Christopher Columbus taking possession of the Spanish.
However, the expansion which would be the atlantic the greatest success. To reach the riches of the East, whose trade routes (especially those in the areas of the Pacific Islands) blocked the Ottomans or monopolize the Italians, Spanish and Portuguese competed to find a new route than the traditional one, by land, through Middle East. The Portuguese, who had finished long before the Spanish Reconquista her, then began its first shipments in order to gain access to African riches and then circumnavigate Africa, which would give them control of the islands and coasts of the continent to open a new route to the East Indies, without relying on trade throughout the Ottoman Empire, monopolized by Venice and Genoa, with the germ of the Portuguese Empire. Later, when he finished his reconquest Castile, the Catholic Monarchs, supported Christopher Columbus who, apparently convinced that the circumference of the Earth was less than the real, he wanted to achieve Cipango (Japan), China, India, the sailing westward, with the same purpose as the Portuguese: independence of the Italian cities to get the goods from the East: mainly, spices and silk (the finest produced in the kingdom of Murcia from the Moors). Colon is most likely never reached its goal, but was halfway through the American continent and, unknowingly, to “descubrio ‘America, beginning with the Spanish colonization of the continent.
The new found lands were claimed by the Catholic Monarchs, with opposition from Portugal. Finally, Pope Alexander VI half, reaching the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided the spheres of influence of Spanish and Portuguese 370 miles west of the islands of Cape Verde (the 46th meridian at 37 ‘) west longitude, being the western for Spain and Portugal to the East. Thus, Spain became nominally owns most of the continent with the exception of a small part, the East ‘which today is the tip of Brazil,’ which went to Portugal. Henceforth, this papal transferred along with the responsibility of evangelizing the territories discovered, was used by the Catholic Monarchs as standing in their colonial expansion.
The colonization of America continuing meanwhile. Besides taking the Spanish, which ended at the beginning of the sixteenth century, settlers began to seek new settlements. The belief that there were large territories to colonize new lands in the place discovered by the eagerness to seek new conquests. From there, Juan Ponce de Leon conquered Puerto Rico and Diego Velazquez, Cuba. Alonso de Ojeda toured Central America and the Venezuelan coast. Diego de Nicuesa occupy what is now Costa Rica and Nicaragua, while Vasco N ez de Balboa Panama colonized and reached the South Sea (Pacific Ocean).
Years later, under Philip II, this “Castellano Empire” became a new source of wealth for the Spanish kingdoms and his power in Europe, but also contributes to higher inflation, which hurts the industry peninsular. As always the most powerful economy, the Spanish, began to depend on raw materials and manufactured goods from poorer countries with cheaper labor, which facilitates the economic and social revolution in France, England and other parts of Europe. The problems caused by excess precious metals were discussed by the School of Salamanca, which I think a new way of understanding the economy that the other European countries take long to understand.
On the other hand, the enormous costs and unsuccessful wars to drag on the European policy of Charles I inherited by his successor Philip II, who led the financing with loans from bankers, both in Spain and Genoa, Antwerp and southern Germany , makingthe benefits that could be the Crown (the State, after all) was much smaller than those obtained later colonial interests with other countries such as Holland and later England.