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Ferdinand II, king of Aragón

(Encyclopedia)Ferdinand II or Ferdinand the Catholic, 1452–1516, king of Aragón (1479–1516), king of Castile and León (as Ferdinand V, 1474–1504), king of Sicily (1468–1516), and king of Naples (1504–16...

Ebro

(Encyclopedia)Ebro ēˈbrō, āˈbrō [key], Catalan Ebre,longest river entirely in Spain, c.575 mi (925 km) long, rising in the Cantabrian Mts., N Spain, and flowing SE between the Pyrenees and the Iberian Mts. pa...

Quadruple Alliance

(Encyclopedia)Quadruple Alliance, any of several European alliances. The Quadruple Alliance of 1718 was formed by Great Britain, France, the Holy Roman emperor, and the Netherlands when Philip V of Spain, guided by...

Iturrigaray, José de

(Encyclopedia)Iturrigaray, José de hōsāˈ ᵺā ēto͞oˈrēgäräˈē [key], 1742–1815, Spanish colonial administrator, viceroy of New Spain (1803–8). During his rule, all of Spanish America was disturbed b...

Moors

(Encyclopedia)Moors, nomadic people of the northern shores of Africa, originally the inhabitants of Mauretania. They were chiefly of Berber and Arab stock. In the 8th cent. the Moors were converted to Islam and bec...

Costa Brava

(Encyclopedia)Costa Brava kōˈstä bräˈvä [key], a strip of coastline, Girona prov., NE Spain, in Catalonia, near the French border on the Mediterranean. One of the most agriculturally rich areas of Spain, it h...

Mataró

(Encyclopedia)Mataró mätərōˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 100,882), Barcelona prov., NE Spain, in Catalonia. It is a Mediterranean port and a manufacturing center, producing knitted goods, wine, and chemicals. The f...

Tordesillas, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Tordesillas, Treaty of tōrˌᵺāsēˈlyäs [key], 1494, agreement signed at Tordesillas, Spain, by which Spain and Portugal divided the non-Christian world into two zones of influence. In principle ...

Berruguete, Alonso

(Encyclopedia)Berruguete, Alonso älōnˈsō bĕr–ro͞ogāˈtā [key], c.1480–1561, Spanish mannerist sculptor. Probably the first in Spain to break away from the High Renaissance balance of form, he is noted f...

Cortes

(Encyclopedia)Cortes kôrˈtĕz, Span. kōrˈtās [key], representative assembly in Spain. The institution originated (12th–13th cent.) in various Spanish regions with the Christian reconquest; until the 19th cen...