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Article: Spain
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SPAIN
SPAIN.
Although the term "Spain," from Latin
Hispania,
had long been used to refer to the greater part of the Iberian Peninsula, that nation did not become a political reality until the marriage of Isabella of Castile (1474
–
1506) to Ferdinand of Arag
ó
n (ruled 1479
–
1516) united the kingdom of Castile and Le
ó
n with the crown of Arag
ó
n. Castile added the Canary Islands during the fifteenth century, Granada in 1492, Melilla in 1497, and most of Navarre after 1512. The crown of Arag
ó
n possessed the kingdoms of Arag
ó
n and Valencia, the county of Barcelona (Catalonia), and the Balearic Islands. Between 1707 and 1716, Philip V (ruled 1700
–
...