At this juncture, it is appropriate to look back to the year 1492. For almost eight hundred years (711 AD) Spain's hard fighting Conquistadors had fought against the African Moorish Islamic invaders and other subsequent, successive waves of Moslem invaders. The stranglehold upon native Iberian aspirations was finally removed in 1492. This was the beginning of what is known as the Spanish Golden Era. Under the Spanish Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, a newly unified Spain began its rise to world power. The Great Admiral, Christopher Columbus, discovered the route to the New World. Spain then navigated and explored the lands beyond the oceans and took their riches by "right of conquest." The Spanish Conquistadors that followed in Columbus' footsteps were bred by war, the struggle against the subjugation of Islam, its enslavement, and cruelty.

The conquest of the New World was preceded by centuries of constant warring with the Islam. This 800 year struggle to free Iberia of Islamic enslavement, created a vast army of well-trained, battle hardened veterans of the centuries long war for European cultural and religious freedom. Seasoned soldiers under the direction of mounted Spanish nobility were prepared for the conquests that were before them. After eight centuries of war and bloodshed, these conquistadors were warriors and crusaders, whose mission was to conquer infidels, baptize them to the Christian faith, and take gold and wealth from the enemies of the cross.

The harsh European world of religious wars into which they had been born was one of racial intolerance and absolute religious dominance. These crusading knights knew only war and constant change. The conquest of their mortal enemies, Islam, had convinced these nobles and their soldiers of the invincibility of Spanish arms. After centuries of war they believed only in their own power and ability to face and overcome great odds and the God who made it possible. These were the characteristics that served my progenitors so well in their adventures in the Americas.

After generations of living off the land and a burning religious fervor, these men were ready for another war. Their leaders, born to the saddle and trained in the use of sword and shield looked forward to booty. When in 1492, the last battles against the hated African Islamist Moors had finally been won; the conquistadors of the Spanish crusade found themselves without work and purpose.

With little to lose and much to gain by venturing into the New World discovered by Columbus these nobles and their soldiers were men ready for adventure. Cortés and these men conquered Tenochtitlán, the Capitol of the Aztecs. At the campaign's end, a final three-month siege brought the downfall of Tenochtitlán. The victorious Spanish and their brave Indian allies took the magnificent capital city of the Aztecs on August 13, 1521. This fateful encounter of two different worlds resulted in the rapid disintegration of the Aztec world. Cortés, the great Spanish Conquistador, defeated the Aztecs with just five hundred of these nobles and soldiers and a few cannons. His small army of mighty Spaniards and native tribes overthrew thousands of mighty Aztec warriors.

With these riches brought envy and malice from the other European monarchs. By the 16th Century, Spain's power and wealth would place her at her zenith. Its arts and literature would flower. Spain’s people would awaken to understand the concept of empire. With time they would understand its benefits and drawbacks.

Charles I of Spain, grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella, and also a grandson of the Hapsburg Emperor Maximilian, became king in 1516. This would end the domination of Spain by the Kings of Aragon and Castile. This is no small matter. It was these kingdoms that had led the wars of the "Reconquista" to free the Iberian Peninsula of the African Islamist Moorish invaders. It was their efforts over an almost 800 year period that made the unification of Iberia possible under the Catholic Monarch’s Spain. The character of Spain was formed around this group of Iberian nobles.

Four years later, he was crowned as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Within a generation, Charles V. would spend most of his reign defending his empire from other European rivals while extending its reach to new lands. He ruled a tremendous empire that included possessions in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria.

The difficulties of domestic government were increased by the fact that the prospective ruler was a youthful foreigner, who had never visited Spain, and who was completely ignorant of the customs and even of the language of the country. Charles had been born and educated in the Netherlands, of which he had been nominal ruler ever since the death of his father in 1506. All his friends and advisers were Flemings, who cared nothing for Spanish interests and had already acquired a reputation for selfish greed. The first symptom of discontent in Spain was caused by Charles' demand to be recognized as king, in utter disregard of his unfortunate mother. In Aragón the demand was unhesitatingly refused, but in Castile the vigorous measures of Ximenes secured Charles' proclamation. The regent, however, had great difficulties to face.

A non-Iberian, non-Spaniard with few Spanish influences had taken the throne. The Reconquista was to him some vague historical rivalry with the Moors with which he had little knowledge or concern. His world view was formed in the Netherlands and his heart remained there.

The nobles were delighted to be rid of the strong government of Ferdinand and wished to utilize the opportunity to regain the privileges and independence they had lost. In this crisis the loyal devotion of Ximenes saved the monarchy. Throwing himself upon the support of the citizen class, he organized a militia which frightened the nobles and maintained order. Next, a French invasion of Navarre occurred which was repulsed. To avoid any danger from the discontent of the inhabitants all the fortresses of the province, with the single exception of Pamplona, were dismantled. His distinguished services were rewarded with royal ingratitude from Charles, who had come to Spain in 1517, and who allowed the aged cardinal to die on November 8th without granting him the kindness of an interview.

The young king soon felt the loss of the able and experienced adviser. His Flemish ministers, with Chievres at their head, regarded Spain as a rich booty to be plundered at will. The Castilians, the proudest nation in Europe, soon found all the positions of honor and profit seized by the greedy foreigners. The Cortés had shown their loyalty by acknowledging Charles as joint-king with his mother and by granting him an unprecedented service of 600,000 ducats. Unfortunately, they had attached their grants eighty-eight significant demands which the young king accepted but made no pretence of fulfilling. In Aragón and Catalonia more difficulty was experienced. Nearly two years were wasted in obtaining the recognition of the royal title, and no supplies were forthcoming. València was not visited at all, and the attempt to induce the people to do homage to a viceroy was a failure. A civil war broke out in the province between the privileged nobles and a germandada, or brotherhood, of the burgher class. The Government exasperated parties by supporting each in turn, but ultimately joined with the nobles.

Meanwhile the death of Maximilian had given Charles the succession to the considerable Hapsburg territories in Germany. By 1519, the German electors had chosen him to be King of the Romans. He was now the first prince in Europe. It was necessary for him to leave Spain to look after his interests in Germany and to cement alliances which he needed against the inevitable hostility of France. His elevation by no means increased his popularity in Castile.

The Castilians had already grounds for complaints against in the rapacious Flemings and in Charles' failure to perform his promises to the Cortés. But these were nothing compared to the prospect that Castile might no longer be the primary state of their king, and that their revenues might be employed in the attainment of objects in which they had not the slightest interest. Charles’ military preparations and his promises to the German electors placed him under great pressure. He summoned the Cortés to meet at Santiago (Compostella) in Galicia, and then transferred them to Coruna. This was done so he could embark as soon as he had obtained needed supplies.

The meeting place was chosen to isolate and expose the assembly to his royal influence and overt intimidation. Toledo took the lead in opposition. It refused to send its two deputies, as this would be too favorable to the crown. Instead it sent other representatives to protest against Charles and to encourage the other cities. They were driven from Coruña, and the deputies of Salamanca were excluded from the Cortés. By these and other means the desired grant was extorted. Charles quickly left Spain, as his departure was necessary to secure his other interests.

Charles left Adrian of Utrecht as regent in Castile, and two native nobles in Aragón and Catalonia. To the Spaniards this was reckless behavior, at a time when València was in civil war and Castile was on the verge of rebellion. The king also ordered the removal of the magistrates of Toledo and had sent a new governor to ensure the city’s obedience.

Soon, Spanish citizens headed by a young noble, Juan de Padilla, resisted this order and began an insurrection. Other cities joined the movement and a central committee, known as the "Holy Junta," was established at Avila. The unfortunate regent failed to control Segovia and disbanded his forces. The nobles, alienated by the appointment of a foreigner to the regency, made no attempt to check a movement against a Government they detested. Padilla, advancing to Tordesillas, made himself master. The Castilians were not prepared to end the monarchy, so Padilla was forced to consider coming to terms with Charles. The "Holy Junta," drew up a series of demands, which, if acceded to, would have established a constitutional monarchy in Spain.

Their envoys to Germany found it impossible to secure an audience with the king. Meanwhile, the insurrection failed because of internal dissensions, especially Burgos. Class differences made an agreement impossible. An army was raised, Padilla was executed, and one city after another fell. Charles’ return of to Spain in June 1522 completed the triumph of the monarchy. In 1523, he convened the Castilian Cortés, forcing them to grant supplies before presenting their petitions for redress. He had won.

It is clear by now that Charles' reign was more European than Spanish. His enormous wealth was increased by the successes in Mexico and Peru, his annexation of the Milanese, and his conquests in northern Africa. In the governing of his vast empire, Spain played an important role. Its soldiers were Charles' most effective weapon. To make these more readily available it was necessary to depress the liberties of the country. The independence of the towns had been crushed at Villalar. In 1538, after Charles concluded his struggle with France by the truce of Nice; he proposed to raise supplies in Castile by an excise tax upon commodities. The nobles objected on the grounds of their exemption from taxation. The emperor gave way, but took his revenge by excluding them altogether from the Cortés. In the future, it would consist only of thirty-six deputies from eighteen towns, powerless to oppose his wishes.

By now, Charles I was exhausted and in despair. In 1555-56 (64 years after 1492), he resigned and ended his life in 1558 in retirement at Yuste. As Charles V (24 February 1500-September 21, 1558) the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519, he voluntary abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I as Holy Roman Emperor. He also, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516, made his son Philip II King of Spain in 1556. These included the Spanish holdings in Italy, Spanish colonies, and lands in the Netherlands.

He had added to all his lands the territories conquered by the Spanish in the New World and in the western Pacific. From 1521, the Spanish New World conquest had begun. In twenty-nine years from Columbus’ famous voyage to the taking of the Aztec Empire, history had been changed. Cortés moved against Aztec Mexico in 1519 and huge amounts of gold and precious stones flooded the Spanish treasury. With this extensive wealth from the New World he financed military campaigns against the Islamic Turks, the French, and German Protestants.

Philip II, Charles's only legitimate son, would rule Spain, receiving the Spanish and Burgundian inheritance, and Milan. He would also play a great part in European history. There would be one great difference. Castile was to be the central point of his monarchy. His policies were to be absolutely directed by Spanish interests. In character and education he was a Spaniard of the Spaniards. So much so, that after 1559, he never left Spain again. Placing his residence at Madrid, he gave Spain the capital it had never had. The new king employed the forces of one province to crush the liberties of the others. These actions were an immense advantage to his royal power as the old divisions within Spain had lessened its strength. Philip also possessed a formidable weapon in the Inquisition and he did not hesitate to use it for secular purposes. The king crushed religious dissent as he did political independence. Soon, Castile was taken under the direct supervision of the king and was subjected to crushing despotism. Aragón, Catalonia, València, Milan, Naples, and Sicily were governed as provinces.

The king was not entitled to the allegiance of the province of Aragón until he had solemnly sworn to observe its "fueros." They had preserved these medieval privileges almost intact. Decisions by the Cortés required that each deputy have a practical right of veto. This authority rivaled that of the crown. Philip seized the first opportunity to attack the institutions which could control his will. When the people rose in defence of their liberties they were crushed by troops from Castile.

By 1590, Antonio Perez, a minister had incurred the king's displeasure. He then fled to Aragón and appealed to its fueros for protection. Philip had him arrested and brought before the Inquisition. He was put to death and his successors became nominees of the crown. The Cortés was assembled in 1591 at Tarragona. There he compelled them to abolish the fueros. Their control over the judicial administration was abrogated. Any necessity for unanimity was only retained in specific cases, notably the granting of supplies. To avoid future danger from the few privileges left, a citadel was built in Saragossa for a royal garrison. He then created a regular standing army, allowing the militia established by Ximenes to be retained and extended for the suppression of local disorders. With Philip's internal administration now successful everywhere, he obtained the power he desired.

A rising of the Moors in the Alpujarras was crushed by the military ability of his famous half-brother, Don John of Austria. In 1580, a claim to the crown of Portugal, which Philip derived from his mother, was successfully asserted. This at last completed the unity of the Peninsula. Unfortunately, no attempt was made to reconcile the Portuguese to their new ruler. Instead, the kingdom was treated as a conquered province. All those who resisted the Spanish invasion were punished as traitors. The nobles were excluded from the new government, which was entrusted solely to Spaniards. The commerce of Portugal was ruined when provisions were made which conferred a monopoly to Spain. The result of this short-sighted policy was that the Portuguese managed their discontent, but eagerly waited for the first opportunity to recover their independence.

The colonial territories of Spain were greatly extended. Outside Spain Philip's policies proved to be a complete failure. Deeply religious, the king continued his wars against heresy. His religious intolerance forced him to put down uprisings in the Netherlands, which ended in the loss of the Seven Northern Provinces. He also expelled the Christianized Moors from Spain. With these and many other emotional actions, his Catholicism would prove to be his undoing.

Philip was also responsible for the ill fated dispatching of the great Spanish Armada against England in the hope of putting a Catholic, Mary of Scotland, on the English throne. That great armada was seen by the world as a super weapon which would end England’s aspirations for becoming the dominant world power. It wasn’t and it didn’t.

Spain’s concern with remaining the premier military power in the world was a dangerous endeavor. Its grand schemes against England were utterly ruined by the destruction of the Spanish Armada. The financial cost of this burden was enormous and caused Spain’s power to begin its steady decline. The conquests and expansion of its empire had reached their limits. Unfortunately, this Spanish monarch, Philip II, knew no limits. Finally, his efforts to establish Spanish influence over France were foiled by the accession and triumph of Henry IV. By the Treaty of Vervins, he was forced to acknowledge his humiliating defeat. It was one of the last acts of his reign, which ended with his death on September 13, 1598.

Without a robust internal infrastructure based upon an industrial economy, and a Spanish nobility class prepared for the forces bringing about rapid changes in the world, Spain prospered only while wealth could be extracted from its colonies. This could not continue. With rulers, such as, Philip III (1598-1621) who laid the groundwork for the exploration and founding of northern New Spain, New Mexico, my Progenitors would be part of that exploration and founding. However, Spain’s colonies could do nothing without the Crown’s agreement and understanding of their needs. Her colonies were left on the margins of the empire to fade into poverty and expire.

Philip II left to his son and successor, Philip III., an empire which was nominally undiminished, as the independence of the United Provinces had never been recognized. The war for their reduction was still ongoing. The Spanish masses were suffering from exhaustion. The resources of Spain and the New World had been squandered with few returns. The attention of her people had been distracted from peace and industry to unprofitable wars. The military of Spain, once seen as invincible, lost their prestige in the marshes of Holland.

Spain’s tax policy left nobles and clergy exempt and fell upon the few productive classes. Due to these enormous taxes, Castile had suffered most because it was most completely subject to them. The provinces which had retained their liberties the longest were the most prosperous, even though these had shared little in the riches that had poured into Castile from the western colonies. The king's reckless ambition and the economic policies were a disaster. Prices had become abnormally high and the wealth of the country was not in proportion to the currency.

Toward the future, the nobles would be carefully excluded from all political affairs and ceased to take the slightest interest in the administration. With Philip II's death this exclusion came to an end. Unfortunately, the nobles acted only as courtiers, rivaling each other in the extravagance. But they contributed nothing to the efficiency of the state. The government had been centralized by successive kings, but was neglected. The administration of justice was incompetent. The Spanish people having been deprived of their liberty had received neither order nor security. Spain would pay dearly for its short period of glory. Its rapid decline in the 17th Century was its inevitable penalty for the failures the 16th.

Philip II said of his son, Philip III, "God, who has been gracious in giving me so many states, has not given me an heir capable of governing them." His successor was a product of his father's Spain. Spain became exhausted by the degeneracy of its rulers. Philip III was twenty-one years old at his accession. He had been raised among priests and women. His education was lacking the necessary depth and breadth necessary to govern. Known for his piety and his devotion, he left cares of government entirely to his favorite, the Duke of Lerma. The king contented himself with religious duties and ceremonies at court. However, the nation needed attention.

In 1601, an attempt by a royal ordinance was made to impose new duties on Biscay. Its deputies protested against this encroachment upon their liberties and openly threatened to seek another ruler. Philip III immediately withdrew the ordinance to avert a storm. The policy of centralization was soon abandoned and the Spanish tendency toward division and isolation continued. The province of Biscay retained its ancient privileges intact and Spain fell behind.

The past religious suppression of the conquered Moors caused their first revolt in 1502. They had also been provoked by a breach of the compact made upon the fall of Granada. The result was to have Moors expelled from Spain. Charles V renewed the edict of 1502 in 1526, and extinguished the overt profession of Islam in Spain. In secret, they continued the practice of their faith. This monarch would have no subjects that were heretics. An edict of Philip II was pronounced in 1566, forbidding them to speak or write in Arabic and ordered them to renounce all traditions and ceremonies of the Islamic faith. Their desperate uprising was quelled in 1570. Many of the rebels were exiled to Africa, but most of them submitted.

Philip III was determined to prove his zeal for orthodoxy by completing the work which his father had left unfinished. This was to be disastrous for Spain. He found it necessary to persecute the Moriscoes. In 1609, he ordered all the Moriscoes to leave the Peninsula within three days, under penalty of death. The same penalty applied to any Christians who should shelter them. The edict was obeyed. The Spaniards had for sometime left what they regarded as degrading employment to their Morisco inferiors. Unfortunately, these same Moriscoes were the backbone of Spain’s industrial population.

They were active in trade, manufacturing, and agriculture. The Moriscoes followed on what the Moors had introduced into Spain, the cultivation of sugar, cotton, rice, and silk. They continued the system of irrigation which had made Spain’s soil fertile. The province of València had become a model for agriculture to the rest of Europe. In manufacturing and commerce they had displayed unique ability and craftsmanship. Many Spanish products were sought by other countries. The king sacrificed all of these advantages for religious unity.

Additionally, many of the resources of Spain had already been exhausted. Under these circumstances it was an absolute necessity that the ambitious schemes of previous rulers be abandoned. Fortunately for Spain, the Duke of Lerma was personally inclined toward peace. The accession of James I in England provided an opportunity for concluding the long war that had been carried on with Elizabeth. England’s mediation brought about a 12 year peace in 1609 with the United Provinces, allowing their independence. The Twelve Years' Truce was the name given to the cessation of hostilities between the Habsburg rulers of Spain and the Southern Netherlands and the Dutch Republic as agreed to in Antwerp on April 9, 1609. The Truce allowed King Philip III to disengage from the conflict in the Low Countries and devote himself to Spain’s internal problems.

The death of Henry IV and the regency of Mary de' Medici enabled Spain’s Duke of Lerma to arrange an alliance with France. It was cemented by a double marriage. Louis XIII would marry the Infanta Anne of Austria and Elizabeth of France was betrothed to the son and heir of Philip III. For some short period, Spain would enjoy a better position in Europe than it had held since the disastrous defeat of its Armada.

The first Stuart king of England, James I (1603-1625), lacked a definite policy and was considerably weakened by quarrels with his parliament. France’s regency distracted by internal squabbles abandoned the positions of Henry IV. James I was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots. Rebel Scottish lords defeated Mary and she abdicated the throne. James, 1 year old, became king of Scotland on July 24, 1567. Mary then left the kingdom in 1568. During his minority James was surrounded by a small band of the great Scottish lords, whom became the four successive regents.

The Holy Roman Empire was in the hands of Matthias II (1557-1619), a member of the House of Habsburg. By 1578, Matthias was invited to the Netherlands by the States-General of the provinces, who offered him the position of Governor-General. Matthias accepted the appointment without recognition from his uncle, Philip II of Spain, the hereditary ruler of the provinces. He set down the rules for religious peace for most of the United Provinces via Article 13 of the 1579 Union of Utrecht. The rebels soon deposed Philip II and declared full independence in 1581. Matthias would reign as King of Hungary and Croatia from 1608, King of Bohemia from 1611, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1612. He married Archduchess Anna of Austria, the daughter of his uncle Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria, whose successor in Austria Matthias had become in 1595.

As for the Muslim threat, Suleiman I the Magnificent died in 1566. By then, the Turks became a lesser threat to Europe. During that time, Spain remained an absolute monarchy, enjoying the same prestige as in the days of Philip II (1527-1598). With that new found power, old ambitions had surfaced. The recognition of the archduke Ferdinand as the successor of Mathias II in the Austrian territories was being discussed. Philip III (1578-1621) responded with a claim for Hungary and Bohemia due to his mother being a daughter of Maximilian II. In fact, Ferdinand was only descended from that emperor's brother. The claim was not indisputable, but was inconvenient to Ferdinand. Therefore, to gain the support of Spain, he ceded Alsace and the vacant imperial fief of Finale in Italy (1617). On these terms he succeeded obtaining his desires. The potential was now available for Spain to connect its Italian possessions with the Netherlands.

The advancement Roman Catholicism as a firm policy was resumed. Ferdinand intended to secure a victory for the Counter-Reformation in Germany. The Duke of Lerma found this policy distasteful and retired by 1618. Still in good standing his offices were conferred upon his son, the duke of Uzeda.

The alliance between the two branches of the house of Hapsburg was vigorously championed by Oñate, the Spanish representative at Vienna. It was also supported by Khevenhüller, the Austrian envoy at Madrid, and by the Spanish party, headed by Zufiiga. These had always opposed the policy of Lerma. Neither Uzeda nor the royal confessor, Aliaga, were in favor of an alliance whereby Spanish men and resources would be expended to secure the interests of Austria. Ferdinand was not to complete the arrangement.

Spain became involved in the Thirty Years' War, in January of 1620. Philip III sent assistance (Soldiers and financing) to Ferdinand II, in an attempt to appeal to his religious feelings. This was important to Spain, as the Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, Duke of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, held joint possession of the territory of the Tyrol with his two brothers. These wide-spread, powerful territories, with their different languages and laws, diverse manners and customs, were united under the Austrian Monarchy. It was undeniably one of the leading powers of Europe. Above all this, he was a prominent candidate for the imperial crown of Germany. The Spanish monarchy understood that to secure this he would have to rely upon them.

The war had begun in 1618, when Bohemia revolted against the elector-palatine, Frederick V, who had accepted of the Crown. He was the son-in-law of James I, King of England and Scotland. His humiliation would hinder the long-cherished project of a marriage between Prince Charles and the Spanish Infanta. The truce with Holland was due to expire in April of 1621 and a war could resume with the Dutch. Therefore, it was essential to isolate them by concluding the alliance with England.

However, the party of peace was still strong in Spain and she was in no condition to support the expenses of another European war. Philip III had been on the verge of recalling the Duke of Lerma to discuss these considerations when he died in March of 1621. This, even though Spanish troops from Italy assisted Tilly in winning the battle of the White Hill and Spinola led an army from the Netherlands against the Palatinate.

Spain’s Philip IV (1621-1665) like his father was adverse to the burdens and cares of government. He gave the office of first minister to Zúñiga and had Lerma and Uzeda banished from Court. However, true influence over the administration was exercised by the first royal favorite, the Count of Olivares. He would later succeed Zúñiga upon his death. Olivares was a man of considerable industriousness and ablility, though his reputation wasn’t that of his great French contemporary and rival, Richelieu. It was he who conceived the plan of restoring Spain to its former greatness. This would be done by returning to the policy of Philip II, regardless of the difficulties it held for the internal resources of the country. All ideas of peace would be abandoned and Spain would be plunged headlong into European struggles.

Commercial progress by the Dutch was fatal to the trade of the Spanish Netherlands. The unpopularity of the truce with the United Provinces had exacerbated an already bad situation. Amsterdam had begun to take the place of Antwerp. In April 1621, expiration of the truce was followed by an immediate war. For the war to be successful it was imperative to solidify an alliance with England. However, this was sacrificed because the emperor insisted on taking the Palatinate, which he then conferred upon Maximilian of Bavaria. England broke off the match between the Spanish Infanta and Prince Charles. Instead, he married Henrietta María of France. The failure of the Dutch War was insured by the alienation of England.

Once Spinola was recalled in 1629, the mainland stadtholders or stewards, Maurice and Frederick Henry, had a distinct advantage. They had held their own even against the experienced Spinola. These de facto hereditary heads of state of the republic of the Netherlands during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries exercised a medieval function which had developed into a rare type leader for the Low Countries. The people had accepted their leadership and followed them.

The Dutch gained their most conspicuous successes on the sea. By 1628, the Spanish treasure-fleet was captured by Admiral Hein, with a booty estimated at seven million of guilders. The greater part of Brazil together with Malacca, Ceylon, Java, and other islands were conquered by the Dutch. Instead of conquering the Northern Provinces, Spain was now forced to defend the frontiers of the southern Netherlands.

War in central Europe was more favorable to Spain and her allies. The elector-palatine soon suffered a crushing defeat. This was followed by the humiliation of the Protestant champion, Christian IV of Denmark. In that moment, Ferdinand II enjoyed greater power than any other successor of Charles V. It would appear that the Edict of Restitution would complete the triumph of the Catholicism in Germany. Unfortunately for Spain there was a revival of Hapsburg power was awakened and France’s jealousy reared its ugly head.

By 1624, France was under the strong rule of Richelieu. The Cardinal de Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis or Cardinal-Duke of Richelieu and of Fronsac (1585-1642) the French clergyman, noble, and statesman had been consecrated as a bishop in 1607. He was later appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1616. Richelieu would rise in both the Catholic Church and the French government. He became a Cardinal in 1622 and King Louis XIII's chief minister in 1624. He would remain in office until his death in 1642. To say the good Cardinal was a political master of his times, is an understatement. Political genius is a more apt description of his unique abilities. The Spaniards were at a definite political disadvantage.

The Spaniards had held the Valtelline, that important pass which connected Lombardy with Tyrol. They would be expelled by a French army in 1624. The treaty of Moncon would restore once again the pass to the community of the Orisons. France was occupied with the suppression of a Huguenot uprising for short period of time. Once La Rochelle had fallen Richelieu again thwarted the designs of Spain. At issue was the Mantuan succession. The rightful heir to the duchy, the Duke of Nevers, was to be excluded by the Spaniards due to his connection with France. Richelieu forced the Spanish to raise the siege of Casale and ultimately gained the Treaty of Cherasco in 1631. The result was that the emperor recognized succession by the Duke of Nevers to Mantua. With the occupation of Pinerolo, the French were given an opening into Italy and the power which Spain had so long exercised on the Peninsula. The victories of Gustavus Adolphus had destroyed an imperial and a Catholic ascendency in Germany. Also, the Spaniards were driven from positions which they had occupied on the Rhine.

Spain was determined on victory and the Roman Catholic powers had new hopes when Gustavus Adolphus died at Lützen. Philip IV sent his brother Ferdinand, the cardinal-archbishop of Toledo, to raise troops in Italy. He led them through Germany into the Netherlands. By 1634, Ferdinand joined with the imperial forces and their combined power won the victory at Nordlingen. Headed by John George of Saxony, the Lutheran princes quickly came to terms with the emperor in the treaty of Prague, in 1635. Unfortunately for the Swedes, they were left isolated in Germany. Richelieu read the crisis and embarked upon war as a principal. He soon concluded a close alliance with the Dutch against Spain.

For several years, France’s policy seemed likely to fail. French troops were not ready for war and certainly no match for Spain’s trained veterans who repulsed them from the Netherlands. With the invasion of France, in 1636, a panic arose in the capital. Spain’s success, however, was short lived and soon Richelieu’s brilliance would give France the upper hand.

Alsace had fallen into French hands after the death of Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar. Its occupation interrupted the connection between the Netherlands and Italy. Here the French would regain ground and restore the regent of Savoy, whom the Spaniards had expelled. The later alliance with Holland would give France sea superiority.

A great Spanish fleet soon to be destroyed sought refuge and fled into the Downs where it stayed under the neutral flag of England. This made it almost impossible for Spain to send reinforcements to Brussels. Here Richelieu was fracturing the Spanish empire into digestible pieces. His task soon became easier with the outbreak of internal dissension within Spain.

The strengthening Spain by a vigorous policy of centralization by Olivares had been inspired by the success of his great rival, Richelieu. The monarchy was in fact a number of scattered provinces, each ruled by a separate council in Madrid. Each also was its own separate institution. Only the predominance of Castile and religious unity held them together. Olivares was determined to abolish this system by placing absolute royal power in all provinces. Spain would in future meet the dangers from foreign enemies as one indissoluble whole.

Knowing that the spirit of provincial independence was still strong, Richelieu moved to absorb the attention of Spain in its domestic affairs by artfully encouraging intrigues. In 1640, a royal Spanish edict ordered all able-bodied men to prepare for the war, under penalty of confiscation of property and holdings. This provoked a revolt among the Catalans. These had jealously protected their privileges of independence and had grown tired of the hardships that their closeness to the French frontier had exposed them to.

Soon, Castilian troops were driven from the province and Catalonia formed a republic under the protection of France. This event influenced Portugal where the distaste for Castile was national rather than provincial. Richelieu's emissaries had already been active there. In December 1640, a successful revolution was accomplished in Lisbon and the crown was taken by the noble, John of Braganza, in whose blood ran that of the ancient kings. These disasters proved fatal to Olivares on whose system of government they were blamed. In 1643, he was forced to resign his post. Philip IV then announced his intention to rule alone.

The undisguised discontent shown by several of the other provinces and the revolt of Catalonia and Portugal hampered Spain’s conduct of her European War. The conquest of Roussillon in 1642 allowed the French to give assistance to the Catalans who had acknowledged Louis XIII as count of Barcelona. There would be no changes in policy for France even with the successive deaths of Richelieu (1642) and Louis XIII (1643). With Mazarin directing policy under the regency of Anne of Austria, the French had completely made up for their military inferiority which limited their earlier efforts at the beginning of the war.

By 1643, Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (1621-1686), a French general and the most famous representative of the Condé branch of the House of Bourbon, was renowned for his military prowess as le Grand Condé. He won the first of a series of brilliant victories at Rocroi and his success was important because it solidified the domestic authority of the regent. Disasters for Spain increased. There was an uprising in Naples led by Masaniello against the Habsburgs in 1647. It was continued by the leader of the Republic Henry II of Lorraine, duke of Guise a descendant of the former king of Naples Rene I of Anjou. It was only suppressed with great difficulty in 1648. This was followed by the loss of the Austrian alliance through the treaty of Westphalia.

For Spain to contend single-handed against the coalition was impossible. Fortunately, she seized an opportunity to make terms with Holland. Unfortunately, it was only achieved by consenting to great-sacrifices of surrendering all claims to sovereignty over the Northern Provinces and ceding to them the northern districts of Brabant, Flanders, and Limburg, with the strong fortresses of Maestricht, Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc), Bergen-op-Zoom, and Breda. The Dutch also retained all their conquests in America and the Indies. This marked recognition of the United Provinces as an independent state and also transferred maritime supremacy to the northern powers.

France and Spain were now to face each other for the next four years. The triumph of Mazarin in 1653 enabled France to devote itself to the war. The military operations became a duel in the Netherlands between the rival generals Conde and Turenne. The old Spanish tactics were now out of date and its once invincible infantry was almost useless against the quick movements of light-armed troops which had been introduced by Gustavus Adolphus. The struggle was finally decided by the intervention of England. The rapid advance of French power was the reason England chose to assist Spain. One after another the fortresses of Flanders fell into French hands and it became impossible for Spain to continue the war. In 1659, Mazarin and Don Luis de Haro, the successor of Olivares, met on a small island in the Bidassoa and arranged the treaty of the Pyrenees. Spain made great sacrifices. Artois and several fortresses in the Netherlands, Roussillon and Cerdagne were ceded to France. The Pyrenees fixed by law the boundary between the two countries. Louis XIV was to marry the Infanta María Theresa, who was to receive a large dowry. She was forced to renounce all claims to the Spanish crown. The only concessions made by France were the pardon of Conde, the recognition of Catalonia as a province of Spain, and the promise to give no more assistance to the Portuguese.

With Spain now free from external hostilities, it seemed possible that Portugal might be controlled at last. But soon the alliance of France was speedily replaced by that of England. Catherine of Braganza married Charles II. When he tried and failed to obtain from the Spanish Government an acknowledgment of his wife's claims of succession, he continued to send secret assistance to the Portuguese. The French general, Schömberg, defeated Don John of Austria in 1663. Two years later, Spanish forces were routed at the battle of Villa Viciosa. This final disaster was far too much for Philip IV, who died on September 17, 1665.

Philip IV had bequeathed the government to his widow María Anna of Austria, with a special junta to advise her in affairs of state. Spain’s golden era was by then coming to an end. His son Charles II (1665-1700) was only four years old when his father passed. María Anna had given him five children, but only two survived to adulthood. A daughter Margarita Teresa was born in 1651. The future Charles II of Spain arrived in 1661. Charles was sickly and in frequent danger of dying, which made the line of inheritance uncertain. She was Philip IV’s second wife. Also known as Maríana, she was Philip's niece and the daughter of the Emperor Ferdinand. María would be guided by politics and Philip's desire to strengthen the relationship with Habsburg Austria. Her son would be seen by many as an ineffective ruler.

A Spanish monarchy in decline, its authority had been exercised by a series of chief ministers Lerma, Olivares, and Haro. This continued as the way executive power would be maintained. The queen-mother soon raised to the position of chief minister her confessor, Father Nithard, a native of Styria. He was a man of ability and experience. He attempted to lower public expenditures by limiting the salaries of officials and by putting an end to the abuses. Many hindered commerce with the colonies. But soon he was called upon to face unexpected issues.

Louis XIV using the so-called "law of devolution, an old custom by which the children of the first marriage succeeded to the exclusion of all later descendants, claimed on behalf of his wife certain territories in the Netherlands. Spain resisted the claim and the French invaded Flanders and overran Franche-Comte. The regent was forced to purchase back Franche-Comte by ceding part of Flanders to France in the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668).

During the same period, the independence of Portugal was finally acknowledged. These failures under the rule of a Jesuit and a foreigner increased the discontent of the Spanish nobles. By 1669, a strong opposition party was formed under the leadership of Don John of Austria. Nithard was compelled to resign. There was little unity among the nobles and a difference arose as to the policy to be pursued when France’s Louis XIV attacked Holland in 1672. The queen-mother sided with Austria and her influence secured Spain’s assistance to the first European coalition against France. She quickly obtained the post of chief minister for another favorite, Fernando de Valenzuela. He was appointed Marquis of Villafierra and raised to the rank of a grandee of Spain. The angry nobles again formed a league for the maintenance of their privileges under Don John of Austria. This time they were completely successful. Valenzuela banished and María Anna was forced to retire from the court and take up residence in Toledo.

Don John now all-powerful withdrew Spain from the Austrian alliance and joined France. A marriage was concluded between Charles II and María Louisa of Orleans. It was hoped that better terms would be obtained from Louis XIV. However, in the Treaty of Nimeguen Spain was forced to surrender Franche-Comte and fourteen fortresses in Flanders. This treaty marked Spain’s loss of its position as a first-rate power. In future, it would only exist by the support of those states which resented the aggrandizement of France.

Don John was no more successful in his domestic policy than his foreign policy. He was as industrious as Philip II and determined to rule independently of all advisers. His chief aim was to obtain crown domains which had passed into private hands. This scheme against the nobles failed and he died in 1679, having accomplished little.

It was under Charles II’s reign that my progenitor, Salvadór Matías de Ribera, arrived in New Spain’s, New Mexico. He was born at Puerto de Santa María, Spain in 1675. The records from a marriage he attended in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1697, shows that he arrived from Spain on the ship, Santo Tomas De Villa Nueva. Clearly, he would have had some knowledge of a weakened Spain, which had continued to involve itself in costly European wars. As a result, the people of Spain were heavily taxed to maintain the large Spanish army and navy in which he and his sons would serve. The extravagances of the distant royal court at Madrid would have been well known, so too, would have been the resulting series of revolts which broke out in various areas of Spain.

By the first half of the 17th Century, Spanish arts and literature would blossom. Unfortunately, Spain’s focus should have been on commerce and internal industry. The treasure from its colonies was used to help to build industry elsewhere. Nations, such as England and France provided Spain with needed manufactured goods. These powers were better prepared for the coming changes in world politics and dominion. Spain proper was rudderless and its far flung colonies were in free fall.

Spain under the Habsburg rule (1516-1700) ended with the death of Ferdinand, a period of uninterrupted rule which lasted for nearly two centuries. In the course of this period the monarchy obtained absolute authority, and Spain, after rising for a time to be the foremost state in Europe, sank to the position of a second-rate power from which it has never since emerged.

In the beginning, the condition of Spanish affairs was by no means promising. The unity of Spain which had advanced with such rapid strides after the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella had been seriously shaken by the selfish policies pursued by its king since his wife's death. Aragón and Castile were distinct kingdoms, and the former was again divided into the three provinces of Aragón, Catalonia, and València each of which had its own Cortés, its own privileges, and the most warmly-cherished traditions of independence. Classes were everywhere divided against each other and within each class jealousies and quarrels were frequent. The foreign possessions of the two crowns were a source of weakness rather than of strength. France was ready at the earliest opportunity to contest the possession of Navarre with Castile and that of Naples with Aragón.

The early Bourbons began their rise after the Hapsburg Dynasty ended with Charles II. Philip of Anjou, the first of the Bourbon kings, succeeded him. He reigned as Philip V from 1700 to 1746. His claim to the throne was contested by the Hapsburg Archduke Charles and the War of the Spanish succession dragged on until the Peace of Utrecht in 1713.

Philip's second son, Charles III (1759-1788), reigned during, lifetime Salvadór, the son of my progenitor Salvadór Matías de Ribera. Charles III was considered an able and intelligent ruler. Fortunately, he, unlike his father, relied on the advice of well-informed ministers. He is noted for his attempts to improve the lives of the ordinary people in Spain. Under his stewardship, land reform was started, highways were improved, cities rebuilt and refurbished, and trade and internal industry encouraged. Unfortunately, his reign was too short. It would have been better had he lived earlier. Perhaps, he could have changed the course of Spanish history.

The decline of Spain in the 17th Century cannot be solely measured by its territorial losses. Holland had gained its independence through hard fought efforts. Portugal had become a separate kingdom. Catalonia was reduced to grudging submission. France had seized Roussillon and Cerdagne, Franche-Comte, and great part of the southern Netherlands. French influence had been established in Italy as a counter weight to the power of Spain.

Spain’s losses were the result of its great weakness at its center. The weaknesses at the extremities of the Empire were caused by a lack of will and failed leadership. The population of the Iberian Peninsula has been estimated at twenty million under the Arabs. Under Ferdinand and Isabella it is placed at twelve million. By the reign of Charles II it had fallen to less than six million. One can accept that a portion of this loss was due to religious extremism which condemned thousands of Jews and Moriscoes to death or forced exile. The continued decline in Spain’s economic prosperity was also a major reason.

Agriculture had suffered from the departure of the Moriscoes and a number of other factors. The lack of laws such as the "Statutes of Mortmain (Two enactments, in 1279 and 1290, by King Edward I of England aimed at preserving the kingdom's revenues by preventing land from passing into the possession of the Church)" led to the accumulation of at approximately one-fourth of the land by the monasteries. Their continued use of outdated methods of cultivation caused their estates to produce very low yields. The system of entail which earlier monarchs had tried to restrict also continued with its limitation on the inheritance of property to a certain class of heirs. By the 16th Century, most of the secular estates were concentrated in the hands of a few great nobles who lived at Madrid. These spent their wealth on lavish and extravagance life styles. They had little or no regard for the interests of their tenants. In the provinces of Andalucía and Extremadura agriculture was entirely ruined by the system of sheep-farming imposed in the 12th Century. The inhabitants were forbidden to enclose their lands with hedges or ditches. Successive Spanish monarchs had encouraged the rearing of huge flocks of sheep which could easily be driven over the open country into a place of safety. All of this was a result of past destructive forays of the Moors which had ended.

In the 16th and 17th centuries the condition on the ground had changed, but the old regulations were maintained by the company of La Mesta, a powerful, independent, and wealthy corporation. It derived huge revenues from the sale of wool and was able to retain these privileges until the reign of Charles III. Every summer their flocks came down from the northern mountains. The lack of proper enclosures made it impossible to protect crops from destruction. The focus upon sheep and their wool led to a gradual disappearance of forests and made agriculture impossible. Without the planting of new trees, vast areas of Castile became arid deserts.

Unfortunately, the worship of the warrior class led the Spaniards of nobility to view a living made by handicraft as something to be done by those without a proper view of honor. When Spain ejected the Moriscoes it was almost impossible to obtain skilled artisans, unless imported. The Spaniards were unable to cut their own timber for ships or construct necessary fortifications for their towns. Madrid and other cities became crowded with foreigners who came to make their fortune and carry it back to their native lands. The Government was as much to blame as individuals.

New World gold would have enabled Spain to control the markets of Europe, but restrictions on the exportation of the precious metals were strictly enforced. The high price of commodities has been attributed to the competition of foreign and colonial markets and not on an over abundance of precious metals which would impact the medium of exchange. One article after another was forbidden from export. The colonies of my progenitors were left to send gold without receiving anything in exchange. These policies were supported by the merchants who refused to fill their vessels with anything but gold and silver, leaving indigo, cotton, and other commodities to the English and the Dutch. These ruinous policies speak for themselves.

Excessive taxation imposed by Philip II and his descendants brought about by ambitious political schemes crippled domestic production and almost destroyed it. Spain became a great subsidizing power in the 17th Century, as England later did in the 18th. Austria would have never been able to carry out the Thirty Years' War without the supplies received from Spain. Those enormous enabling expenditure were wrung from the classes least able to pay them. The Spanish government was not strong enough to attack the tax exemptions of nobles and clergy. The alcavala or the tax on sales which Ximenes had abolished was restored under Philip II. By the 17th Century it had reached 14 per cent. Traders attempting to make a profit sought to evade a tax that was impossible to pay. This only made the revenue officers more vigilant. They endeavored to collect the tax at every opportunity, whether on the raw materials or on manufactured products, and also every time that they changed hands. Taxation in Spain was ruinous for the nation.

It is abundantly clear that foreign nations reaped all the advantages from the poor policies which the short sighted Spaniards implemented. Five-sixths of the manufactured commodities consumed in Spain were provided by foreigners. These same foreigners carried on nine-tenths of the commerce with the Spanish colonies. By law Spanish all foreign trade with the colonies was prohibited. However, the decline of native industry made it impossible to enforce these laws. The Spanish Government was then forced to turn a blind eye to the contraband trade by which other countries gained all the profit. Earlier kings had implemented policies which made the colonies dependent upon European products. When Spain could no longer supply them, these products had to be obtained elsewhere.

Political circumstances of the second half of the 17th Century found Spain, England, and Holland allied against France. The English and Dutch then built their commercial supremacy on the trade which Spain foolishly left to them. Spain, that great nation which sent a hundred vessels to the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 and decisively defeating the main fleet of the Ottoman Empire at the Gulf of Corinth, off western Greece and in 1588 dispatched the great Armada against England, was reduced under Charles II to borrowing Genoese ships to maintain its commerce with the New World. An army, which had once been the terror of Europe, was by this time a force of little more than 20,000. In literature and art Spain had also fallen behind. She had deliberately sacrificed that intellectual advancement which was occurring all over Europe, but preserved her religious unity.

At its greatest extent in the 18th Century, the Spanish Empire included most of Central and South America, as well as important areas in North America, Africa, Asia, and in Oceania. But it was the Americas in the late 1700s which became an increasing focus of European national rivalries. Each wanted control of commerce to manipulate the international balance of power. Piracy around the Caribbean Sea also intensified, and Spain’s contact with the empire decreased. Still, Spain tried to monopolize commerce with the colonies. Spanish American societies became more complex and different from Spain’s, including rising numbers of creoles, people of Spanish descent who were born in the Americas, and mestizo, people of mixed European and indigenous ancestry. By the 18th Century, the population of Spanish America grew considerably, agricultural and mining production surged, and new towns were built. Colonial Spaniards such as my family the de Riberas founded settlements and missions in what are now California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

When Spain lost the Seven Years’ War (1756–63) to Britain, Spain gave up Florida but received the territory of Louisiana from France as compensation, recovering Florida in 1779. In the late 18th Century, Spanish Americans increasingly exported tobacco, cotton, sugar, cocoa beans, and indigo dye and also enjoyed higher output of gold and silver. Responding to growth and trying to improve its control over the colonies, in 1776, Spain decided to create the new Viceroyalty of the Río de La Plata in part of South America. With its capital at Buenos Aires, the new viceroyalty was made up of territories formerly governed under the Viceroyalty of Peru.

By the 1780s, Spain’s presence still extended over much of the continent, but Spain had to face the growing threat of British power and nearby presence of the Dutch and French. Although trade between Spain and its American colonies increased, Spain was unable to prevent other nations from trading with them, and smuggling of foreign manufactured goods increased. The Spanish government increasingly drained American treasure and resources and the colonial resistance grew, with Creole leaders seeking more control and freedom to trade in other markets.

In 1796, the British blockaded shipping between Spain and America. By 1810, colonists began to revolt against Spanish authorities, their struggle benefiting from the power vacuum brought about during Napoleon’s invasions of the Iberian Peninsula. Simón Bolívar liberated Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador and assisted José de San Martín, who had released Chile from Spanish control, to obtain Peru’s independence.

By 1824, Spain had lost all of its mainland possessions. Cuba and Puerto Rico were the only remaining American colonies, until the Cuban revolt in 1895 triggered the Spanish-American War, won by the United States. Later, in 1898, Cuba became independent, and Puerto Rico fell under the United States’ administration. The Spanish-American War ended 400 years of Spanish dominion in the Americas and marked the rise of the United States as a world power.

Spain as many other great powers had her time in the limelight of the world stage. She had as monarchs those from her native Iberia Aragón and Castile (1469-1516), Austria and Germany’s House of Hapsburgs (1516-1700), and France’s House of Bourbon (1700-Present). After the Iberians of many tribes were brought under the banner of "Spaniards", the nobles of Castile only held political power for a short time. Their dream was for a Spain free from Islam, wealth, and stability.

To clarify, Spain and many other European countries continued to be victims of constant Islamic aggression from 711 onward. Successive Islamic nations had attacked various areas of Europe for 1121 years until the naval Battle of Navarino was fought on October 20, 1827. This occurred during the Greek War of Independence (1821–32), at Navarino Bay (modern-day Pylos), on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea.

An Ottoman armada of imperial warships including squadrons from the eyalets (provinces) of Egypt, Tunis and Algiers was destroyed. The victors were an Allied force from Britain, France, and Russia. The sinking of the Ottoman Mediterranean fleet saved the fledgling Greek Republic from destruction. The causal factor was Russia's strong emotional support for the fellow-Orthodox Christian Greeks, who had rebelled against their Ottoman overlords in 1821. France and Great Britain bound Russia by treaty to a joint intervention aimed at securing Greek autonomy.

It would require two more military interventions before the withdrawal of Ottoman forces from central and southern Greece securing Greek independence. One by Russia, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829. A second was accomplished by French expeditionary forces in the Peloponnese.

By 1827, these powers agreed by the Treaty of London to force the Ottoman government to grant the Greeks autonomy. They dispatched naval squadrons to the eastern Mediterranean Sea to enforce this policy.

From the early 1500s on, non-Spaniards took the crown and used its wealth and power for the greater glory of European domination. Spanish treasure and blood was squandered on the foolishness of Empire without benefit to its people. In the late 19th Century, Spain was exhausted and dispossessed of her wealth, prestige, and power.

These Spaniards are my mother’s people. They came to the New World to begin a new life. Strong and certain they brought their faith in God and their love of Spain. The de Riberas and the others helped to found New Spain, and later, New Mexico. It began in 1599, with the Don Juan Pérez de Oñate y Salazar Expedition and the founding of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Later, after the Indian Rebellion of 1680, they returned in 1692, to Santa Fe with de Vargas to reclaim the land. Thereafter, they held the land until Mexico seized it by force in 1821. They remained working the land and welcomed the Americanos with open arms when in 1846 they claimed it on behalf of the United States of America.

Here we have remained. We New World Spanish who settled the land those many, many years ago. The de Riberas, Americans after 1846 were proud citizens of the greatest nation the world has ever produced. I can only ask myself, will a member of the de Ribera line one day in the far distant future add to this family history with the story of yet one more empire lost? The empire I refer to is the United States of America.

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Commentary

At this juncture, it is appropriate to look back to the year 1492. For almost eight hundred years (711 AD) Spain's hard fighting Conquistadors had fought against the African Moorish Islamic invaders and other subsequent, successive waves of Moslem invaders. The stranglehold upon native Iberian aspirations was finally removed in 1492. This was the beginning of what is known as the Spanish Golden Era. Under the Spanish Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, a newly unified Spain began its rise to world power. The Great Admiral, Christopher Columbus, discovered the route to the New World. Spain then navigated and explored the lands beyond the oceans and took their riches by "right of conquest." The Spanish Conquistadors that followed in Columbus' footsteps were bred by war, the struggle against the subjugation of Islam, its enslavement, and cruelty.

The conquest of the New World was preceded by centuries of constant warring with the Islam. This 800 year struggle to free Iberia of Islamic enslavement, created a vast army of well-trained, battle hardened veterans of the centuries long war for European cultural and religious freedom. Seasoned soldiers under the direction of mounted Spanish nobility were prepared for the conquests that were before them. After eight centuries of war and bloodshed, these conquistadors were warriors and crusaders, whose mission was to conquer infidels, baptize them to the Christian faith, and take gold and wealth from the enemies of the cross.

The harsh European world of religious wars into which they had been born was one of racial intolerance and absolute religious dominance. These crusading knights knew only war and constant change. The conquest of their mortal enemies, Islam, had convinced these nobles and their soldiers of the invincibility of Spanish arms. After centuries of war they believed only in their own power and ability to face and overcome great odds and the God who made it possible. These were the characteristics that served my progenitors so well in their adventures in the Americas.