Early Modern Period
A large part of the 16th century saw a rapid expansion of trade and handicraft industries thanks to the stimuli and support through fairs and markets organised in the previous century by the Catholic Monarchs (1474-1517). This growth, along with the important Discovery of America (1492), led to a time of relative economic prosperity, resulting in a significant population increase and the emergence of numerous civil and religious buildings in the region as well as across Spain.
However, these lands also witnessed the vicissitudes of warfare that took place during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. From the uprising of the Communities of Castile in 1521, under the reign of Charles I (1517-1555), to the War of the Portuguese Succession of 1640, which would end with the independence of the neighbouring kingdom of Portugal during the reign of Philip IV (1621-1665), and the War of Succession to the Spanish Crown (1700-1714) between the House of Habsburg and the House of Bourbon that would result in the proclamation of Philip V of Anjou (1700-1746) as the new and the first Bourbon king of Spain.