Editing Monarchy of Spain (section)

===Habsburg Monarchy===
{{Main|Habsburg Spain}}
In 1505, the Spanish monarchy passed to the [[House of Habsburg]] in the person of King [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles I]] (also [[Holy Roman Emperor]] as Charles V), son of Queen [[Joanna of Castile|Joanna]] and King [[Philip I of Castile]] (usually [[Philip the Handsome]] in English). With the death of [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] in 1516 the Aragonese lands were added to Charles and Joanna's territories.  With his mother and co-monarch Joanna confined in [[Tordesillas]], claimed to be mad, Charles I was the sole ruler, but the legal situation remained slightly ambiguous until her death in 1555 left Charles the undoubted sole monarch, though as Holy Roman Emperor it was not his principal title. Only in the reign of his son [[Philip II of Spain]] from 1556 did "King of Spain" become the usual way to refer to the monarch, in Spain and the rest of Europe. 

Philip's reign marked the peak of the [[Spanish Golden Age]] (1492–1659), a period of great [[Spanish Empire|colonial expansion]] and trade. The Hispanic Crown retained control over and profited from all operations in overseas colonies (by and large royal assets under a monopoly on trade), including [[History of slavery|slave trade]], developed under the purview of the {{lang|es|regalía}} late-medieval system.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.openedition.org/cidehus/6404?lang=es|chapter=La esclavitud en los imperios coloniales americanos: tráfico y mercados|first=Oscar|last=Bergasa Perdomo|title=El tabaco y la esclavitud en la rearticulación imperial ibérica (s. XV-XX)|editor-first=Santiago de|editor-last=Luxán Meléndez|editor-first2=João|editor-last2=Figueirôa-Rêgo|year=2018|doi=10.4000/books.cidehus.5987|isbn=9791036531132|access-date=24 April 2022|archive-date=24 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424204612/https://books.openedition.org/cidehus/6404?lang=es|url-status=live}}</ref> The death in 1700 of [[Charles II of Spain|Charles II]], last of the Spanish Habsburgs, triggered the [[War of the Spanish succession]].