Polity · 1516 CE – 1902 CE
Spanish Empire
Monarquía universal española(Monarquía hispánica /Monarquía de España /Monarquía española) · Imperio Español
- Peak recorded area
- 11,354,800 km²
- 1809 CE
- Rulers on record
- 29
- from 1551 CE
- Data series
- 32
- 1532 CE–1873 CE
Overview
The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa, various islands in Asia and Oceania, as well as territory in other parts of Europe.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
92 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before 1902 CE, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Social Conflict Events14 obs · 1588 CE–1855 CE | 8events1855 CE · HiSCoD (Historical Social Conflict Database) |
| Conflict Participants3 obs · 1634 CE–1766 CE | 15Kpersons1766 CE · HiSCoD (Historical Social Conflict Database) |
| Community Size2 obs · 1600 CE–1670 CE | 5ordinal1670 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Largest Settlement Pop | 224Kpersons1600 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Population | 29Mpersons1550 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Economy
6 of 8 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Agriculture Intensity3 obs · 1600 CE–1800 CE | 1ordinal1800 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Subsistence Agriculture3 obs · 1600 CE–1800 CE | 0ordinal1800 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Subsistence Fishing3 obs · 1600 CE–1800 CE | 5ordinal1800 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Subsistence Gathering3 obs · 1600 CE–1800 CE | 4ordinal1800 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Subsistence Hunting3 obs · 1600 CE–1800 CE | 1ordinal1800 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Subsistence Husbandry3 obs · 1600 CE–1800 CE | 0ordinal1800 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
Military
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Battle Count7 obs · 1598 CE–1873 CE | 1battles1873 CE · Historical Conflict Events Dataset (HCED v3) |
| Battle Scale Avg5 obs · 1598 CE–1873 CE | 1Lehmann-Zhukov 1-51873 CE · Historical Conflict Events Dataset (HCED v3) |
| Battle Wins2 obs · 1598 CE–1810 CE | 1battles won1810 CE · Historical Conflict Events Dataset (HCED v3) |
| Military Sophistication2 obs · 1600 CE–1700 CE | 1score1700 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Military Levels | 13levels1532 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Territory & resources
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Polity Territory | 6.85score1600 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Territory km² | 7.1Msq km1640 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Governance
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Jurisdictional Hierarchy3 obs · 1600 CE–1800 CE | 1ordinal1800 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Political Succession2 obs · 1600 CE–1800 CE | 1ordinal1800 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Admin Levels | 6levels1532 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Religious Hierarchy | 10levels1532 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Development
6 of 8 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Class Stratification3 obs · 1600 CE–1800 CE | 2ordinal1800 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
| Government Complexity2 obs · 1600 CE–1700 CE | 0.9182score1700 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Hierarchy Levels2 obs · 1600 CE–1700 CE | 8.67score1700 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Information Complexity2 obs · 1600 CE–1700 CE | 0.9231score1700 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Infrastructure2 obs · 1600 CE–1700 CE | 0.9917score1700 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Religious Levels2 obs · 1600 CE–1700 CE | 10score1700 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Rulers
29 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Lorenzo Fernández de Heredia y Lope de LanuzaViceroy of Sardinia1551 CE – 1556 CE
- Miguel de MoncadaViceroy of Sardinia1578 CE – 1584 CE
- Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Albaviceroy of Portugal1580 CE – 1582 CE
- Albert VII, Archduke of Austriaviceroy of Portugal1583 CE – 1593 CE
- Antonio Coloma y SaaViceroy of Sardinia1584 CE – 1594 CE
- Cristóvão de Mouraviceroy of Portugal1600 CE – 1603 CE
- Pedro Sánchez de CalatayudViceroy of Sardinia1604 CE – 1610 CE
- Miguel de Castroviceroy of Portugal1615 CE – 1617 CE
- Lluís de Tena GomezViceroy of Sardinia1621 CE – 1622 CE
- Pedro Ramón Zaforteza y VillalongaViceroy of Sardinia1625 CE – 1626 CE
- Antonio Ximénez de Urrea y EnríquezViceroy of Sardinia1632 CE –
- Diogo de Castroviceroy of Portugal1633 CE – 1634 CE
- Margaret of Savoyviceroy of Portugal1634 CE – 1640 CE
- Francisco de Moura, 3rd Marquis of Castelo RodrigoViceroy of Sardinia1657 CE – 1661 CE
- Francisco de BenavidesViceroy of Sardinia1675 CE – 1678 CE
- Jorge de VillalongaViceroy of New Granada1717 CE – 1724 CE
- Josep Antoni de Rubí i de BoixadorsViceroy of Sardinia1717 CE
- José Alfonso PizarroViceroy of New Granada1749 CE – 1753 CE
- Francisco Gil de TaboadaViceroy of New Granada1788 CE – 1789 CE
- José Manuel de Ezpeleta, 1st Count of Ezpeleta de BeireViceroy of New Granada1790 CE – 1797 CE
- Antonio José Amar y BorbónViceroy of New Granada1803 CE – 1810 CE
- Francisco Javier VenegasViceroy of New Granada1810 CE
- Francisco Montalvo y AmbulodiViceroy of New Granada1816 CE – 1818 CE
- Juan de la Cruz MourgeónViceroy of New Granada1820 CE – 1822 CE
- José María Calatrava y PeinadoRegent of Spain1836 CE – 1837 CE
- Baldomero Espartero, Prince of VergaraRegent of Spain1840 CE – 1843 CE
- Francisco Ramírez MedinaPresident of the Republic of Puerto Rico1868 CE
- Francisco Serrano, 1st Duke of la TorreRegent of Spain1868 CE – 1869 CE
- Maria Christina of AustriaRegent of Spain1885 CE – 1902 CE
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- Spanish
- Currency
- peseta (ESP), Spanish real, Spanish dollar
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock)Ethnographic Atlas (D-PLACE 2.3)
Kirby, K.R. et al. (2016). D-PLACE: A Global Database of Cultural, Linguistic and Environmental Diversity. PLoS ONE 11(7).
CC BY 4.0
HiSCoD (Historical Social Conflict Database)2021
Chevalier, J. et al. HiSCoD: Historical Social Conflict Database. Université de Rennes.
Academic use, attribution
Historical Conflict Events Dataset (HCED v3)v3
Brecke, P. Conflict Catalog (Historical Conflict Events Dataset), digitized v3.
Academic use, attribution
Seshat Equinox 2020Equinox 2020
Turchin, P. et al. Seshat Global History Databank, Equinox 2020 release.
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Spanish Empire is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.