This article is about the specific polity Personal Union of Aragon and Castile 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
In 1469, the crowns of the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon were united by the marriage of their monarchs. The two Kingdoms remained legally separated, but from this moment factually acted as one country. The two Kingdoms were legally merged by Philip V in 1715 (Nueva Planta decrees).
Summary
In 1479, the marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile united the two most powerful Christian kingdoms on the Iberian peninsula. This personal union laid the foundations for the modern Spanish state, although Aragon and Castile would retain distinct institutions, laws, and administrations for centuries.
Under Ferdinand and Isabella, known as the Catholic Monarchs, Spain embarked on an ambitious program of territorial expansion and consolidation. The final Moorish stronghold of Granada fell in 1492, completing the Reconquista. That same year, Christopher Columbus made his historic voyage to the Americas, opening up a new era of Spanish exploration and colonization.
The personal union of the Catholic Monarchs provided the basis for Spain's rise as a major European power in the 16th century. Their successors, the Habsburg dynasty, would rule a vast global empire spanning Europe, the Americas, and parts of Africa and Asia. However, this period also saw religious conflicts, as the Catholic Monarchs initiated the Spanish Inquisition to suppress religious dissent and expel Jews and Muslims from Spain.
By the early 18th century, the direct Habsburg line died out, leading to the War of the Spanish Succession. This conflict was resolved by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, which recognized the Bourbon dynasty's Philip V as King of Spain, while partitioning the Spanish empire between the major European powers.
Establishment
January 1479: In 1469, Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon were married, uniting the crowns of their respective kingdoms. This union eventually led to the formation of the powerful Spanish Empire.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Was a Castilian military campaign that resulted in the conquest of teh Canary Islands.
1.1.Conquista realenga
Was the phase of the conquest of the Canary Islands when the military operations were led by the united Crowns of Castile and Aragon.
1.1.1.Conquest of Gran Canaria
Was the Spanish conquest of the island of Gran Canaria, in the Canary islands.
April 1483: On 29 April 1483 Guayarmina Semidán, considered to be queen of Gran Canaria, surrendered at Ansite Fortress. On the same day Chief Bentejuí and his shaman-advisor Faycán committed suicide by jumping off a cliff while shouting Atis Tirma (for my land).
1.1.2.Conquest of La Palma
Was the Spanish conquest of the island of La Palma, in the Canary islands.
September 1492: The campaign was relatively easy, commencing on 29 September 1492 when the Castilians landed in Tazacorte.
May 1493: La Palma conquered by Aragon.
1.1.3.Conquest of Tenerife
Was the Spanish conquest of the island of Tenerife, in the Canary islands.
May 1494: Castilian invading force set sail from Gran Canaria in April 1494 and landed on the coast of present-day Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
November 1494: In 1494, Alonso Fernández de Lugo, a Spanish conquistador, defeated the Guanche leader Bencomo in the Battle of Aguere in San Cristóbal de La Laguna.
December 1494: The Castilian victory in the Second Battle of Acentejo brought about the collapse of aboriginal resistance on the Island of Tenerife. The battle marked the conquest of the island and the end of the conquest of the Canary Islands.
Were a series military campaigns from the 8th century until 1492 by the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula to reconquer the region from the Islamic rulers that had conquered it during the Umayyad conquest of Hispania.
January 1486: Spanish conquest of Marbella and Ronda.
January 1488: Spanish conquest of Malaga.
January 1490: Spanish conquest of Almeria.
January 1490: Spanish conquest of Baza.
January 1490: Spanish conquest of Guadix.
January 1492: After the Spanish siege of Granada, Muhammad XII, the last Nasrid ruler of Granada, formally relinquished his sovereignty and surrendered his territories to Castile.
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.
3.1.War of the League of Cambrai
Was one of the so-called Italian wars.
3.1.1.Fourth Phase - Alliance between Venice and France
Was the fourth phase of the War of the League of Cambrai, one of the so-called Italian Wars.
January 1514: In Navarre, resistance to Fernando of Aragon's invasion collapsed and he quickly consolidated his power over the whole region.
3.2.Italian War of 1551-1559
Was one of the so-called Italian Wars.
3.2.1.Mediterranean campaigns
Was a French and Ottoman naval campaign during the Italian War of 1551-1559.
3.2.1.1.Ottoman invasion of the Balearic Islands
Was the Ottoman invasion of Corsica during the Italian War of 1551-1559.
July 1558: The Ottomans attacked the citadel of Ciutadella in Menorca, which was only garrisoned with 40 soldiers.
August 1558: The Ottomans under Piyale Pasha and Turgut Reis put the town of Minorca under siege for eight days, then entered and decimated the town.
Expansion during the rule of Murad III in the Ottoman Empire.
July 1586: In 1585, Ottoman admiral Murat Reis captured the island of Lanzarote in the Canary islands off the West African coast.
Were a series of wars in Europe (and the overseas possessions of European countries) the 16th, 17th and early 18th that started after the Protestant Reformation. Although the immediate causes of the wars were religious, the motives were complex and also included territorial ambitions.
5.1.Thirty Years' War
Was a war that took place mainly in central Europe between 1618 and 1648. The war began as a religious conflict between Catholics and Protestant in the Holy Roman Empire but then escalated into a conflict for the hegemony in Europe between Habsburg Spain and Austria, Sweden and France.
5.1.1.Franco-Swedish Period
Was the fourth main period of the Thirty Years' War. It started with the intervention of the Kingdom of France.
5.1.1.1.North German Front (Sweden)
Was the north German front during the Franco-Swedish period of the Thirty Years' War.
November 1648: When in November Gustaf of Sweden received a report about the signed peace, he ordered his troops to leave. Also the French troops started leaving the occupied territories in the Holy Roman Empire.
5.1.1.2.Rhineland Front (France)
Was the Rhineland front during the Franco-Swedish period of the Thirty Years' War.
May 1648: The French returned to Swabia and then to Bavaria. They defeated the Imperial forces at Zusmarshausen (May 17, 1648) and drove Maximilian of Bavaria out of Munich.
5.1.1.3.Spanish Front (France)
Was the Spanish front during the Franco-Swedish period of the Thirty Years' War.
January 1641: Catalonia recognizes Louis XIII of France as Count of Barcelona and Roussillon. France sends an army, commanded by Lamothe to take possession of the new province. Several places are taken and the siege is put in front of Tarragona which is also blocked by the French fleet commanded by the Archbishop of Sourdis.
May 1641: The unsuccessful siege of Lérida in 1641 was led by Louis II de Bourbon, also known as Condé, a French military leader. The city was under Spanish occupation at the time, and the siege lasted from May 12 to June 17.
September 1642: Siege of Perpignan.
October 1642: Marshal de Lamothe was forced to evacuate Catalonia despite his success on October 7 against the Spaniards of Leganez at the Battle of Lérida.
May 1646: The French army besieged the city of Lérida from May 12, 1646.
November 1646: The Siege of Lérida ended on November 22, 1646. The French army left Catalonia.
May 1647: The Siege of Lérida in 1647 was a military campaign led by the French under the command of Grand Condé against the Spanish defenders. Despite the initial attack on May 12, the French were unable to capture the territory, resulting in a failed siege.
June 1647: The French siege of Barcelona, led by French military leader Philippe de La Mothe-Houdancourt, was lifted on June 17, 1647. This marked a significant victory for the Catalan forces and their allies in the ongoing conflict between France and the Personal Union of Aragon and Castile.
5.1.2.Peace of Westphalia
Were a series of treaties that ended the Thirty Years' War. Catholics and Protestants were redefined as equal in the territories of the Holy Roman Empire. There were major territorial adjustments. In particular, France, Sweden and Brandenburg had major territorial gains, and several religious territories of the Holy Roman Empire were secularized.
January 1649: Genova gave Pontremoli back to Spain.
5.2.Thirty Years' War aftermath wars
Were a series of wars that were a continuation of the Thirty Years' War.
5.2.1.Franco-Spanish War (1648-1659)
Was a war between Spain and France that ended with the Treaty of the Pyrenees of 1659.
November 1651: Barcelona fell to Catalan rebels supported by France.
November 1652: Spain recaptured Barcelona in October 1652.
January 1654: After fighting in Rousillon, the French retreated to the Pyrenees.
November 1659: With the Treaty of the Pyrenees that ended the Franco-Spanish War (1635-1659), France gained French Flanders (Artois) and minor territories on the rhineland (f.e. thionville). The northern part of the Principality of Catalonia, including Roussillon, Conflent, Vallespir, Capcir, and French Cerdagne, was also transferred to France, i.e. what later came to be known as "Northern Catalonia".
5.3.Nine Years' War
Was a conflict between France and the Grand Alliance, a coalition including the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, England, Spain, and Savoy. It is considered the first war that saw fighting globally because battles occured in Europe, America, Africa and India.
5.3.1.Pyrenean Theatre
Was the Pyrenean Theatre of the the Nine Years' War.
May 1690: The French forces, led by Marshal Noailles, successfully took control of the town of Camprodon in Catalonia, Spain.
September 1690: In 1690, a large Spanish army led by the Duke of Villahermosa forced the French to retreat back to Roussillon in August.
June 1693: The French led by Noailles secured the valuable seaport of Rosas in Catalonia.
June 1694: Hostalric conquered by france.
June 1694: The French proceeded to take Palamós on 10 June.
June 1694: Gerona conquered by france.
August 1697: In 1697, during the War of the Grand Alliance, French forces led by Vendôme, with troops from Italy, captured Barcelona in Catalonia. The garrison, commanded by Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, surrendered on 10 August.
5.3.2.Peace of Ryswick
Were a series of treaties that ended the Nine Years' War.
September 1697: The French evacuated Catalonia.
The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Philip of Anjou and Charles of Austria, and their respective supporters. It was a global war, with fighting taking place in Europe, Asia, and America. At the end of the war, Philip II, who was the successor chosen by Charles II as a descendant of Charles' paternal half-sister Maria Theresa, became King of Spain and of its overseas empire. The Spanish possessions in Europe were partitioned between various European Monarchies.
6.1.French campaign in Spanish possessions
Were a seris of French military actions to occupy Spanish possession in order to support the Spanish king (who was a grandchild of the French King Louis XIV).
March 1701: In February 1701, the Duchy of Milan, under Spanish control, declared support for Philip, the grandson of Louis XIV, who was declared King of Spain in the will of Charles II. French troops were accepted into the territory as a result.
6.2.Italian Theatre (War of Spanish Succession)
Was the theatre of war of the War of the Spanish Succession in Italy.
March 1707: The Convention of Milan of March 13, 1707, ensured the uncontested Austrian possession of the Duchies of Milan and of Mantua.
6.3.Spanish Theatre (War of the Spanish Succession)
Was the theatre of war in Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession.
August 1704: British forces captured Gibraltar.
September 1705: The castle of Montjuïc fell into the hands of the allies.
October 1705: Barcelona, surrounded by allied troops, capitulated on 9 October also due to a popular revolt that began in the La Ribera district.
December 1705: Valencia conquered by austria.
June 1706: Portuguese, Dutch and English elements entered Madrid.
June 1706: During the War of the Spanish Succession, the city of Zaragoza was captured by the Allied forces on June 29, 1706. This victory was led by the Duke of Berwick, a prominent military leader in the Spanish army who fought for the Bourbon dynasty.
July 1706: Alicante is taken by the Allies in 1706 in the wake of their landing at Barcelona.
October 1706: The islands of Ibiza and Maiorca conquered by austria.
October 1706: Philip V returned to Madrid at the beginning of October.
January 1707: Ciudad Rodrigo is conquere by the Allied of the War of the Spanish Succession.
June 1707: With the allies in full retreat, the duke of Orléans arrived from Italy and joined the duke of Berwick to retake much of what had been lost in previous military campaigns: the city of Valencia and Zaragoza fell in May.
July 1707: Claude François Bidal d'Asfeld retook Xátiva for Spain in June.
October 1707: The Bourbons recovered the city of Ciudad Rodrigo through the Marquis of Bay.
December 1707: Lleida conquered by Personal Union of Aragon and Castile.
December 1707: Much of Aragon and Valencia returned to obedience to Philip V, and the allies were driven back into Catalonia, beyond the line of the Segre and Ebro rivers.
July 1708: The duke of Orléans took Tortosa in mid-July.
September 1708: In 1708, an English expedition led by Admiral John Norris and General John Campbell landed in Sardinia as part of the War of the Spanish Succession. The island was occupied by Great Britain for strategic purposes, aiming to secure naval dominance in the Mediterranean.
September 1708: British forces captured Minorca.
August 1710: With the battle of Zaragoza the allies regained control of Aragon.
September 1710: Charles III, the Habsburg pretender to the Spanish throne, entered Madrid in 1710, facing resistance from the city's residents who were loyal to the Bourbon dynasty.
December 1710: During the War of the Spanish Succession, French forces led by the Duke of Vendôme captured British General James Stanhope in Brihuega on December 9, 1710. This event was a significant setback for the Grand Alliance forces.
December 1710: Even if the Count of Starhemberg was able to stand up to his enemies, the allies were subsequently forced into a hasty retreat towards Catalonia, reduced only to the regions of Tarragona, Igualada and Barcelona where they remained until the end of the war.
August 1713: In March 1713, Count Sinzendorf, the emperor's delegate to the congress, signed an agreement for the evacuation of the imperial troops from Catalonia: the Empress departed from Barcelona on 19 March, followed the following July by Count Starhemberg.
6.4.Treaty of Rastatt
Was a peace treaty between France and Austria that was concluded on 7 March 1714 in the Baden city of Rastatt to end the War of the Spanish Succession between both countries.
March 1714: At the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, Austria was awarded the Spanish territories in Italy, including Naples, Milan, Sardinia, as well as the Southern Netherlands.
January 1483: Spanish conquest of the island of Gran Canaria.
December 1495: The Guanches were defeated by the Spanish at the battle of Aguere in November 1494. They were finally defeated at the second battle of Acentejo on December 25, 1495.
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.
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.
January 1557: In 1556, Milan became a subsidiary country of the Spanish crown as a result of the Habsburg division of inheritance.
January 1560: The Duchy of Savoy conquers Cherasco.
January 1587: Lanzarote was reconquered by Spain from the Turks.
January 1603: Finale Ligure Marquisate enfeoffed to the King of Spain.
January 1614: Foundation of the March of Spigno by Marcantonio Asinari.
January 1648: Pontremoli (about 6,000 inhabitants) was bought by the Republic of Genoa in November 1647.
January 1652: Philip IV of Spain, in his capacity as Duke of Milan, sold Pontremoli to the Grand Duke Ferdinando II de' Medici.
January 1653: Foundation of the Barony of Retegno and Bettola by the Cardinal Gian Giacomo Teodoro Trivulzio.
January 1708: The Duchy of Savoy conquers Alessandria.
June 1715: Philip V united the crowns of Castile and Aragon into a single state.
Disestablishment
June 1715: Philip V united the crowns of Castile and Aragon into a single state.
Selected Sources
Harvey, L. P. (1992): Islamic Spain, 1250 to 1500, Chicago (USA)
Krumenacker, Y. (2008): La Guerre de Trente Ans, Paris, Ellipses, pp. 146-147
O'Callaghan, J. F. (2011): The Gibraltar Crusade: Castile and the Battle for the Strait, Philadelphia (USA)
O'Callaghan, J. F. (2014): The Last Crusade in the West: Castile and the Conquest of Granada, Philadelphia (USA)
Schmiele, E. (1887): Zur Geschichte des schwedisch-polnischen Krieges von 1655 bis 1660, Berlin (Germany), p. 5
Tucker, S.C. (2011) Battles that changed History - An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, ABC-CLIO, pp.155
Personal Union of Aragon and Castile
