Spain
The Spanish monarchy and its people.
Category: States, Places
- 1402Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de la Salle land in Lanzarote
The Norman knights Béthencourt and La Salle reach Lanzarote in 1402, and Henry III of Castile makes Béthencourt lord of the islands. Sources date the conquest of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura between 1402 and 1405.
- 1403Clavijo's embassy from Castile to Timur
Henry III of Castile sends Ruy González de Clavijo to Timur. The party sails from Cádiz on 22 May 1403, crosses Constantinople and Trebizond, and reaches Samarkand on 4 September 1404. Back in Castile on 24 March 1406, Clavijo writes the Embajada a Tamorlán.
- October 19, 1469Isabella of Castile marries Ferdinand of Aragon
Isabella, heir to Castile, marries Ferdinand, heir to Aragon, in Valladolid on 19 October 1469 without her half-brother Henry IV's consent. Their union leads to the joint rule of the Catholic Monarchs.
- 1478Ferdinand and Isabella obtain papal approval for a Spanish Inquisition
In 1478 the Catholic Monarchs request, and Pope Sixtus IV approves, an Inquisition in Castile under royal control, aimed at conversos suspected of secretly practising Judaism. Sources date its start to 1478, 1480 or 1483.
- June 24, 1478Juan Rejón lands on Gran Canaria and founds Las Palmas
A Castilian force under Juan Rejón lands at La Isleta on 24 June 1478 and founds the camp that becomes Las Palmas, opening the royal conquest of Gran Canaria against its Indigenous inhabitants.
- September 4, 1479Treaty of Alcáçovas divides Atlantic claims between Castile and Portugal
The treaty of 4 September 1479 ends the Castilian succession war. Castile keeps the Canary Islands, while Portugal gets the Guinea coast and the Atlantic south of the Canaries. It was ratified in 1480.
- June 21, 1481Pope Sixtus IV confirms the Alcáçovas division in the bull Aeterni regis
Sixtus IV issues Aeterni regis on 21 June 1481, confirming the Treaty of Alcáçovas, including Portugal's rights to African lands. John II of Portugal later cites it against Columbus's claims.
- c. 1482 – January 1492The Granada War: Castile and Aragon against the Emirate of Granada
Ferdinand and Isabella's war against the Nasrid Emirate of Granada begins around 1482 (some sources say 1481) and ends with Granada's surrender on 2 January 1492.
- 1483Castile completes the conquest of Gran Canaria under Pedro de Vera
After years of resistance, mostly in the island's interior, the last Gran Canaria leaders submit to Pedro de Vera in 1483. Rejón had been removed by this time. It is the first of the major islands taken by the Crown of Castile.
- c. 1485Hernán Cortés is born in Medellín, Extremadura
The future conqueror of the Aztec Empire is born around 1485 to a minor noble family; the exact year is uncertain, since sources give his age at death as 61 or 62. His mother is Catalina Pizarro.
- c. 1486 – c. 1490Hernando de Talavera's commission examines Columbus's proposal in Castile
From about 1486 a commission headed by Hernando de Talavera, confessor to Queen Isabella, considers Columbus's plan. It meets only now and then and advises against it in 1490 (some sources say 1491); the monarchs overrule it in 1492.
- January 1492Boabdil surrenders Granada to Ferdinand and Isabella
Muhammad XII (Boabdil) hands Granada and the Alhambra to the Catholic Monarchs in January 1492, ending Muslim rule in Iberia after almost 800 years. Most sources give 2 January, one gives 1 January.
- 1492Antonio de Nebrija publishes the first grammar of Castilian
Antonio de Nebrija publishes his Gramática de la lengua castellana in Salamanca, the first grammar of a modern European vernacular. 1492 is the conventional start of the Spanish Golden Age.
- March 31, 1492Alhambra Decree expels the Jews from Castile and Aragon
Ferdinand and Isabella order all Jews who will not convert to Christianity to leave Castile and Aragon, in a decree dated 31 March 1492, less than three months after the fall of Granada.
- April 17, 1492Ferdinand and Isabella sign the Santa Fe Capitulations with Columbus
On 17 April 1492, outside conquered Granada, the Catholic Monarchs make Columbus Admiral, Viceroy and Governor of any lands he finds, with a tenth of the profits. A copy in the Archive of the Crown of Aragon survives.
- August 3, 1492 – March 1493Columbus's first voyage across the Atlantic and back
Sailing for Castile with three ships, Columbus crosses the Atlantic, reaches the Bahamas on 12 October 1492 and returns in March 1493, beginning sustained contact between Europe and the Americas.
- August 3, 1492Columbus sails from Palos de la Frontera with the Santa María, Pinta and Niña
Columbus leaves the Andalusian port of Palos on 3 August 1492 with three ships and about 90 men, heading for the Canary Islands. Some sources give 2 August.
- September 1492 – May 1493Alonso Fernández de Lugo conquers La Palma
Fernández de Lugo lands at Tazacorte in September 1492 and completes the conquest of La Palma in 1493, founding Santa Cruz de La Palma. The campaign dates vary between sources.
- September 6, 1492Columbus leaves La Gomera in the Canary Islands for the open Atlantic
After repairing the Pinta's rudder at Gran Canaria, Columbus stops at La Gomera and sails west on 6 September 1492, the last land before the Atlantic crossing. The Castilian conquest of the Canaries gave him a base.
- October 12, 1492Columbus's fleet sights land at Guanahani in the Bahamas
A lookout on the Pinta sights land in the early hours of 12 October 1492. The island, Guanahani to its Lucayan Taíno people and renamed San Salvador by Columbus, is in the Bahamas; which modern island it was remains debated.
- March 1493Columbus returns to Europe and Portugal disputes Castile's claim
Storm-driven, Columbus's Niña reaches Lisbon on 4 March 1493 before going to Palos. John II of Portugal says the discoveries fall under earlier treaties, which leads to the papal bulls and the Treaty of Tordesillas.
- May 4, 1493Pope Alexander VI issues Inter caetera granting Castile lands in the west
On 4 May 1493 Pope Alexander VI grants the Catholic Monarchs the lands discovered or to be discovered west and south of a line near the Azores and Cape Verde. It is revised by the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494.
- September 1493Columbus sails on his second voyage with 17 ships to settle Hispaniola
A fleet of 17 ships and over a thousand men, including settlers, soldiers and priests, leaves Cádiz in late September 1493. It is the first Spanish colonising expedition to the Americas.
- c. 1494 – July 1496Castile conquers Tenerife, the last of the Canary Islands
Alonso Fernández de Lugo invades Tenerife in 1494 against the Guanche kingdoms (menceyatos). After defeat at the first Acentejo, he wins at Aguere and the second Acentejo, and the island submits in July 1496.
- c. 1494Columbus founds La Isabela on Hispaniola, the first European town in the Americas
At the turn of 1493-94 Columbus founds La Isabela on the north coast of Hispaniola, in today's Dominican Republic, as the first Spanish colonial town in the Americas. Sources give late December 1493 or early January 1494.
- June 7, 1494Treaty of Tordesillas divides the world between Spain and Portugal
Spain and Portugal agree on 7 June 1494 on a line 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. Lands to the west are Spain's to explore and claim; those to the east are Portugal's. It replaces a papal line set the year before.
- 1495Columbus sends hundreds of enslaved Taíno to Spain
In 1495 Columbus's men round up over 1,000 Taíno and ship about 500 to Spain to be sold; many die on the voyage, and the numbers vary by source. Queen Isabella soon orders an inquiry into whether they may be enslaved.
- c. 1495Spanish colonists impose a gold tribute on the Taíno of Hispaniola
After Vega Real, Columbus's government makes Taíno adults pay a regular tribute in gold, or in cotton or food where there is no gold. Villages that fail to pay are punished, and many Taíno flee or die.
- March 1495Spanish forces defeat the Taíno at the Battle of Vega Real on Hispaniola
Columbus's brother Bartholomew and Spanish troops with dogs and cavalry defeat a large Taíno force on Hispaniola in March 1495 (24 March in most sources), ending organised Taíno resistance on the island.
- c. 1499La Celestina is printed in Burgos
The earliest known edition of the Comedia de Calisto y Melibea, later called La Celestina and attributed to Fernando de Rojas, appears in Burgos c. 1499; some scholars date it 1500.
- August 23, 1500Francisco de Bobadilla arrests Columbus at Santo Domingo
A royal investigator, Bobadilla, arrives at Santo Domingo on 23 August 1500, takes over the government of Hispaniola and sends Columbus and his brothers to Spain in chains after colonists' complaints. Historians dispute his fairness.
- c. 1501Spain permits the shipment of enslaved Africans to Hispaniola
Around 1501 the Spanish crown allows Christianised, Spanish-speaking enslaved Africans to be taken to Hispaniola. Ovando soon asks for the shipments to stop, but demand grows as Taíno numbers fall. Sources give 1501 or 1503.
- 1502Bartolomé de las Casas sails to Hispaniola with Nicolás de Ovando
Las Casas travels with his father in Ovando's 1502 fleet to Hispaniola, where he receives land and enslaved Taíno labourers under the encomienda system he would later condemn. One source gives 1499.
- 1502Nicolás de Ovando arrives as governor of Hispaniola and sets up the encomienda
Ovando sails with about 30 ships and arrives at Santo Domingo in 1502. He introduces the encomienda, in which Taíno are assigned to Spanish colonists as forced labour in return for instruction in Christianity.
- 1504Hernán Cortés sails to Hispaniola and settles at Azua
In 1504 Cortés reaches Santo Domingo, where he receives an encomienda and a post as notary in Azua. Seven years later he will join Diego Velázquez's conquest of Cuba.
- 1511Diego Velázquez begins the Spanish conquest of Cuba
Governor Diego Velázquez leads Spanish forces from Hispaniola into Cuba in 1511 against the Taíno, led by the cacique Hatuey. Cuba becomes a base for later expeditions to Mexico.
- December 21, 1511Antonio de Montesinos denounces the treatment of the Taíno in a sermon at Santo Domingo
On 21 December 1511 the Dominican friar Antonio de Montesinos tells the colonists of Hispaniola that their abuse of the Taíno is a sin. Bartolomé de las Casas hears it, and it leads to the Laws of Burgos.
- December 1512The Laws of Burgos regulate the treatment of Indigenous people in the Spanish colonies
In response to Montesinos's sermon, Ferdinand II issues the Laws of Burgos in December 1512, the first Spanish code for the Americas. They limit labour and require conversion but do not end encomienda or slave raids.
- 1513Las Casas serves as chaplain in Velázquez's conquest of Cuba
In 1513 Las Casas accompanies Diego Velázquez and Pánfilo de Narváez's forces in Cuba as chaplain and receives an encomienda near Cienfuegos. He later describes the massacres he saw there.
- 1514 – 1520The Complutensian Polyglot, the first printed polyglot Bible, is produced in Alcalá
Funded by Cardinal Cisneros, the six-volume Bible in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin is printed at Alcalá de Henares in 1514–1517 and issued in 1520–21. It holds the first printed Greek New Testament.
- c. 1516Las Casas presents the Memorial de Remedios and is named Protector of the Indians
In 1516, in Spain, Las Casas submits a reform plan and is made 'Protector of the Indians' in a Hieronymite commission. His plan proposed importing enslaved Africans; he later called that proposal a grave error.
- c. 1518Smallpox spreads through the Taíno population of Hispaniola
The first recorded smallpox epidemic reaches Hispaniola in late 1518 or 1519 and kills a large share of surviving Taíno. Estimates of their numbers vary widely, and forced labour and violence had already reduced them.
- August 18, 1518Charles V licenses the direct shipment of 4,000 enslaved Africans to the Americas
On 18 August 1518 Charles V grants Lorenzo de Gorrevod a licence for up to 4,000 enslaved Africans to be carried directly from Africa to the Spanish Indies, an early step in the transatlantic slave trade.
- 1519Cortés founds Veracruz and takes command of the expedition on the Mexican coast
After landing near the site at Easter, on 21 or 22 April 1519, Cortés founds the town of Veracruz, the base for the expedition. The article places the founding in early June; other accounts earlier.
- 1519 – 1533Enriquillo's Taíno revolt in the Bahoruco mountains of Hispaniola
The cacique Enriquillo rebels against Spanish colonists in 1519 and holds out in the Bahoruco mountains for years. A peace agreement is reached in 1533, after Charles V's envoy offers his people freedom to settle where they choose.
- 1519Havana is founded on its present site on Cuba's northern coast
A settlement founded on Cuba's south coast in 1514 is moved, and the present city of Havana is founded on the north coast in 1519. It becomes the main port of Spain's Caribbean shipping.
- February 10, 1519Hernán Cortés sails from Cuba for Mexico despite the governor's order
On 10 February 1519 Cortés leaves Cuba with an expedition to the mainland, though governor Diego Velázquez had cancelled his commission. It begins the conquest of the Aztec Empire.
- November 8, 1519Cortés and Moctezuma II meet as the Spanish enter Tenochtitlan
On 8 November 1519 Cortés enters the Aztec capital, a city of more than 200,000 people by most estimates, and meets Moctezuma II. The Spanish hold the ruler captive within the following weeks.
- 1520 – 1521Las Casas's attempt at a peaceful settlement at Cumaná, Venezuela, fails
Las Casas gets a royal concession in 1520 to found farming settlements without conquest on the Venezuelan coast. The colony is destroyed by local people in his absence in 1521, and Las Casas withdraws to a Dominican house.
- October 1520 – December 1520A smallpox epidemic devastates the Valley of Mexico
From about October to December 1520 smallpox, introduced by the Spanish, spreads through central Mexico, killing the Aztec ruler Cuitláhuac on 4 December. Estimates of the dead run into the millions.
- December 1521Enslaved Africans rise on Diego Columbus's sugar estate near Santo Domingo
In late December 1521 about 20 enslaved people, mostly Wolof, rise on Diego Columbus's plantation near Santo Domingo. It is widely regarded as the first documented slave revolt in the Americas; it is put down.
- May 1524The Twelve Franciscans arrive in New Spain to begin the conversion of the Aztec heartland
A group of twelve Franciscans led by Martín de Valencia reaches Veracruz in May 1524, with one source giving 13 May. They begin the mass evangelisation of central Mexico.
- 1527 – c. 1561Las Casas writes his Historia de las Indias
Las Casas works on his history of the first decades of Spanish colonisation in the Caribbean from 1527 and finishes it around 1559-1561. He restricts its publication for forty years, and it is not printed until 1875.
- May 1528Cortés returns to Spain with treasure and is honoured by Charles V
Arriving in May 1528 with treasure and 40 Aztecs, Cortés is received with honour at court and decorated with the Order of Santiago. He then pleads for confirmation of his rights in New Spain.
- 1529Cortés is named Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca
In 1529 Charles V grants Cortés the title of Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca and the style of don. The source gives no day or month.
- 1529Francisco Pizarro obtains the Crown's licence to conquer Peru
After earlier expeditions along the Pacific coast, Pizarro secures permission in 1529 to conquer the land. The source gives no month or place for the licence.
- 1532Francisco Pizarro lands in Peru with about 168 men
On his third voyage, in 1531 to 1532, Pizarro reaches Peru with about 168 Spaniards, 106 on foot and 62 on horseback, and heads inland towards the Inca emperor Atahualpa.
- November 16, 1532Pizarro ambushes Atahualpa's party at Cajamarca and captures the Inca emperor
On 16 November 1532 Pizarro's men attack Atahualpa's unarmed entourage in Cajamarca's plaza and seize him. Estimates put the Inca dead at about 2,000 to 3,000; most sources report no Spanish deaths.
- December 20, 1532 – May 3, 1533Atahualpa offers a room of gold and silver for his freedom
The captive emperor offers to fill a room once with gold and twice with silver. Deliveries begin on 20 December 1532, and by 3 May 1533 Pizarro has received all the treasure. Atahualpa is not freed.
- 1533Spanish authorities garrote Atahualpa at Cajamarca
Tried on charges that include the murder of his brother Huáscar, Atahualpa is garrotted in 1533 after accepting baptism, which spares him burning. Sources disagree on the day: 26 July or 29 August.
- November 15, 1533Pizarro's army enters Cusco, the Inca capital
On 15 November 1533 the Spanish enter Cusco. Pizarro first installs Túpac Huallpa, who dies, and then Manco Inca, who later turns against the Spanish.
- January 18, 1535Francisco Pizarro founds Lima, the 'City of the Kings'
On 18 January 1535 Pizarro founds Lima, which becomes the capital of Spanish Peru and remains so until 1821.
- April 17, 1535Charles V appoints Antonio de Mendoza first viceroy of New Spain
The royal commissions of 17 April 1535 appoint Mendoza viceroy; another account dates the decree creating the viceroyalty to 12 October. He takes office on 14 November 1535 and serves until about 1550.
- 1537 – 1538Las Casas and the Dominicans try peaceful conversion in Tuzulutlán, Guatemala
From 1537 Las Casas and fellow Dominicans enter the unconquered highlands of Tuzulutlán, the 'Land of War', to convert people by preaching and not force. The region is later renamed Verapaz ('True Peace'); he is recalled in 1538.
- 1537 – 1538Diego de Almagro seizes Cusco and is defeated and executed in 1538
Diego de Almagro seizes Cusco in 1537, is defeated at the Battle of Las Salinas in 1538 and executed that year. It opens a civil war between the conquistadors.
- 1540 – 1542The Caxcan peoples rise against Spanish rule in the Mixtón War
In 1540 Caxcan towns in northern New Spain revolt against the encomienda. Pedro de Alvarado dies on 4 July 1541 after a failed assault, and Viceroy Mendoza's army takes Mixtón in early 1542, enslaving survivors.
- 1541Cortés returns to Spain and joins Charles V’s expedition against Algiers
After going back to Spain in 1541, Cortés joins Charles V's naval expedition against Algiers under Andrea Doria and nearly drowns in a storm. In 1544 he seeks money owed by the crown and is ignored.
- 1541Almagro's supporters assassinate Francisco Pizarro
In 1541 supporters of the executed Diego de Almagro, led by his son Diego de Almagro II, kill Pizarro. The source used gives no day.
- 1542Charles V issues the New Laws limiting the encomienda
In 1542, after criticism by Las Casas and others, Charles V issues the New Laws to limit encomienda holders' authority over Indigenous people. They are poorly enforced and provoke revolt among colonists in Peru.
- November 20, 1542Charles V creates the Viceroyalty of Peru in the New Laws
Signed at Barcelona on 20 November 1542, the New Laws establish the Viceroyalty of Peru, with Lima as its capital. Blasco Núñez Vela is appointed its first viceroy in March 1543.
- 1544Las Casas is consecrated bishop of Chiapas
Las Casas is made bishop of Chiapas in southern Mexico in 1544, after helping shape the New Laws of 1542. His refusal to absolve encomenderos who held enslaved people leads to conflict with colonists.
- 1545Silver is found at Cerro Rico and the mining town of Potosí is founded
In 1545 the Andean prospector Diego Huallpa is traditionally credited with discovering the silver of Cerro Rico; the town's founding is dated 1 April 1545. It produces an estimated 60% of the world's mined silver in the second half of the century.
- 1546Zacatecas is founded after the discovery of rich silver veins
In 1546 Juan de Tolosa founds the town of Zacatecas after one of the world's richest silver veins is found nearby. Silver mining draws roads and settlers into Chichimeca lands.
- December 2, 1547Hernán Cortés dies in Castilleja de la Cuesta
Cortés, born c. 1485 in Medellín, dies on 2 December 1547 in Spain, having been named Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca in 1529. His birth year is uncertain; the source gives his age at death as 61 or 62.
- 1548Pedro de la Gasca defeats and executes Gonzalo Pizarro
Gonzalo Pizarro, who had killed the first viceroy Blasco Núñez Vela, is defeated near Cusco in 1548 by the royal envoy Pedro de la Gasca and executed for treason.
- 1550 – 1590The Chichimeca War begins over the silver roads of northern New Spain
From late 1550 attacks on Spanish roads and caravans lead to decades of war with the Zacatecos and other Chichimeca peoples. The viceroy declares the 'Purchase for Peace' policy a success in 1590, though the war's exact end is unclear.
- August 1550 – April 1551Las Casas debates Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda at Valladolid over the conquest
A council of theologians and jurists hears Las Casas and Sepúlveda argue whether Spain's conquests and the treatment of the Indigenous peoples are just. The result is inconclusive, and both sides claim victory.
- September 21, 1551A royal decree founds the Royal University of Mexico
A decree of 21 September 1551 creates the university in Mexico City, which is inaugurated on 25 January 1553. Whether it or Lima's San Marcos is the oldest university in the Americas depends on how founding is counted.
- 1552Las Casas's Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias is printed in Seville
Las Casas's short account of Spanish violence against Indigenous peoples, written about 1542, is printed in Seville in 1552. It is widely read and translated, and used in later arguments about Spanish colonisation.
- 1554The anonymous Lazarillo de Tormes launches the picaresque novel
La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes appears anonymously in 1554, with editions printed in Burgos, Alcalá de Henares and Antwerp. It founds the picaresque genre of rogue narrators.
- 1555French corsair Jacques de Sores captures and burns Havana
In 1555 Jacques de Sores takes and burns Havana but leaves without the great wealth he hoped to find. Sources give July or August for the attack. It pushes Spain to fortify the city and to organise convoys.
- October 25, 1555 – February 24, 1558Charles V abdicates and divides his lands between Philip II and Ferdinand I
Charles V gives up the Netherlands (25 October 1555) and Spain (16 January 1556) to his son Philip II. His brother Ferdinand receives the Empire, as the Imperial Diet accepts on 24 February 1558. Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs part ways.
- 1562Teresa of Ávila founds the reformed Carmelite convent of St Joseph
Teresa of Ávila founds the reformed Carmelite convent of St Joseph in Ávila in 1562, starting the Discalced Carmelite reform. The older order opposes her, and Inquisition cases against her and her associates are dropped in 1579.
- c. 1564Havana becomes the rendezvous port of Spain's treasure fleets
Under the convoy system set up in the mid-1560s, the New Spain and Tierra Firme fleets gather at Havana before crossing to Spain. Sources date the system from 1561, 1564 or 1566.
- April 5, 1566 – April 8, 1566Dutch nobles petition Margaret of Parma and are called "Beggars"
On 5 April 1566 about 300 nobles march through Brussels to petition the regent Margaret of Parma against the heresy laws. At a banquet on 8 April they toast themselves as "beggars", a name the rebels keep.
- August 10, 1566The Beeldenstorm: Calvinist crowds strip Catholic churches in the Netherlands
From 10 August 1566, starting at Steenvoorde, Calvinist crowds destroy images in Catholic churches across the Netherlands, reaching Antwerp on 20 August. Philip II sends the Duke of Alba with an army in 1567, which leads to the Dutch Revolt.
- August 22, 1567The Duke of Alba arrives in Brussels and sets up the Council of Troubles
Philip II sends the Duke of Alba to crush the unrest. He enters Brussels on 22 August 1567, takes over as governor and sets up the Council of Troubles, which Dutch people call the Council of Blood, to punish heresy and rebellion.
- 1568Dutch rebels win the Battle of Heiligerlee
In 1568 the rebels defeat a Spanish army at Heiligerlee in Groningen, the first Dutch victory of the Eighty Years' War. Spanish forces soon reverse it. The usual day, 23 May, is not given by the pages I checked.
- 1568 – 1573Plantin prints the Antwerp Polyglot for Philip II
From 1568 to 1573 Christophe Plantin prints the eight-volume Biblia Regia in Antwerp, with Benito Arias Montano overseeing the texts and Philip II paying. It proves Plantin's Catholic loyalty and nearly ruins him.
- 1568Spanish fleet defeats Hawkins and Drake at San Juan de Ulúa
In 1568, at San Juan de Ulúa (Veracruz, Mexico), a Spanish fleet destroys most of John Hawkins's slave-trading expedition. Drake escapes in the Judith, and the episode fuels his later raids on Spain.
- June 5, 1568Counts Egmont and Horn are beheaded in Brussels
Alba has the Catholic nobles Egmont and Horn, who had opposed the Inquisition, arrested in September 1567. They are beheaded in Brussels on 5 June 1568, and their deaths provoke protests across the Netherlands.
- 1569Alonso de Ercilla publishes the first part of La Araucana
The first part of Alonso de Ercilla's epic poem La Araucana is printed in Madrid in 1569. It recounts the Spanish war against the Mapuche in Chile, in which Ercilla fought.
- 1569Casiodoro de Reina publishes the first complete Spanish Bible
In 1569 Casiodoro de Reina, a former Spanish monk turned Protestant, prints the first complete Spanish Bible in Basel, the 'Biblia del Oso'. Cipriano de Valera revises it in 1602, the basis of the Reina-Valera.
- 1569 – 1581Viceroy Francisco de Toledo reorganises Spanish Peru
Toledo governs from 1569 to 1581 and sets up the administrative framework that lasts for generations. He uses the Inca mita system of forced labour to supply the Potosí silver mines and the Huancavelica mercury mines.
- January 1570The Inquisition's tribunal is established in Lima
In January 1570 the Holy Office opens a tribunal in Lima, with jurisdiction over Spain's possessions from Panama southward. Viceroy Toledo's fleet brings the first inquisitors, and it operates until 1820.
- October 7, 1571Holy League defeats the Ottoman fleet at Lepanto
A Holy League of Spain, Venice and the papacy under Don John of Austria destroys most of the Ottoman fleet off western Greece. The league then falls apart and the Ottomans rebuild.
- April 1, 1572The Sea Beggars capture Brielle and Holland and Zeeland rise
On 1 April 1572 the Sea Beggars, exiled rebels turned privateers, take the port of Brielle. Cities across Holland and Zeeland then join the revolt, and William of Orange is reinstated as stadtholder.
- May 24, 1572Drake sails from Plymouth to raid Nombre de Dios on the Spanish Main
On 24 May 1572 Drake leaves Plymouth with two ships and 73 men to attack Spain's Caribbean treasure route. He is wounded in the attack on Nombre de Dios, then spends months raiding Spanish shipping.
- September 24, 1572Túpac Amaru I, the last Inca ruler, is executed in Cusco
On 24 September 1572 Viceroy Toledo has Túpac Amaru I beheaded in Cusco after a trial, in front of 10,000 to 15,000 witnesses. Many argue Toledo exceeded his authority, and Philip II reportedly disapproved.
- c. 1573Toledo adapts the Inca mita to supply forced labour for Potosí
Around 1573 Viceroy Toledo turns the Inca mita system into a Spanish draft of Indigenous workers for the silver mines of Potosí, with a separate mita for the mercury mines of Huancavelica. Sources date it between 1572 and 1575.
- November 1576Mutinous Spanish troops sack Antwerp in the Spanish Fury
In November 1576 Spanish soldiers, unpaid since the governor's death, sack Antwerp. As many as 17,000 people are killed and about 1,000 buildings burned, which pushes most provinces towards the rebels.
- November 8, 1576The Pacification of Ghent unites the Netherlands against Spanish troops
On 8 November 1576, days after the sack of Antwerp, most provinces of the Netherlands, Catholic and Calvinist, agree at Ghent to expel the Spanish troops. The union lasts only a few years.
- December 13, 1577 – September 26, 1580Drake sails around the world in the Golden Hind
Drake leaves Plymouth on 13 December 1577 and returns on 26 September 1580. He is the first Englishman to circle the globe, and raids Spanish ports and ships along the Pacific coast.
- 1578Drake sacks Valparaíso, Chile
In 1578 the Golden Hind plunders the Spanish port of Valparaíso and takes a ship loaded with Chilean wine. Drake had earlier been wounded by Mapuche archers on Mocha Island; the sack feeds local legend.
- March 1579Drake captures the Spanish treasure ship Cacafuego off Peru
Off the coast of Peru, in early 1579, Drake takes the Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, nicknamed Cacafuego. Its silver and gold make it the richest prize of his circumnavigation.
- 1580 – 1640Philip II of Spain also becomes king of Portugal, uniting the Iberian crowns
After the death of Sebastian at Alcácer Quibir in 1578 and of Cardinal Henry, Philip II claims the Portuguese throne in 1580 and is recognised by the Cortes of Tomar in 1581. Portugal and its empire stay under the Habsburgs until 1640.
- July 26, 1581The States General depose Philip II in the Act of Abjuration
On 26 July 1581 the States General at The Hague declare that Philip II has forfeited his rule over the provinces of the Union of Utrecht and release officials from their oaths to him. The Netherlands is effectively independent.
- July 10, 1584William of Orange is assassinated in Delft
On 10 July 1584 Balthasar Gérard shoots William of Orange in Delft, four years after Philip II declared him an outlaw with a reward for his death. William led the revolt from the Beeldenstorm onwards.
- August 17, 1585Antwerp surrenders to the Duke of Parma
On 17 August 1585, after a siege begun in July 1584, Antwerp surrenders to Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma. Protestants are given four years to leave, many for Amsterdam, and the city's population falls from about 100,000 to 40,000.
- September 1585 – July 22, 1586Drake leads a fleet of 21 ships against Spain's Caribbean colonies
From September 1585 to July 1586 Drake raids Spanish settlements, including Santo Domingo, Cartagena and St Augustine, in the first big English naval offensive of the war with Spain.
- January 1586Francis Drake captures and ransoms Santo Domingo
Francis Drake's English fleet takes Santo Domingo, the Spanish colonial capital on Hispaniola, in early January 1586 and extorts a ransom (given as 25,000 ducats by one source). He then sails for Cartagena.
- June 6, 1586Drake burns St Augustine in Spanish Florida
On 6 June 1586, returning from the Caribbean, Drake's fleet attacks and burns the Spanish settlement of St Augustine in Florida. He then visits Roanoke and takes the colonists home.
- April 1587Drake raids Cádiz and delays the Spanish Armada
In April 1587 Drake enters Cádiz harbour and destroys dozens of ships and stores meant for Spain's invasion fleet. He calls it 'singeing the King of Spain's beard'; the damage postpones the Armada by about a year.
- July 1588Drake serves as vice admiral as England defeats the Spanish Armada
In July 1588, as vice admiral under Lord Howard of Effingham, Drake fights the Spanish Armada in the Channel. The invasion of England fails.
- 1589Drake and Norris's 'English Armada' fails against Spain
In 1589 a large English expedition under Drake and Sir John Norris attacks Corunna and Lisbon, hoping to destroy Spanish ships and raise Portugal in revolt. It fails at heavy cost; estimates of the dead vary widely.
- January 28, 1596Drake dies of dysentery off Portobelo, Panama
On 28 January 1596, during his last expedition to the Spanish Caribbean, Drake dies of dysentery aboard ship off Portobelo. He is buried at sea in a lead coffin.
- 1599Mateo Alemán publishes Guzmán de Alfarache
The first part of Mateo Alemán's Guzmán de Alfarache appears in Madrid in 1599. A bestseller across Europe, it popularises the picaresque novel after Lazarillo de Tormes.
- 1605 – 1606Spain depopulates northern and western Hispaniola in the Devastations of Osorio
On Philip III's order, Governor Antonio de Osorio forces the people of Puerto Plata, Monte Cristi, Bayajá and Yaguana to move near Santo Domingo to stop smuggling. The abandoned lands later attract foreign settlers and runaway slaves.
- 1605Cervantes publishes the first part of Don Quixote
El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha is published in Madrid in 1605. Often called the first modern novel, it parodies chivalric romances and is the Golden Age's best-known work.
- April 9, 1609 – April 9, 1621Spain and the Dutch Republic sign the Twelve Years' Truce
On 9 April 1609, at Antwerp, Spain's Habsburg rulers agree to treat the United Provinces as free states for twelve years. Spain sees it as temporary and recognises Dutch independence only in 1648. The truce ends on 9 April 1621.
- 1611Covarrubias publishes the Tesoro de la lengua castellana
Sebastián de Covarrubias's Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española appears in Madrid in 1611, the first major dictionary of Spanish, with etymologies and cultural lore.
- 1613Cervantes publishes the Novelas ejemplares
Miguel de Cervantes publishes twelve short stories as the Novelas ejemplares in Madrid in 1613, bringing the Italian novella to Spanish literature in an original form.
- 1615Cervantes publishes the second part of Don Quixote
The Segunda parte del ingenioso caballero don Quijote de la Mancha appears in Madrid in 1615, a year before Cervantes died, answering a spurious 1614 sequel by 'Avellaneda'.
- 1617Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs agree the secret Treaty of Oñate
In 1617 Philip III of Spain agrees to back Ferdinand of Styria's succession in Bohemia and Hungary. In return Ferdinand gives Spain the route linking Italy to the Netherlands and rights in Alsace. Sources give March, June or July.
- August 1620Spain's Army of Flanders invades the Lower Palatinate
In late August 1620 Ambrogio Spinola's Spanish Army of Flanders enters the Lower Palatinate from the Netherlands and takes Kreuznach and Oppenheim. This opens the Palatinate campaign, which lasts until August 1623.
- 1626Quevedo's picaresque novel El Buscón is published
Francisco de Quevedo's satirical picaresque novel El Buscón is first printed in Zaragoza in 1626, though written much earlier, c. 1604. It is a masterpiece of conceptismo.
- December 26, 1627 – June 19, 1631The War of the Mantuan Succession divides France, Spain and the emperor
Duke Vincenzo II of Mantua dies on 26 December 1627 without heirs. France and Venice back Charles of Nevers, Spain and the Empire another claimant. Imperial troops sack Mantua on 18 July 1630, and Cherasco confirms Nevers on 19 June 1631.
- 1628 – 1629Paulista bandeirantes raid and destroy the Jesuit missions of Guairá
In 1628-29 bandeirantes from São Paulo, led by Manuel Preto, destroy the Jesuit missions of Guairá and enslave their Guaraní. Estimates of captives range from about 5,000 to 100,000, and raids on other missions go on until 1632.
- September 7, 1628 – September 8, 1628Piet Hein captures Spain's treasure fleet at Matanzas Bay
On 7–8 September 1628 the Dutch West India Company's Piet Hein captures the Spanish silver fleet in Matanzas Bay, Cuba, taking goods worth about 11.5 million guilders. The loss strains Spain's war effort in the Netherlands.
- September 5, 1634 – September 6, 1634Imperial and Spanish forces crush the Swedes at Nördlingen
On 5–6 September 1634 an Imperial-Spanish army routs the Swedish-German army of Horn and Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar at Nördlingen. Some 12,000 to 14,000 are killed or captured. Swedish power in southern Germany ends, and France soon enters the war.
- May 19, 1635France declares war on Spain
On 19 May 1635 Louis XIII declares war on Spain and invades the Spanish Netherlands, openly entering the Thirty Years' War. It begins the Franco-Spanish War, which outlasts Westphalia and ends in 1659.
- August 1636Spanish army reaches Corbie, threatening Paris
In August 1636 a Spanish incursion from the Netherlands under the Cardinal-Infante takes Corbie in Picardy. Supply problems force it to retreat, and the attempt is not repeated.
- October 21, 1639Dutch fleet destroys a Spanish armada at the Downs
On 21 October 1639 Maarten Tromp attacks Oquendo's fleet, anchored in neutral English waters, with fireships. Spain loses many ships and its hope of contesting Dutch sea power in the Channel.
- 1640Corpus de Sang: Catalan revolt breaks out in Barcelona
Riots by harvesters and townsfolk against billeted Spanish troops and the crown's demands begin the Reapers' War. Sources date it to Corpus Christi in May or 7 June 1640, so only the year is given.
- December 1, 1640Portugal revolts against Spain and acclaims John IV
On 1 December 1640 nobles and wealthy townsmen revolt and acclaim John IV, Duke of Braganza, ending 60 years of Habsburg rule. Spain accepts Portugal's sovereignty only in 1668.
- January 17, 1641Catalonia proclaims a republic under French protection
On 17 January 1641 the Junta de Braços accepts a Catalan Republic under French protection. After defeat at Martorell on 23 January, Pau Claris recognises Louis XIII as Count of Barcelona.
- January 26, 1641Franco-Catalan forces defeat Spain at Montjuïc
On 26 January 1641 Franco-Catalan forces win the Battle of Montjuïc outside Barcelona, securing the city for the rebels. Barcelona falls to Spain only in 1652.
- January 1643Philip IV dismisses the Count-Duke of Olivares
In January 1643, after the Catalan and Portuguese revolts and a court intrigue, Philip IV dismisses his favourite Olivares. He retires and dies at Toro in 1645.
- May 19, 1643Condé defeats the Spanish at Rocroi
On 19 May 1643 the 21-year-old Duke of Enghien, later the Great Condé, defeats Melo's army at Rocroi. It ends the Spanish tercios' aura of invincibility. Estimates of Spanish losses vary widely.
- May 20, 1643 – October 28, 1643Dutch fleet under Brouwer raids Chiloé and occupies Valdivia
From May to October 1643 a Dutch expedition sacks Carelmapu and Castro, then occupies the ruined city of Valdivia, hoping for gold and a base against Spanish Peru. It leaves in October.
- February 1645Spain resettles Valdivia and begins its fortress system
In February 1645 a Spanish fleet from Callao reaches Valdivia and resettles it after the Dutch occupation, beginning the Valdivian fort system.
- January 30, 1648Spain recognises the Dutch Republic at Münster
On 30 January 1648 Philip IV and the States General sign a separate peace at Münster, ending the Eighty Years' War. Spain recognises Dutch sovereignty; oaths are sworn on 15 May. It is not part of the Westphalian treaties.
- August 20, 1648Condé crushes the Spanish at Lens
On 20 August 1648 Condé defeats Archduke Leopold Wilhelm's Spanish army, which loses about half its men. Often called the last major battle of the war, it adds pressure for peace, though the Fronde limits France.
- April 1655English Western Design force fails to take Santo Domingo, then seizes Jamaica
In April 1655 Cromwell's expedition under Penn and Venables is repulsed outside Santo Domingo, losing about a thousand men. The fleet turns to weakly held Jamaica and takes it in May.
- May 25, 1681Calderón de la Barca dies, closing the Golden Age
Pedro Calderón de la Barca dies in Madrid on 25 May 1681. Many scholars take his death as the cultural end of the Spanish Golden Age; others end it at the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees.
- 1697Treaty of Ryswick: Spain tacitly recognises French rule in western Hispaniola
The 1697 peace ending the Nine Years' War gives France title to the western third of Hispaniola, now called Saint-Domingue, though the treaty text does not name the island or fix a border.
- May 27, 1717Spain creates the Viceroyalty of New Granada, taking the north from Peru
On 27 May 1717 the Crown makes New Granada, with its capital at Bogotá, a viceroyalty carved from Peru's northern territories. It is suppressed around 1723-24 and restored permanently in 1739-40, sources differing on the years.
- 1742Juan Santos Atahualpa rises in the Peruvian jungle and expels the missionaries
In 1742 Juan Santos, who claims to be the reincarnated Inca Atahualpa, leads the Asháninka and others from the Gran Pajonal against Spain. Over a decade, the rebels force the evacuation of 23 missions. Sources give the end as 1752 or 1756.
- October 28, 1746An earthquake and tsunami destroy Lima and Callao
On 28 October 1746 an earthquake of about magnitude 8.6-8.8 wrecks Lima, and a tsunami razes Callao, which has fewer than 200 survivors. About 5,900 people die. Viceroy Manso de Velasco rebuilds Lima with the mathematician Louis Godin.
- January 13, 1750Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Madrid, replacing Tordesillas
On 13 January 1750 the two crowns set the borders of their South American colonies by actual possession, accepting Brazil's westward expansion. Spain gets Colonia del Sacramento; Portugal the seven Jesuit missions; Spain annuls it in 1761.
- June 6, 1762 – August 13, 1762A British fleet and army besiege and capture Havana
The British siege of Havana lasts from 6 June to 13 August 1762 during the Seven Years' War. Their rule opens Cuba to free trade and adds about 3,200 enslaved Africans to the roughly 4,000 already on the island.
- 1763Spain recovers Havana from Britain in exchange for Florida
The 1763 Peace of Paris ends the Seven Years' War. Britain returns Havana to Spain, which cedes Florida; France gives Spain Louisiana as compensation. Sources differ on whether the handover was in February or April 1763.
- August 1, 1776Spain creates the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, detaching Upper Peru from Lima
On 1 August 1776 the Crown creates a viceroyalty at Buenos Aires that takes Upper Peru, including the silver of Potosí, away from the Viceroyalty of Peru. It is the second large loss of territory for Peru after New Granada.
- June 3, 1777Treaty of Aranjuez fixes the border between Spanish Santo Domingo and French Saint-Domingue
Signed on 3 June 1777, the treaty settles the boundary left open since Ryswick (1697), set roughly where French settlements ended. It is the origin of the line between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
- November 4, 1780 – 1783Túpac Amaru II leads the great Andean rebellion against Spanish rule
On 4 November 1780 followers of Túpac Amaru II seize the corregidor Antonio de Arriaga near Tinta, who is hanged on 10 November. The rising spreads across the southern Andes and ends in 1782-83; sources give different end dates.
- May 18, 1781Túpac Amaru II is executed in Cusco
Sentenced on 15 May 1781, Túpac Amaru II is executed on 18 May in the Plaza de Armas of Cusco, beheaded after the attempt to quarter him fails. The revolt continues under his relative Diego Cristóbal, who is executed in 1783.
- February 28, 1789Spain's crown opens the slave trade to its subjects in Cuba
A royal decree of 28 February 1789 lets Spanish subjects bring enslaved Africans directly to Cuba. With Saint-Domingue's sugar in ruins after 1791, the island becomes a major slave-based sugar producer. Historians debate how new the policy was.
- c. June 1793Toussaint Louverture joins the Spanish side against the French colonial government
In 1793 Toussaint follows rebel leaders Jean-François and Biassou into alliance with Spain, which holds the east of Hispaniola. Sources suggest early June; the date is not firm.
- May 1794Toussaint Louverture leaves the Spanish side and rallies to the French Republic
In May 1794, after the Convention's abolition decree, Toussaint Louverture turns his forces against Spain and Britain and joins France's side in Saint-Domingue. He rises to become the colony's leading general.
- July 22, 1795Treaty of Basel: Spain cedes Santo Domingo to France
On 22 July 1795 Spain makes peace with the French Republic and gives up the eastern part of Hispaniola in exchange for the Spanish territory France had occupied. The handover is delayed for years.
- 1801Toussaint Louverture takes Spanish Santo Domingo and unites the island
In 1801 Toussaint Louverture's army occupies Spanish Santo Domingo, ceded to France at Basel in 1795, freeing its slaves and making him ruler of all Hispaniola. Paris had not authorised the move.
- October 21, 1805Nelson defeats the Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar
Off Cape Trafalgar, a British fleet under Nelson (killed in the battle) beat the combined fleets of Villeneuve and Gravina. It ended Napoleon's chances of invading Britain and confirmed British naval supremacy.
- 1807 – April 17, 1814The Peninsular War in Portugal and Spain
French forces occupied Portugal in 1807 and then Spain, where Napoleon installed his brother Joseph. Spanish armies and guerrillas, with British and Portuguese forces under Wellesley, fought until the war ended on 17 April 1814.
- May 2, 1808Madrid rises against French rule on the Dos de Mayo
After Napoleon forced Charles IV and Ferdinand VII to abdicate and installed Joseph Bonaparte, an uprising in Madrid began the Spanish rebellion against French occupation.
- July 1808Spanish forces defeat a French army at Bailén
In Andalusia, Spanish forces defeated a French army in July 1808, regarded as the first open-field defeat of Napoleon's forces on a European battlefield.
- November 7, 1808Dominican rebels defeat the French at Palo Hincado, east of Santo Domingo
On 7 November 1808 Juan Sánchez Ramírez's rebels, supported by Puerto Rico and British Jamaica, beat General Ferrand's French army at Palo Hincado. The victory opens the siege of Santo Domingo and the return of Spanish rule.
- April 1809 – October 1809Austria, with Britain and Spain, renews war against Napoleon
In April 1809 Austria launched the War of the Fifth Coalition. Napoleon defeated it at Wagram and imposed a harsh peace in October 1809.
- July 1809French garrison surrenders Santo Domingo and Spanish rule returns
In July 1809, after a siege helped by a British blockade, the French garrison leaves Santo Domingo and Spain recovers its colony. The following period of neglect is remembered as the 'España Boba' (foolish Spain).
- 1811 – March 1812José Antonio Aponte's abolitionist conspiracy is uncovered in Cuba
A conspiracy led from Havana by the free Black carpenter José Antonio Aponte spreads across the island between 1811 and March 1812, as Cuba's sugar economy expands. Spanish authorities crush it and execute its leaders.
- August 3, 1814 – 1815Pumacahua and Cusco's creoles rise demanding the liberal reforms of 1812
On 3 August 1814 Mateo Pumacahua and creole leaders form a junta in Cusco, demanding the reforms of the 1812 Spanish Constitution. Royal forces retake the city and Pumacahua is executed in 1815.
- September 1820San Martín's Liberating Expedition lands on the coast of Peru
In September 1820 José de San Martín's Expedición Libertadora, sailing from Chile, lands at Pisco Bay and Paracas to free Peru from Spain. Sources give 7 or 8 September for the landing.
- 1821 – February 9, 1822Núñez de Cáceres declares the independent Republic of Spanish Haiti
In late 1821 (30 November or 1 December) José Núñez de Cáceres declares Spanish Santo Domingo independent from Spain, intending to join Gran Colombia. It has little support and falls to Haiti on 9 February 1822.
- July 28, 1821San Martín proclaims the independence of Peru in Lima
On 28 July 1821, days after his army occupies Lima, José de San Martín proclaims Peru independent of Spain. The royalists keep the highlands, and the war continues for three more years.
- August 6, 1824Bolívar's cavalry defeats the royalists at Junín
On 6 August 1824 Bolívar's patriot cavalry defeats José de Canterac's royalists on the plain of Junín in a short engagement fought with swords and lances. Sources disagree on troop numbers.
- December 9, 1824Sucre wins the Battle of Ayacucho and Spanish rule in Peru collapses
On 9 December 1824 Antonio José de Sucre defeats the royalist army at Ayacucho; Viceroy José de la Serna is wounded and captured, and Canterac signs the capitulation. The viceroyalty is dissolved on 30 December.
- January 23, 1826Callao, the last Spanish stronghold in Peru, surrenders
On 23 January 1826 the Real Felipe fortress at Callao capitulates, after a siege that began after Ayacucho. It is the last major Spanish stronghold in Peru, and Spain recognises Peruvian independence only in 1879.
- August 1851Narciso López lands an expedition in Cuba and is defeated and executed
After earlier attempts in 1848-1850 failed, Narciso López lands in Pinar del Río in August 1851 with an armed force from abroad. Spanish troops defeat it and López is executed.
- October 1854US diplomats meet at Ostend and argue that the United States may seize Cuba
In October 1854 James Buchanan, Pierre Soulé and John Y. Mason meet at Ostend and write that the US should buy Cuba, and would be justified in taking it if Spain refuses. Criticism in the North and in Europe ends the plan.
- October 10, 1868 – February 10, 1878Carlos Manuel de Céspedes begins Cuba's Ten Years' War against Spain
On 10 October 1868 Carlos Manuel de Céspedes declares independence and frees his slaves. General Martínez Campos negotiates the Pact of Zanjón on 10 February 1878. Estimates of the dead vary widely.
- October 7, 1886Spain abolishes slavery in Cuba by royal decree
A royal decree of 7 October 1886 abolishes slavery in Cuba. Sources also mark 1880, when chattel ownership of enslaved people ended and a transitional system began.
- April 10, 1892José Martí founds the Cuban Revolutionary Party
The Cuban Revolutionary Party is proclaimed on 10 April 1892 to organise a new war against Spain, and José Martí is elected its delegate. It prepares the 1895 uprising.
- February 24, 1895Cuban rebels rise against Spain on 24 February 1895
Uprisings across Cuba on 24 February 1895 begin the last war of independence against Spain. The conflict ends three years later with the Spanish-American War.
- May 19, 1895José Martí is killed in battle at Dos Ríos
José Martí, the writer and organiser of the independence war, is killed on 19 May 1895, shortly after the uprising begins.
- October 21, 1896Spain's General Weyler orders the rural population into fortified areas
On 21 October 1896 Valeriano Weyler orders Cuban villagers into fortified towns, a policy that lasts until March 1898. By the account on Wikipedia it killed at least a third of the rural population.
- February 15, 1898The US battleship Maine explodes in Havana harbour
On 15 February 1898 the USS Maine blows up in Havana harbour and 268 crew die. The cause has not been clearly established; the incident feeds the road to the Spanish-American War.
- April 21, 1898 – August 13, 1898The United States blockades Cuba and goes to war with Spain
A US resolution of 20 April 1898 backs Cuban independence (the Teller Amendment). Congress declares that war has existed since the blockade of 21 April. Fighting ends with an armistice on 13 August.
- December 10, 1898The Treaty of Paris ends Spanish rule in Cuba
Signed on 10 December 1898 without Cuban delegates, the treaty has Spain relinquish Cuba, which the United States occupies from 1 January 1899. Spain also cedes Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.