Editing History of Spain (section)

===Cultural Golden Age (''Siglo de Oro'')===
{{Main|Spanish Golden Age}}
[[File:El Greco View of Toledo.jpg|thumb|''[[View of Toledo]]'' by [[El Greco]], between 1596 and 1600]]
The Spanish Golden Age (''[[Siglo de Oro]]'') was a period of flourishing arts and letters in the [[Spanish Empire]] (now Spain and the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America), coinciding with the political decline and fall of the [[Habsburg]]s. Arts flourished despite the decline of the empire in the 17th century. The last great writer of the age, Sor [[Juana Inés de la Cruz]], died in [[New Spain]] in 1695.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thomas|first=Hugh|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=6uadJumfBakC}}|title=The Golden Age: The Spanish Empire of Charles V|date=2011|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=978-0-241-96118-6}}</ref>

The [[Habsburgs]] were great patrons of art in their countries. ''[[El Escorial]]'', the great royal monastery built by King [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]], invited the attention of some of Europe's greatest architects and painters. [[Diego Velázquez]], regarded as one of the most influential painters of European history and a greatly respected artist in his own time, cultivated a relationship with King Philip IV and his chief minister, the [[Count-Duke of Olivares]], leaving several portraits that demonstrate his style and skill. [[El Greco]], a respected Greek artist from the period, settled in Spain, and infused Spanish art with the styles of the Italian renaissance and helped create a uniquely Spanish style of painting.

Some of Spain's greatest music is regarded as having been written in the period. Such composers as [[Tomás Luis de Victoria]], [[Luis de Milán]] and [[Alonso Lobo]] helped to shape [[Renaissance music]] and the styles of [[counterpoint]] and [[polychoral]] music, and their influence lasted into the [[Baroque music|Baroque period]].

Spanish literature blossomed as well, most famously demonstrated in the work of [[Miguel de Cervantes]], the author of ''[[Don Quixote]]''. Spain's most prolific playwright, [[Lope de Vega]], wrote possibly as many as one thousand plays over his lifetime, over four hundred of which survive.