Personal Union of Aragon and Castile (Habsburg)

This article is about the specific polity Personal Union of Aragon and Castile (Habsburg) and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.

If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics

King Charles I, also Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V, in 1516 inherited both Castile and Aragon. At the same time his territories also encompassed the Habsburg Domains in central Europe and in the Low Countries. Realizing the difficulty posed by the administration of such a large territory, Charles V divided his empire shortly before his death: his son Philipp II received Spain, the Low Countries and the Spanish Colonies, and his brother Ferdinand I received the Austrian possessions and the Holy Roman Crown.

Summary

The personal union of the crowns of Aragon and Castile under the Catholic Monarchs set the stage for Spain's rise as a global power in the 16th century. This process accelerated under the Habsburg dynasty, which inherited the unified Spanish monarchy in 1517 with the accession of Charles I (also known as Emperor Charles V).

Charles I oversaw the consolidation of Spain's disparate territories into a cohesive empire. He expanded Spanish control over Italy, the Low Countries, and parts of Germany, making Spain the preeminent power in Europe. Under Charles and his successors, including Philip II, the Spanish Habsburgs exerted significant influence over the course of the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation.

Establishment

January 1517: King Charles I, known as Emperor Charles V, in 1516 united all the kingdoms on the Iberian peninsula, save the Kingdoms of Portugal and the Algarve. At the same time his territories also encompassed the Habsburg domains in central Europe and in the Low Countries.

Chronology

Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

1. Italian Wars

Were a series of conflicts covering the period between 1494 to 1559, fought mostly in the Italian peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and the Mediterranean Sea. The primary belligerents were the Valois kings of France, and their Habsburg opponents in the Holy Roman Empire and Spain.

1.1.Italian War of 1521-1526

Was one of the so-called Italian wars. The war pitted Francis I of France and the Republic of Venice against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Henry VIII of England, and the Papal States.

November 1521: Franco-Navarrese troops led by Bonnivet and Claudius I of Guise captured the key city of Fuenterrabia, at the mouth of the Bidasoa river on the Franco-Spanish border.

March 1524: Charles V of Spain was able to retake Fuenterrabia from the French in February 1524.

1.1.1.French invasion of Navarre

Was a French military campaign in Navarre during the Italian War of 1521-1526.

May 1521: In 1521, during the Spanish conquest of Navarre, General André de Foix led the French forces to conquer Pamplona.

June 1521: The french left Navarre after the battle of Noáin on June 30.

2. Further events (Unrelated to Any War)

January 1556: Charles V, who was King of Spain and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, left the Spanish Empire to his son Philip and the Austrian Lands to his brother Ferdinand I.

Disestablishment

January 1556: Charles V, who was King of Spain and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, left the Spanish Empire to his son Philip and the Austrian Lands to his brother Ferdinand I.