A Brief History of Renaissance Spain by Washington Renaissance Fantasy Faire at Gig Harbor's Actor's Library

Spain and Portugal

Charles V of the Austrian Hapsburgs ruled both Spain and the Holy Roman Empire until 1556 when he abdicated in favor of his son, Philip II, who continued to consolidate the disparate Spanish kingdoms into a centralized monarchy. Deeply Catholic, Philip's Spain was home to both the European counter-revolution and the famous Spanish Inquisition, both of which aligned themselves against the growing Protestant movement in Europe. Spain, and thus Philip, also controlled Sicily, Naples, Sardinia, Milan, the Spanish Colonies and the Netherlands, though the latter continued to struggle to gain their independence from Spain.

Philip married Queen Mary Tudor of England, Elizabeth's predecessor, which lured England into Spain's war with France and led to the English loosing Calais, their last remaining province on the continent. In 1580, Philip conquered neighboring Portugal, but that was to be his last major victory. Philip unsuccessfully attempted to oust King Henry IV of France in the War of the Three Henrys, and again unsuccessfully tried to invade England in 1588 after Mary Queen of Scots was executed, and willed her claim to the English throne to Philip. The immense cost of these failed military attempts weakened Spain for a decade.

Spain was famed in this period for its vast wealth, much of it generated by the diverse and far-flung territories that it controlled, and further aided by their connection to the huge Hapsburg dynasty that controlled much of Europe in one way or another. Major cities in Spain and Portugal include Barcelona, Madrid.

Some Spanish names include:

Girls - Adonia, Albertine, Amada, Ana, Anita, Carlotta, Crista, Elena, Eva, Ines, Isabella, Jovanna, Lucita, Madalena, Maria, Margarita, Nina, Olivia, Rosalinde, Teresa, Ula

Boys - Alanzo, Alberto, Diego, Domingo, Edwardo, Enrique, Garcia, Gaspard, Hector, Lorenzo, Luis, Marco, Miguel, Orlando, Ricardo, Roderigo, Salvatore

Additonal Information:

Book: Philip of Spain, Henry Arthur Francis Kaman
Book: Grand Strategy of Phillip II, Geoffrey Parker