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The crown's authority in the Indies was enlarged by the papal grant of powers of patronage, giving it power in the religious sphere. The structure of the empire was further defined under the Spanish Habsburgs (1516–1700), and under the Spanish Bourbon monarchs the empire was brought under greater crown control and increased its revenues from the Indies. Castile became the dominant kingdom in Iberia because of its jurisdiction over the overseas empire in the Americas and the Philippines. Īn important element in the formation of Spain's empire was the dynastic union between Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, known as the Catholic Monarchs, which initiated political, religious and social cohesion but not political unification. It was one of the world's most powerful empires of the early modern period, becoming known as " the empire on which the sun never sets", and reached its maximum extent in the 18th century.
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One of the largest empires in history, it was, in conjunction with the Portuguese, the first to usher the European Age of Discovery and achieve a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, the archipelago of Philippines, various islands in the Pacific and territories in Western Europe and Africa.
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The Spanish Empire (Spanish: Imperio Español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy (Spanish: Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy (Spanish: Monarquía Católica) during the Early Modern period, was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predecessor states between 14. United States Military Government of the Philippine Islands