Visit the Royal Palace of Madrid

You should visit the royal palace of madrid. The royal palace id the officially residence of the spanish king. the king does not life here but uses it for official buisness. Its history dates back to the 9th century. First used as a defensive fort which later was replaced by the Old Alacazar.. then Philip V had a new palce built at the same site. It was built so that it could withstand a fire.This palace is very big. it is something that should be seen if you ever visit spain. the Palace gardens originated while Philip II ruled Spain.the Palace contains a Royal armoury which is very interesting. It has mediaeval items consisting of arms and armour of the kings of spains. Many Items that belonged to Philip II can be found in the armoury. If you are ever in Madrid,Spain you should take the tour at the royal palace
The picture up top shows the Palace gardens and the building while the picture on the bottom shows the Armoury.

Life Of A Noble (Philip II)

Life here in Spain is ok/bad for me . the peasants mostly pay the nations taxes. After the peace of Utrecht spain fully declined. Trade that made spain rich is now being taken over by the dutch and english. the flow of gold is causing inflation which is makeing my lifestyle hard to afford. I raised my rent and the peasants fled to the city.spains treasurey is empty and the king has no way to solve tis problem. Spain needs a ruler with character and one that will solve our problems.

Ruler of Spain

Spain was ruled by the absolute monarch Philip II. His countless costly wars sunk his county into debt. He believed in rule by Divine Right, meaning that God had chosen him to be king, which thus gave him extreme power. He utilized this power by starting several expensive wars, while also funding extensive overseas exploration and conquest.

Italian Politics and Rulers

Italy from the Renaissance to the time of religious wars was ruled almost completely by the Pope. As the Catholic Church was centered in Rome, all the Italian states were dominated by Papal rule. Although Luther's Reformation did weaken Papal rule, along with the Great Schism and the Babylonian captivity, the Pope still remained the complete authority over the Italian States.

Although the Pope did have the most authority, several families ran affairs in their respective cities. Florence, for example, was ran by the Medici family, who also sponsered many of the most famous artists of the Renaissance. Venice was ruled by an oligarchy, meaning that a few people ran that city. Milan was ran by the Sforza family, and Milan was most likely the least wealthy of all the Italian states. Although the Papal states were ran by the Pope, they were most likely the most corrupt. During the Renaissance, the Church was ran by the corrupt Borgia family. Pope Alexander V, of the Borgias, was noted for his corruption. He killed many people, sold indulgences, and had supposed affairs with his younger daughter Lucrezia, who he used as a political ally.

Spain, Socially and Culturally (Isabella and Ferdinand)

After Isabella and Ferdinand became the rulers of Spain, the country became devoutly Catholic. People were off fighting their religious wars, the Spanish Inquisition, and Spain was flourishing. People were going to church and now they were exploring new lands such as Christopher Columbus. New Spain was very profitable with all the gold and silver found there and this did eventually lead to major inflation in spain. Life was good in Spain under Isabella and Ferdinand, and many new lands were being explored

Portuguese Empire

During both the Renaissance and the Religious wars, Portugal tended to keep out of European affairs. Portugal was ruled by a series of monarchs who all focused on overseas expansion. They were the first to truely focus on expansion in the New World. Soon enough, however, the Spanish began to rival their empire. In addition to that Portugal fell under the rule of the Spanish monarchy, during the reign of Philip II.
The Portuguese kings were all completely Catholic. Like the Spanish, they too persecuted the Jews and Moors who lived in Portugal. Many Jews and Moors were killed and exiled under the rule of the absolute Portuguese monarchs.

Life Of A Peasant (Phillip II)

Life here is very hard at the moment. I don't have too much money at the moment and can barely afford food. King Phillip is spending all of our taxed money on his own luxuries and lifestyle. He completely controls every aspect of our life. We have no say in what goes on in the government or in the laws and pointless wars fought. All his armada did was waste our money. Im getting hungry now and i have to go buy some bread. Bye.

Philip II - Politics

Following Charles V's abdicaiton of the Spanish throne, after the unification, Philip II came into power. He became the first true absolute monarch in Spanish history. Under his rule Spain reached its greatest boarders, conquering the Netherlands and American colonies. Philip started many wars and continued persecuting Jews and the Moors, while sinking Spain into further debt.

Isabella and Ferdinand Unite Spain - Politics

Even when Spain had become an almost completely Catholic nation, it was still divided. The rival regions of Castille and Aragon vied for control of the Iberian peninsula. They both had land overseas and both were becoming increasingly stronger. With their combined increase of strength and wealth, they began to disagree and argue more often. But however, in 1469, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile were married and became King and Queen, uniting the two Spanish kingdoms.
After uniting Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella had varying goals for the young nation. Ferdinand concentrated on expanding the Spanish overseas empire by commissioning several explorers to claim land in the New World. He commissioned several well known explorers, including Christopher Columbus. Isabella, on the other hand concentrated on making Spain more Catholic. What followed was the Spanish Inquisition where countless Jews, Muslims, and Pagans were forced to switch to Catholicism or killed. If they did not convert, they were either exiled or murdered.