The two major regional areas of Spain came together in 1469 when Ferdinand of Aragon married Isabella of Castile, and more territory was added yet again, or re-won, in 1492 with the completion of the “reconquista” when all Muslims and Jews were run out of Spain. Another renowned event of the same year was the accidental discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus who had sought to establish a route to the Indies. Following this remarkable discovery,

· Spain had no banks and instruments of exchange to store and transmit money. They lacked commercial intelligence as well as efficient means of transporting goods.

Both nations suffered from an absence of banks, a lack of commercial intelligence, as well as a lack of efficient government planning. After looking at the fates suffered by both Spain and France because of an inability early on to make good financial decisions, I believe it is safe to agree with Spodek in his statement: “To build and sustain wealth, countries must be able to use wealth effectively.” Both of these nations did poorly in this area.

Although all of these aided quite substantially the downfall of Spain, I believe that one of the most crucial factors would be King Charles V (known as Carlos I in Spain). Charles inherited Spain and the Spanish colonies in Africa, the Americas, Naples, and Sicily from his mother’s parents, Ferdinand and Isabella. From his father’s family, the House of Burgundy, he inherited the Netherlands and the German lands owned by the Habsburg family. With so much land Charles soon became the most powerful ruler in Europe. He was raised in Flounders by his father’s family, knew no Spanish, and in fact could rarely be found in Spain. When Charles entered into wars against the Ottoman Turkish Empire in the Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, and into the Christian religious wars of Catholic versus Protestant in northern and central Europe, he bankrupted even the silver-rich treasury of Spain. After Charles’s abdication in 1556, his son Philip II continued the politics of warfare and suffered many of the same results. The financial and human investment in war begun by Carlos I, or Charles V, continued for two centuries and became the major reason for Spain’s ultimate decline. Francisco de los Cobos, secretary of finance, virtually governed Castilla, or Charles’s kingdom in Spain, for about 30 years during the king’s frequent and lengthy absences. With money being spent much faster than it came in, Cobos already foresaw trouble and repeatedly warned the king of the situation. It was clear that the medieval institutions could not cope with the demands of an aggressive, money-squandering empire. “Wealth from the Americas helped some, but just like a leaky bucket, the more that came in the more poured out.” And then to sort of “put the cherry on top,” Charles’s successor Felipe II, or Phillip II prepared to invade England for aiding the Netherlands in becoming independent of Spain. In 1588, the Spanish Armada set out for England with 130 ships, 30,000 men, and 2400 pieces of artill

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