish Empire and the Spanish dynasty of the Austrias.

Dutch Artists

  • Rembrandt

    He was a Dutch painter and engraver. Art history considers him one of the greatest Baroque masters of painting and engraving, being surely the most important artist in the history of the Netherlands.

Flemish Artists

  • Rubens

    A Baroque painter from the Flemish school. His exuberant style emphasizes dynamism, color, and sensuality.

Spanish Artists

  • Diego Velázquez

    A Spanish Baroque painter considered one of the greatest exponents of Spanish painting and a master of universal painting.

Italian Artists

  • Caravaggio

    A figure of Italian painting of his time, he learned the pictorial art of a second-row master, Simone Peterzano, and especially from the study of the works of some Venetian artists.

Expulsion of the Moors

The expulsion of the Moors from the Hispanic Monarchy was ordered by King Felipe III and carried out in a phased manner between 1609 and 1613. The first Moors expelled were those from the Kingdom of Valencia, followed by those of Andalusia, Extremadura, and the two Castillas in the Crown of Castile, and those of the Crown of Aragon. The last expelled were those of the Kingdom of Murcia, first those of Granada origin and later those of the Ricote Valley and the rest of ancient Moors. After the promulgation of the decrees of expulsion, a thanksgiving procession was held on March 25, 1611, in Madrid. In total, about 300,000 people were expelled, most of them from the kingdoms of Valencia and Aragon, which were the most affected, since they lost a third and one-sixth of their population, respectively.

Key Figures

  • Newton

    He is the author of the *Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica*, better known as the *Principia*, where he describes the law of universal gravitation and established the foundations of classical mechanics through the laws that bear his name.

  • Descartes

    He was a French philosopher, mathematician, and physicist, considered the father of analytical geometry and modern philosophy, as well as one of the epigones with his own light on the threshold of the scientific revolution.

Hidalgo

It has its origin in Spain and Portugal and is synonymous with noble, although colloquially the term is used to refer to the untitled nobility.

Economic Crisis in Spain

The Spanish monarchy became involved in more wars than the other European powers. Other factors also contributed to the worsening of the agricultural crisis.

The Thirty Years’ War

The Thirty Years’ War, which took place between 1618 and 1648, was caused by the conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in the Holy Roman Empire. However, it gradually developed into a more general conflict among the great powers in Europe for European political domination.

Spain in the 17th Century

The lesser Habsburgs ruled Spain (Felipe III, Felipe IV, and Carlos II) during this century, and the Spanish monarchy fell into decline.

Succession Crisis

Carlos III named Philip, Duke of Anjou, as his successor to the Spanish throne. He was from the Bourbon dynasty and was the grandson of King Louis XIV of France. This decision caused great fear in other countries, as it would mean that the thrones of Spain and France would be united under a single ruler.