Henry IV of Castile
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Henry IV of Castile
Henry IV of Castile (Enrique IV; 1425–1474), nicknamed "the Impotent," was King of Castile and León from 1454 to 1474. He was Isabella I's older half brother. His reign was marked by instability and weakening of royal power, as noble factions grew stronger and the kingdom became less centralized. Henry’s inability to produce a male heir, as well as
... See moreIsabella I of Castile became queen over her siblings—particularly after the death of her half-brother, King Henry IV—due to a combination of dynastic disputes, political alliances, legal maneuvering, and military conflict. Here are the key events and decisions that led to her ascension:
Initial Succession Uncertainty: Isabella was not originally the
There was no imperial ‘grand strategy’ to make Spain the centre of a world economy: indeed, such a plan would have been futile. Instead, Philip II devoted the ‘royal fifth’ – the monarchy’s share of the silver stream – to the struggle to uphold Spain’s pre-eminence in Europe against rivals and rebels.
John Darwin • After Tamerlane: The Rise and Fall of Global Empires, 1400-2000
Two important consequences flowed from the limited degree of political integration that the main ancien régime states had achieved. Firstly, they usually lacked the means to exert real control over the activities of their subjects and citizens in the extra-European world. Their colonial policies were a battleground where mercantile lobbies, aristoc
... See moreJohn Darwin • After Tamerlane: The Rise and Fall of Global Empires, 1400-2000
For all its drama, the Occidental ‘breakout’ of the long sixteenth century (1480–1620) had for long a limited impact. It depended heavily upon local circumstance and the gradual evolution of specialized subcultures of contact and conquest. It was not the working-out of an inescapable economic destiny (as some historians have argued), or the inevita
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