A colonial empire is a collective of territories (often called colonies ), either contiguous with the imperial center or located overseas , settled by the population of a certain state and governed by that state.
160-539: Before the expansion of early modern European powers, other empires had conquered and colonized territories, such as the Roman Empire in Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. Modern colonial empires first emerged with a race of exploration between the then most advanced European maritime powers, Portugal and Spain , during the 15th century. The initial impulse behind these dispersed maritime empires and those that followed
320-579: A Spanish composer of the 16th century. He was second only to Victoria as a major Spanish composer of church music in the second half of the 16th century. Of all the Spanish Renaissance composers, he was the one who mostly lived and worked in Spain. Others, e.g., Morales and Victoria, spent large portions of their careers in Italy. Guerrero's music was both religious and secular, unlike that of Victoria and Morales,
480-535: A clique of military leaders whose goal was the formation of a republic. The German Empire (1871–1918), another "heir to the Holy Roman Empire", arose in 1871. The fall of the western half of the Roman Empire is seen as one of the most pivotal points in all of human history. This event traditionally marks the transition from classical civilization to the birth of Europe. The Roman Empire started to decline at
640-569: A color tone that is often bluish. Exceptional effects are achieved through precisely finished foregrounds, primarily utilizing light and shade. Bartolomé Esteban Murillo began his art studies under Juan del Castillo in Seville. The city's great commercial importance at the time ensured that he was also subject to influences from other regions, which enabled him to become familiar with Flemish painting . His first works were influenced by Zurbarán , Jusepe de Ribera and Alonso Cano , with whom he shared
800-416: A comical approach, just as Cervantes did, taking a conventional moral play and dressing it up in good humor and cynicism. His stated goal was to entertain the public, much as Cervantes's was. In bringing morality, comedy, drama, and popular wit together, Lope de Vega is often compared to his English contemporary Shakespeare. Some have argued that as a social critic, Lope de Vega attacked, like Cervantes, many of
960-636: A core territory (e.g., Weimar Germany shorn of the German colonial empire (1918–1919), or the Ottoman Empire (1918–1923)). The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after 1918 provides an example of a multi-ethnic superstate broken into constituent nation-oriented states: the republics, kingdoms, and provinces of Austria , Hungary , Transylvania , Croatia , Slovenia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Czechoslovakia , Ruthenia , Galicia , et al . In
1120-802: A court painter for King Philip IV and gained increasing demand across Europe for his portraits of statesmen, aristocrats, and clergymen. His portraits of the King, his chief minister the Count-Duke of Olivares, and the Pope showcased his belief in artistic realism and a style comparable to many of the Dutch masters . Following the Thirty Years' War , Velázquez met the Marqués de Spinola and painted his famous Surrender of Breda (1635), celebrating Spinola's victory at Breda in 1625. Spinola
1280-571: A dual nature; that is to say, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, they were places in which the temporal power of the Spanish monarchy and the ecclesiastical predominance of the Roman Catholic religion in Spain found a common architectural manifestation. El Escorial was at once, a monastery and a Spanish royal palace. Originally a property of the Hieronymite monks, it is now a monastery of
1440-584: A half centuries until the universal conquest of Qin in 221 BC. The first empire comparable to Rome in organization was the Neo-Assyrian Empire (916–612 BC). The Median Empire was the first empire within the territory of Persia . By the 6th century BC, after having allied with the Babylonians , Scythians and Cimmerians to defeat the Neo-Assyrian Empire , the Medes were able to establish their own empire, which
1600-474: A lasting influence on subsequent writers and even on the Spanish language itself. Lope de Vega was a gifted poet of his own, and there were a vast quantity of remarkable poets at that time, though less known: Francisco de Rioja , Bartolomé Leonardo de Argensola , Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola , Bernardino de Rebolledo , Rodrigo Caro , and Andrés Rey de Artieda. Another poet was Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz , from
1760-563: A late Gothic college that started in the late 15th century. Before becoming the capital of Spain, Valladolid was not a bishopric and thus lacked the right to build a cathedral. Soon enough, though, the Collegiate became obsolete due to the changes of preference during the period, and thanks to the newly established episcopal in the city, the Town Council decided to build a cathedral that would share similar architecture to neighboring capitals. Had
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#17328481147451920-573: A lesser extent, China. Although colonies existed in classical antiquity , especially amongst the Phoenicians and the ancient Greeks who settled many islands and coasts of the Mediterranean Sea , these colonies were politically independent from the city-states they originated from, and thus did not constitute a colonial empire. This paradigm shifted by the time of the Ptolemaic Empire ,
2080-580: A loose, multinational Commonwealth of Nations , while the French colonial empire metamorphosed to a Francophone commonwealth . The same process happened to the Portuguese Empire , which evolved into a Lusophone commonwealth , and to the former territories of the extinct Spanish Empire , which alongside the Lusophone countries of Portugal and Brazil , created an Ibero-American commonwealth . France returned
2240-472: A magistrate's authority (usually in a military sense). As the Roman state expanded overseas, the term began to be used to describe Rome's authority over its colonies and client states . Successful generals were often given the title imperator , an honorific roughly meaning "commander". Although historians use the terms "Republic" and "Empire" to identify the periods of Roman history before and after absolute power
2400-603: A medium between the emotional intensity of Victoria and the technical ability of Palestrina ; the solution he found became the foundation of the Baroque musical style in Spain. Regarded as one of the finest composers in Europe around the middle of the 16th century, Cristóbal de Morales was born in Seville in 1500 and employed in Rome from 1535 until 1545 by the Vatican . Almost all of his music
2560-441: A monastery, royal palace, museum, and school. It is located about 45 kilometres (28 mi) northwest of the Spanish capital, Madrid, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial . El Escorial comprises two architectural complexes of great historical and cultural significance: El Real Monasterio de El Escorial itself and La Granjilla de La Fresneda , a royal hunting lodge and monastic retreat about five kilometers away. These sites have
2720-400: A new de facto monarchy, but sought to maintain the appearance of a republican government. He and his early successors used the informal titles of augustus and princeps , but over time the title of imperator came to denote the office of (what is now referred to as) " emperor ". The legal systems of France and its former colonies are strongly influenced by Roman law. Similarly,
2880-515: A new home in Toledo , central Spain. During this period, Spain was an ideal environment for the Venetian-trained painter, with art flourishing throughout the empire and Toledo being a great place to receive commissions. His paintings of the city became models for a new European tradition in landscapes and influenced the work of later Dutch masters . In his lifetime, El Greco was influential in creating
3040-602: A particular political structure . Empires are typically formed from diverse ethnic, national, cultural, and religious components. 'Empire' and 'colonialism' are used to refer to relationships between a powerful state or society versus a less powerful one; Michael W. Doyle has defined empire as "effective control, whether formal or informal, of a subordinated society by an imperial society". Tom Nairn and Paul James define empires as polities that "extend relations of power across territorial spaces over which they have no prior or given legal sovereignty, and where, in one or more of
3200-417: A renowned Renaissance architect, to discuss a plan to remodel the busy and chaotic area of the old Plaza del Arrabal. Juan de Herrera was the architect who designed the first project in 1581 to remodel the old Plaza del Arrabal but construction did not start until 1617, during Philip III's reign. The king asked Juan Gómez de Mora to continue with the project, and he finished the porticoes in 1619. Nevertheless,
3360-530: A semantic construction, such as when a ruler assumes the title of "emperor". That polity over which the ruler reigns logically becomes an "empire", despite having no additional territory or hegemony. Examples of this form of empire are the Central African Empire , Mexican Empire , or the Korean Empire proclaimed in 1897 when Korea, far from gaining new territory, was on the verge of being annexed by
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#17328481147453520-474: A single individual (a political boss ), or a group (political bosses). The concept of empire is associated with other such concepts as imperialism , colonialism , and globalization , with imperialism referring to the creation and maintenance of unequal relationships between nations and not necessarily the policy of a state headed by an emperor or empress. Empire is often used as a term to describe overpowering situations causing displeasure. An empire
3680-431: A strongly realist approach. As his painting developed, however, his more important works evolved into a polished style that suited the bourgeois and aristocratic tastes of the time, especially his Roman Catholic religious works. In 1642, at the age of 26, he moved to Madrid . While there, it's highly likely that he became familiar with the work of Velázquez and that he viewed the work of Venetian and Flemish masters in
3840-485: A style based on impressions and emotion, characterized by elongated fingers and vibrant color and brushwork. His works uniquely featured faces that captured expressions of somber attitudes and withdrawal while still having his subjects bear witness to the terrestrial world. Diego Velázquez was born on June 6, 1599, in Seville , to parents of minor nobility and was the eldest of six children. Widely regarded as one of Spain's most important and influential artists, he became
4000-504: A total population of 100 million people and was the most populous colony under French rule . In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire extended over 13.5 million km (5.2 million sq mi) of land at its height in the 1920s and 1930s with a totaled population of 150 million people. Including metropolitan France,
4160-457: A vast number of territories distributed across the globe (especially at one time in the 16th century) that are now parts of 60 different sovereign states . Portugal would eventually control Brazil , territories such as what is now Uruguay and some fishing ports in north, in the Americas ; Angola , Mozambique , Portuguese Guinea , and São Tomé and Príncipe (among other territories and bases) in
4320-464: Is a considerable scope. Many fought to the death to avoid it or to be liberated from it. Imperial conquests and attempts of conquest significantly contributed to the list of wars by death toll . The imperial impact on subjects can be regarded as "little," but only on those subjects who survived the imperial conquest and rule. We cannot ask the inhabitants of Carthage and Masada , for example, whether empire had little impact on their lives. We seldom hear
4480-574: Is a hierarchy of rights and prestige for different groups of people. Josep Colomer distinguished between empires and nation-states in the following way: Many empires were the result of military conquest, incorporating the vanquished states into a political union, but imperial hegemony can be established in other ways. The Athenian Empire , the Roman Empire , and the British Empire developed at least in part under elective auspices. The Empire of Brazil declared itself an empire after separating from
4640-433: Is an aggregate of many separate states or territories under a supreme ruler or oligarchy. This is in contrast to a federation , which is an extensive state voluntarily composed of autonomous states and peoples. An empire is a large polity which rules over territories outside of its original borders. Definitions of what physically and politically constitutes an empire vary. It might be a state affecting imperial policies or
4800-572: Is considered the first great empire in history or the first "world empire". It was overthrown and replaced by the short-lived empire of Alexander the Great . His Empire was succeeded by three Empires ruled by the Diadochi —the Seleucid , Ptolemaic , and Macedonian , which, despite being independent, are called the " Hellenistic Empire" by virtue of their similarities in culture and administration. Meanwhile, in
4960-463: Is how he anticipated functional harmonic usage: there is a case of a Magnificat discovered in Lima, Peru, once thought to be an anonymous 18th century work, which turned out to be his work. Victoria's work was complemented by Alonso Lobo – a man Victoria respected as his equal. Lobo's work—also choral and religious in its content – stressed the austere, minimalist nature of religious music. Lobo sought out
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5120-623: Is located only a few blocks away from another famous plaza, the Puerta del Sol . The Plaza Mayor is rectangular in shape, measuring 129 by 94 meters, and is surrounded by three-story residential buildings having 237 balconies facing the Plaza. It has a total of nine entranceways. The Casa de la Panadería , serving municipal and cultural functions, dominates the Plaza Mayor. The origins of the Plaza date back to 1589 when Philip II of Spain asked Juan de Herrera ,
5280-500: Is religious, and all of it is vocal, though instruments may have been used in an accompanying role in performance. Morales also wrote two masses on the famous L'homme armé melody, which was often set by composers in the late 15th and 16th centuries. One of these masses is for four voices, and the other for five. The four voice mass uses the tune as a strict cantus firmus, and the setting for five voices treats it more freely, migrating it from one voice to another. The Spanish Golden Age
5440-434: Is unknown whether Zurbarán had the opportunity to study Caravaggio's paintings; nonetheless, he adopted Caravaggio's realistic use of chiaroscuro . The painter who may have had the greatest influence on his characteristically severe compositions was Juan Sánchez Cotán . Additionally, polychrome sculpture —which had reached a high level of sophistication in Seville by the time of Zurbarán's apprenticeship and surpassed that of
5600-562: The Akan people of the Ashanti Region , Akanland in modern-day Ghana. The Ashanti (or Asante) were a powerful, militaristic and highly disciplined people in West Africa. Their military power, which came from effective strategy and an early adoption of European firearms , created an empire that stretched from central Akanland (in modern-day Ghana) to present day Benin and Ivory Coast , bordered by
5760-932: The Atlantic : the Han Empire of China, the Kushan Empire , the Parthian Empire of Persia, and the Roman Empire . The collapse of the Han Empire in AD 220 saw China fragmented into the Three Kingdoms , only to be unified once again by the Jin Empire (AD 266–420). The relative weakness of the Jin Empire plunged China into political disunity that would last from AD 304 to AD 589 when the Sui Empire (AD 581–618) reunited China. The Romans were
5920-587: The Austrian Empire or the Russian Empire ; and those created by sea-power, which include territories that are remote from the 'home' country of the empire, such as the Carthaginian Empire or the British Empire . Aside from the more formal usage, the word empire can also refer colloquially to a large-scale business enterprise (e.g. a transnational corporation ), a political organization controlled by
6080-573: The Cape of Good Hope and along the coast of Africa bordering the southeast Indian Ocean, proved ripe opportunities for the continent's Renaissance -era monarchies to establish colonial empires like those of the ancient Romans and Greeks. In the Old World, colonial imperialism was attempted and established on the Canary Islands and Ireland . These conquered lands and people became de jure subordinates of
6240-941: The Caribbean and the Thirteen Colonies . In 1776, the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies declared itself independent from the British Empire, thus beginning the American Revolution . Britain turned towards Asia, the Pacific, and later Africa, with subsequent exploration and conquests leading to the rise of the Second British Empire (1783–1815), which was followed by the Industrial Revolution and Britain's Imperial Century (1815–1914). It became
6400-530: The Carolingian Empire , the largely Germanic Holy Roman Empire , and the Russian Empire . Yet, these states did not always fit the geographic, political, or military profiles of empires in the modern sense of the word. To legitimise their imperium , these states directly claimed the title of Empire from Rome. The sacrum Romanum imperium (Holy Roman Empire), which lasted from 800 to 1806, claimed to have exclusively comprehended Christian principalities, and
6560-525: The Catholic Monarchs had already altered some rooms of the Alhambra after the conquest of the city in 1492, Charles V intended to construct a permanent residence befitting an emperor . The project was given to Pedro Machuca , an architect whose biography and influences are poorly understood. Even if accounts that place Machuca in the atelier of Michelangelo are accepted, at the time of the construction of
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6720-518: The Crucifixion of Christ reflected a significant aspect of seventeenth-century Spanish culture, set against the backdrop of religious conflict across Europe. Zurbarán diverged from Velázquez's sharp realist interpretation of art and, to some extent, drew inspiration from the emotive content of El Greco and earlier Mannerist painters. Nevertheless, Zurbarán respected and maintained the lighting and physical nuance characteristic of Velázquez's style. It
6880-573: The Dagomba kingdom to the north and Dahomey to the east. Due to the empire's military prowess, sophisticated hierarchy, social stratification and culture, the Ashanti empire had one of the largest historiographies of any indigenous Sub-Saharan African political entity. The Sikh Empire (1799–1849) was established in the Punjab region of India. The empire weakened when its founder, Ranjit Singh , died in 1839,
7040-781: The Dutch Republic . In the 18th century, the Spanish Empire was at its height because of the great mass of goods taken from conquered territory in the Americas (nowadays Mexico , parts of the United States , the Caribbean , most of Central America, and South America) and the Philippines . The British established their first empire (1583–1783) in North America by colonising lands that made up British America , including parts of Canada ,
7200-546: The Empire of Japan , one of the last to use the name officially. Among the last states in the 20th century known as empires in this sense were the Central African Empire, Ethiopia , Vietnam , Manchukuo , Russia , Germany , and Korea. Scholars distinguish empires from nation-states. In an empire, there is a hierarchy whereby one group of people (usually, the metropole) has command over other groups of people, and there
7360-691: The Empire of Nicaea (1204–1261) and the Empire of Trebizond (1204–1461). Constantinople was retaken in 1261 by the Byzantine successor state centered in Nicaea , re-establishing the Byzantine Empire until 1453, by which time the Turkish - Muslim Ottoman Empire (ca. 1300–1918), had conquered most of the region. The Ottoman Empire was a successor of the Abbasid Empire and it was the most powerful empire to succeed
7520-525: The French , English , Dutch and Japanese empires. By the mid-17th century, the Tsardom of Russia , continued later as the Russian Empire , the Soviet Union , and modern Russia , became the largest contiguous state in the world and remains so to this day. Throughout the 19th and early 20th century, by virtue of its technological and maritime supremacy, the British Empire steadily expanded to become by far
7680-545: The Holy Roman Empire also came together by electing the emperor with votes from member realms through the Imperial election . Stephen Howe writes that with the exception of the Roman, Chinese and "perhaps ancient Egyptian states", early empires seldom survived the death of their founder and were usually limited in scope to conquest and collection of tribute, having little impact on the everyday lives of their subjects. With
7840-485: The Horn of Africa in the Middle Ages . Through a strong centralized administration and an aggressive military stance towards invaders, the Ajuran Sultanate successfully resisted an Oromo invasion from the west and a Portuguese incursion from the east during the Gaal Madow and the Ajuran-Portuguese wars . Trading routes dating from the ancient and early medieval periods of Somali maritime enterprise were strengthened or re-established, and foreign trade and commerce in
8000-479: The Latin Empire , the Empire of Nicaea and the Empire of Trebizond before its remaining territory and centre became part of the Ottoman Empire . A similarly persistent concept of empire saw the Mongol Empire become the Khanate of the Golden Horde , the Yuan Empire of China , and the Ilkhanate before resurrection as the Timurid Empire and as the Mughal Empire . After 1945 the Empire of Japan retained its Emperor but lost its colonial possessions and became
8160-406: The Macedonian Empire and Byzantine Empire ) tend to be contiguous areas. The term, on occasion, has been applied to maritime republics or thalassocracies (e.g. the Athenian and British empires ) with looser structures and more scattered territories, often consisting of many islands and other forms of possessions which required the creation and maintenance of a powerful navy. Empires such as
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#17328481147458320-487: The Maurya Empire —a geographically extensive and powerful empire, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC. The empire was founded in 322 BC by Chandragupta Maurya through the help of Chanakya , who rapidly expanded his power westward across central and western India, taking advantage of the disruptions of local powers following the withdrawal by Alexander the Great. By 320 BC, the Maurya Empire had fully occupied northwestern India as well as defeating and conquering
8480-449: The Middle Ages and the modern world. A veteran of the Battle of Lepanto (1571) , Cervantes had fallen on hard times in the late 1590s and was imprisoned for debt in 1597, and some believe that during these years he began work on his best-remembered novel. The first part of the novel was published in 1605; the second in 1615, a year before the author's death. Don Quixote resembled both the medieval, chivalric romances of an earlier time and
8640-430: The North and the Subsaharan Africa ; cities, forts or territories in all the Asian subcontinents, as Muscat , Ormus and Bahrain (amongst other bases) in the Persian Gulf ; Goa , Bombay and Daman and Diu (amongst other coastal cities) in India ; Portuguese Ceylon ; Malacca , bases in Southeast Asia and Oceania , as Makassar , Solor , Banda , Ambon and others in the Moluccas , Portuguese Timor ; and
8800-409: The Order of Saint Augustine . Philip II of Spain, reacting to the Protestant Reformation sweeping through Europe during the sixteenth century, devoted much of his lengthy reign (1556–1598) and much of his seemingly inexhaustible supply of New World silver to stemming the Protestant tide sweeping through Europe while simultaneously fighting the Islamic Ottoman Empire . His protracted efforts were, in
8960-551: The Portuguese Empire in 1822. France has twice transitioned from being called the French Republic to being called the French Empire while it retained an overseas empire. Europeans began applying the designation of "empire" to non-European monarchies, such as the Qing Empire and the Mughal Empire , as well as the Maratha Confederacy , eventually leading to the looser denotations applicable to any political structure meeting their criteria of " imperium ". Some monarchies styled themselves as having greater size, scope, and power than
9120-443: The Roman School shunned. He demonstrated considerable invention in musical thought by connecting the tone and emotion of his music to those of his lyrics, particularly in his motets . Like Velázquez, Victoria was employed by the monarch – in Victoria's case, in the service of the queen. The Officium Defunctorum (Requiem) he wrote upon her death in 1603 is regarded as one of his most enduring and complex works. Francisco Guerrero ,
9280-426: The Royal Chapel of Granada by Enrique Egas, the construction of the church in the main occurred at a time when Renaissance designs were supplanting the Gothic regnant in Spanish architecture of prior centuries. Foundations for the church were laid by the architect Egas starting from 1518 to 1523 atop the site of the city's main mosque; by 1529, Egas was replaced by Diego de Siloé who labored for nearly four decades on
9440-421: The Seleucid Empire , and the Roman Empire . The European countries of the modern era that are most remembered as colonial empires are the United Kingdom , Spain , Portugal , Italy , Netherlands , France , Germany and Belgium . Portugal began establishing the first global trade network and one of the first colonial empires under the leadership of Henry the Navigator . The empire spread throughout
9600-417: The basilica of St. Peter's , and in Naples , where he had served the king's viceroy, whose recommendation brought him to the king's attention. Philip appointed him architect-royal in 1559, and together they designed El Escorial as a monument to Spain's role as a center of the Christian world. The Plaza Mayor in Madrid, built during the Habsburg period, is a central plaza in the city of Madrid, Spain. It
9760-408: The largest empire in world history, encompassing one quarter of the world's land area and one fifth of its population. The impacts of this period are still prominent in the current age "including widespread use of the English language, belief in Protestant religion, economic globalization, modern precepts of law and order, and representative democracy." The Great Qing Empire of China (1644–1912)
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#17328481147459920-404: The satraps left by Alexander. Under Emperor Ashoka the Great , the Maurya Empire became the first Indian empire to conquer the whole Indian Peninsula — an achievement repeated only twice, by the Gupta and Mughal Empires. In the reign of Ashoka Buddhism spread to become the dominant religion in many parts of the ancient India. In 221 BC, China became an empire when the State of Qin ended
10080-435: The 13th to 15th centuries. In the Southeast Asian mainland, the Hindu-Buddhist Khmer Empire was centered in the city of Angkor and flourished from the 9th to 13th centuries. Following the demise of the Khmer Empire, the Siamese Empire flourished alongside the Burmese and Lan Chang Empires from the 13th through the 18th centuries. In Southeastern and Eastern Europe , during 917, the Eastern Roman Empire , sometimes called
10240-414: The 4th and 5th centuries C.E. due to continual conflict and loss of territory which, in turn, generated loss of revenue from the tax base. There was also the looming presence of the Persians which, at any time, took a large percentage of the fighting force's attention. At the same time the Huns, a nomadic warrior people from the steppes of Asia, are also putting extreme pressure on the German tribes outside of
10400-449: The 9th century and early 10th century under Prince Boris I and Simeon I, when its early Christianization in 864 allowed it to develop into the cultural and literary center of Slavic Europe , as well as one of the largest states in Europe, thus the period is considered the Golden Age of medieval Bulgarian culture . Major events included the development of the Cyrillic script at the Preslav Literary School , declared official in 893, and
10560-562: The Abbasi empires at the time, as well as one of the most powerful empires in the world. They became the successors after the Abbasid Empire fell from the Mongols (Hülegü Khan). The Ottoman Empire centered on modern day Turkey, dominated the eastern Mediterranean, overthrew the Byzantine Empire to claim Constantinople and it would start battering at Austria and Malta, which were countries that were key to central and to south-west Europe respectively — mainly for their geographical location. The reason these occurrences of batterings were so important
10720-497: The Americas, Africa, and Asia. Possessions in Europe, Africa, the Atlantic Ocean , the Americas, the Pacific Ocean , and East Asia qualified the Spanish Empire as attaining a global presence. From 1580 to 1640 the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Empire were conjoined in a personal union of its Habsburg monarchs during the period of the Iberian Union , but beneath the highest level of government, their separate administrations were maintained. Subsequent colonial empires included
10880-403: The Athenian-dominated Delian League . Furthermore, empires can expand by both land and sea. Stephen Howe notes that empires by land can be characterized by expansion over terrain, "extending directly outwards from the original frontier" while an empire by sea can be characterized by colonial expansion and empire building "by an increasingly powerful navy". However, sometimes an empire is only
11040-401: The Byzantine Empire, was forced to recognize the Imperial title of Bulgarian ruler Simeon the Great , who were then called Tsar , the first ruler to hold that precise imperial title. The Bulgarian Empire , established in the region in 680–681, remained a major power in Southeast Europe until its fall in the late 14th century. Bulgaria gradually reached its cultural and territorial apogee in
11200-409: The Child Jesus, and the Immaculate Conception . After another period in Madrid from 1658 to 1660, he returned to Seville. There, he was one of the founders of the Academia de Bellas Artes (Academy of Fine Arts), sharing its direction in 1660 with the architect Francisco Herrera the Younger . This was his period of greatest activity, during which he received numerous important commissions, among them
11360-405: The Counter-Reformation and religion. The mysticism in Zurbarán's work, influenced by Saint Theresa of Avila , became a defining characteristic of Spanish art in subsequent generations. Influenced by Michelangelo da Caravaggio and the Italian masters, Zurbarán dedicated himself to an artistic expression of religion and faith. His paintings of St. Francis of Assisi , the Immaculate Conception , and
11520-633: The French territory of Kwang-Chou-Wan to China in 1946. The British gave Hong Kong back to China in 1997 after 150 years of rule. The Portuguese territory of Macau reverted to China in 1999. Macau and Hong Kong did not become part of the provincial structure of China; they have autonomous systems of government as Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China . Siglo de Oro The Spanish Golden Age (Spanish: Siglo de Oro Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsiɣlo ðe ˈoɾo] , "Golden Century")
11680-582: The Golden Age up to 1681 with the death of Pedro Calderón de la Barca , the last great writer of the age. Generally, it is divided into a Plateresque / Renaissance period and the early part of the Spanish Baroque period. The Spanish Golden Age spans the work of Miguel de Cervantes , the author of Don Quixote de la Mancha ; and of Lope de Vega , Spain's most prolific playwright, who wrote around 1,000 plays during his lifetime, of which over 400 survive to
11840-536: The Holy Roman Empire, a German re-constitution of the Roman Empire , metamorphosed into various political structures (i.e., federalism), and eventually, under Habsburg rule, re-constituted itself in 1804 as the Austrian Empire , an empire of much different politics and scope, which in turn became the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867. The Roman Empire, perennially reborn, also lived on as the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) – temporarily splitting into
12000-552: The Italian holdings and relationships established by Ferdinand of Aragon , Queen Isabella's husband and, later, Spain's sole monarch, prompted a steady flow of intellectuals across the Mediterranean between Valencia , Seville , and Florence . Luis de Morales , one of the leading exponents of Spanish Mannerist painting, retained a distinctly Spanish style in his work, reminiscent of medieval art . Spanish art, particularly Morales's,
12160-676: The Pacific to the Adriatic and Baltic Seas. The emergence of the Pax Mongolica had significantly eased trade and commerce across Asia. The Safavid Empire of Iran was also founded. The Islamic gunpowder empires started to develop from the 15th century. In the Indian subcontinent , the Delhi Sultanate conquered most of the Indian peninsula and spread Islam across it. It later disintegrated with
12320-570: The Plaza Mayor as we know it today is the work of the architect Juan de Villanueva who was entrusted with its reconstruction in 1790 after a spate of big fires. Giambologna 's equestrian statue of Philip III dates to 1616, but it was not placed in the center of the square until 1848. Unlike most cathedrals in Spain, construction of this cathedral had to await the acquisition of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada from its Muslim rulers in 1492. While its very early plans had Gothic designs, such as are evident in
12480-573: The Roman frontier, which gave the German tribes no other choice, geographically, but to move into Roman territory. At this point, without increased funding, the Roman army could no longer effectively defend its borders against major waves of Germanic tribes. This inability is illustrated by the crushing defeat at Adrianople in 378 C.E. and, later, the Crossing of the Rhine in 406 C.E. In time, an empire may change from one political entity to another. For example,
12640-690: The Spanish colonies overseas in New Spain (modern day Mexico ). Many of the greatest poets attended the Medrano Academy in Madrid, including Lope de Vega, Quevedo and Gongora, established by the president, poet and playwright Sebastian Francisco de Medrano . The picaresque genre flourished in this era, describing the life of pícaros , living by their wits in a decadent society. Distinguished examples are El buscón , by Francisco de Quevedo , Guzmán de Alfarache by Mateo Alemán , Estebanillo González and
12800-464: The State of Japan . Despite the semantic reference to imperial power, Japan is a de jure constitutional monarchy , with a homogeneous population of 127 million people that is 98.5 percent ethnic Japanese, making it one of the largest nation-states. An autocratic empire can become a republic (e.g., the Central African Empire in 1979), or it can become a republic with its imperial dominions reduced to
12960-512: The United States was founded on a model inspired by the Roman Republic , with upper and lower legislative assemblies, and executive power vested in a single individual, the president. The president, as "commander-in-chief" of the armed forces, reflects the ancient Roman titles imperator princeps . The Roman Catholic Church , founded in the early Imperial Period, spread across Europe, first by
13120-453: The activities of Christian evangelists, and later by official imperial promulgation. In Western Asia , the term " Persian Empire " came to denote the Iranian imperial states established at different historical periods of pre– Islamic and post–Islamic Persia . In East Asia , various Chinese empires (or dynasties ) dominated the political, economic and cultural landscapes during this era,
13280-643: The aftermath of World War I the Russian Empire also broke up and became reduced to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) before re-forming as the USSR (1922–1991) – sometimes seen as the core of a Soviet Empire . The latter also disintegrated in 1989–91. After the Second World War (1939–1945), the deconstruction of colonial empires quickened and became commonly known as decolonisation . The British Empire evolved into
13440-575: The altarpieces for the Augustinian monastery and the paintings for Santa María la Blanca (completed in 1665). He died in 1682. The Palace of Charles V is a Renaissance construction located on the top of the hill of the Assabica, inside the Nasrid fortification of the Alhambra . It was commanded by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , who wished to establish his residence close to the Alhambra palaces. Although
13600-460: The ancient institutions of his country – aristocracy, chivalry, and rigid morality, among others. Lope de Vega and Cervantes represented an alternative artistic perspective to the religious asceticism of Francisco Zurbarán. Lope de Vega's "cloak-and-sword" plays, which mingled intrigue, romance, and comedy together were carried on by his literary successor, Pedro Calderón de la Barca , in the later seventeenth century. This period also produced some of
13760-1093: The anonymously published Lazarillo de Tormes (1554), which created the genre. Other well-known playwrights of the period include: As elsewhere in Europe, Spanish scholars participated in the humanist recovery and theorizing of Greek and Roman rhetorics. Early Spanish humanists include Antonio Nebrija and Juan Luis Vives . Spanish rhetoricians who discussed Ciceronianism include Juan Lorenzo Palmireno and Pedro Juan Núñez . Famous Spanish Ramists include Francisco Sánchez de las Brozas , Pedro Juan Núñez , Fadrique Furió Ceriol, and Luis de Verga. Many other rhetoricians turned to Greek rhetorics from Hermogenes and Longinus which were preserved by Byzantine scholars , especially George of Trebizond . These Byzantine-inspired Spanish rhetoricians include Antonio Lull, Pedro Juan Núñez , and Luis de Granada . There were also many translators of progymnasmata , including Francisco de Vergara , Francisco Escobar, Juan de Mal Lara , Juan Pérez, Antonio Lull, Juan Lorenzo Palmireno , and Pedro Juan Núñez .. Another important Spanish rhetorician
13920-678: The arrival of the Europeans. Inca had gradually conquered the whole of the settled Andean world as far south as today Santiago in Chile. In Oceania , the Tonga Empire was a lonely empire that existed from the Late Middle Ages to the Modern period. In the 15th century, Castile ( Spain ) landing in the so-called " New World " (first, the Americas, and later Australia), along with Portuguese travels around
14080-462: The artist includes himself as one of the subjects. The religious element in Spanish art gained prominence in many circles during the Counter-Reformation. The austere, ascetic, and severe works of Francisco de Zurbarán exemplified this trend in Spanish art, alongside the compositions of Tomás Luis de Victoria . Philip IV actively patronized artists whose views aligned with his perspectives on
14240-457: The building been finished, it would have been one of the biggest cathedrals in Spain. When the building was started, Valladolid was the de facto capital of Spain, housing King Philip II and his court. However, due to strategic and geopolitical reasons, by the 1560s, the capital was moved to Madrid, making Valladolid lose its political and economic relevance. By the late sixteenth century, Valladolid's importance had been severely reduced, and many of
14400-538: The building would undergo many modifications. Tomás Luis de Victoria , a Spanish composer of the sixteenth century, mainly of choral music, is widely regarded as one of the greatest Spanish classical composers. He joined the cause of Ignatius of Loyola in the fight against the Reformation and, in 1575, became a priest. He lived for a short time in Italy, where he became acquainted with the polyphonic work of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina . Like Zurbarán, Victoria mixed
14560-426: The buildings of the late Spanish Renaissance built by Herrera and his followers, is known for its purist and sober decoration, with its style being typical Spanish clasicismo , also called " Herrerian ". Using classical and Renaissance decorative motifs, Herrerian buildings are characterized by their extremely sober decorations, their formal austerity, and its like for monumentality. The cathedral has its origins in
14720-678: The chaotic Warring States period through its conquest of the other six states , starting the Qin Empire (221–207 BC). Its sovereign adopted the new title of Huangdi (皇帝), which is translated in English as "Emperor". The Qin Empire is known for the construction of the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Army , as well as the standardization of currency, weights, measures and writing system. It laid
14880-612: The coastal provinces flourished with ships sailing to and coming from many kingdoms and empires in East Asia , South Asia , Southeast Asia , Europe , Middle East , North Africa and East Africa . In the 7th century, Maritime Southeast Asia witnessed the rise of a Buddhist thallasocracy, the Srivijaya Empire , which thrived for 600 years and was succeeded by the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit Empire that ruled from
15040-556: The countries never stopped bartering with each other. These epochal clashes between civilizations profoundly shaped many people's thinking back then, and continues to do so in the present day. Modern hatred against Muslim communities in South-Eastern Europe, mainly in Bosnia and Kosovo, has often been articulated in terms of seeing them as unwelcome residues of this imperialism: in short, as Turks. Moreover, Eastern Orthodox imperialism
15200-516: The country of Egypt. The Akkadian Empire , established by Sargon of Akkad (24th century BC), was an early all-Mesopotamian empire which spread into Anatolia, the Levant and Ancient Iran. This imperial achievement was repeated by Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria and Hammurabi of Babylon in the 19th and 18th centuries BC. In the 15th century BC, the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt , ruled by Thutmose III ,
15360-492: The domains of economics, politics, and culture, they gain some measure of extensive hegemony over those spaces to extract or accrue value". Rein Taagepera has defined an empire as "any relatively large sovereign political entity whose components are not sovereign". The terrestrial empire's maritime analogue is the thalassocracy , an empire composed of islands and coasts which are accessible to its terrestrial homeland, such as
15520-583: The efforts of the ninth-century Holy Roman Emperors (i.e., the Ottonians ) to establish central control. Voltaire's "nor an empire" observation applies to its late period. In 1204, after the Fourth Crusade conquered Constantinople , the crusaders established a Latin Empire (1204–1261) in that city, while the defeated Byzantine Empire's descendants established two smaller, short-lived empires in Asia Minor :
15680-844: The empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole ) exercises political control over the peripheries. Within an empire, different populations have different sets of rights and are governed differently. Narrowly defined, an empire is a sovereign state whose head of state is an emperor or empress ; but not all states with aggregate territory under the rule of supreme authorities are called empires or are ruled by an emperor; nor have all self-described empires been accepted as such by contemporaries and historians (the Central African Empire , and some Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in early England being examples). There have been "ancient and modern, centralized and decentralized, ultra-brutal and relatively benign" empires. An important distinction has been between land empires made up solely of contiguous territories, such as
15840-665: The empire fell to the British after the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849. During the same period, the Maratha Empire (also known as the Maratha Confederacy) was a Hindu state located in present-day India. It existed from 1674 to 1818, and at its peak, the empire's territories covered much of Southern Asia. The empire was founded and consolidated by Shivaji. After the death of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, it expanded greatly under
16000-522: The empire, rather than de facto imperial territories and subjects. Such subjugation often elicited "client-state" resentment that the empire unwisely ignored, leading to the collapse of the European colonial imperial system in the late 19th through the mid-20th century. Portuguese discovery of Newfoundland in the New World gave way to many expeditions led by England (later Britain ), Spain , France , and
16160-669: The empire. The aristocracies that ruled them were often more cosmopolitan and broad-minded than their nationalistic successors. There are two main ways to establish and maintain an imperial political structure : (i) as a territorial empire of direct conquest and control with force or (ii) as a coercive, hegemonic empire of indirect conquest and control with power. The former method provides greater tribute and direct political control, yet limits further expansion because it absorbs military forces to fixed garrisons. The latter method provides less tribute and indirect control, but avails military forces for further expansion. Territorial empires (e.g.
16320-752: The end of the Reconquista , the voyages of Christopher Columbus to the New World , the expulsion of Jews from Spain , and the publication of Antonio de Nebrija 's Grammar of the Castilian Language . Amongst scholars of the period, it's generally accepted that it came to an end around the time of the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), that concluded the Franco-Spanish War of 1635 to 1659 . Others, however, extend
16480-478: The end of the reign of the last of the Five Good Emperors , Marcus Aurelius in 161–180 A.D. There is still a debate over the cause of the fall of one of the largest empires in history. Piganiol argues that the Roman Empire under its authority can be described as "a period of terror", holding its imperial system accountable for its failure. Another theory blames the rise of Christianity as the cause, arguing that
16640-557: The essential genres and structures that would characterize the Spanish commercial drama, also known as "Comedia," throughout the 17th century. While Lope de Vega wrote prose and poetry as well, he is best remembered for his plays, particularly those grounded in Spanish history. Like Cervantes, Lope de Vega served with the Spanish army and was fascinated by the Spanish nobility. In the hundreds of plays he wrote, with settings ranging from Biblical times to legendary Spanish history to classical mythology to his own time, Lope de Vega frequently took
16800-559: The establishment of the Bengal , Gujarat , and Bahmani Sultanate . In the 16th century, the Mughal Empire was founded by Timur and Genghis Khan 's direct descendant Babur . His successors such Humayun , Akbar , Jahangir and Shah Jahan extended the empire. In the 17th century, Aurangzeb expanded the Mughal Empire , controlling most of the South Asia through Sharia , which became
16960-579: The establishment of the liturgy in Old Church Slavonic , also called Old Bulgarian . At the time, in the Medieval West , the title "empire" had a specific technical meaning that was exclusively applied to states that considered themselves the heirs and successors of the Roman Empire. Among these were the "Byzantine Empire", which was the actual continuation of the Eastern portion of the Roman Empire ,
17120-592: The exception of Rome, the periods of dissolution following imperial falls were equally short. Successor states seldom outlived their founders and disappeared in the next and often larger empire. Some empires, like the Neo-Babylonian , Median and Lydian were outright conquered by a larger empire. The historical pattern was not a simple rise-and-fall cycle; rather it was rise, fall, and greater rise, or as Raoul Naroll put it, "expanding pulsation." Empires were limited in scope to conquest, as Howe observed, but conquest
17280-501: The first people to invent and embody the concept of "empire" in their two mandates: to wage war and to make and execute laws. They were the most extensive Western empire until the early modern period , and left a lasting impact on European society. Many languages, cultural values, religious institutions, political divisions, urban centers, and legal systems can trace their origins to the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire governed and rested on exploitative actions. They took slaves and money from
17440-652: The foundation for China's first golden age, the Han Empire (202 BC–AD 9, AD 25–220). The Han Empire expanded into Central Asia and established trade through the Silk Road . Confucianism was, for the first time, adopted as an official state ideology. During the reign of the Emperor Wu of Han , the Xiongnu were pacified. By this time, only four empires stretched between the Pacific and
17600-555: The granted entrepôt -base of Macau and the entrepôt-enclave of Dejima ( Nagasaki ) in East Asia , amongst other smaller or short-lived possessions. During its Siglo de Oro , the Spanish Empire had possession of Mexico , South America , the Philippines , all of southern Italy , a stretch of territories from the Duchy of Milan to the Netherlands , Luxembourg , and Belgium , parts of Burgundy , and many colonial settlements in
17760-399: The initial plan for the main façade, introducing Baroque elements. The magnificence of the building would be even greater if the two large 81-meter towers foreseen in the plans had been built; however, the project remained incomplete for various reasons, including finance. Granada Cathedral had been intended to become the royal mausoleum for Charles I of Spain, but Philip II of Spain moved
17920-650: The largest empire in history; at its height ruling over a quarter of the Earth's land area and 24% of the population. Britain's role as a global hegemon during this time ushered in a century of " British Peace ", lasting from the end of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars to the start of World War I . During the New Imperialism , Italy and Germany also built their colonial empires in Africa . The chart below shows
18080-406: The local painters—served as another important stylistic model for the young artist. The work of Juan Martínez Montañés is particularly close to Zurbarán's in spirit. Zurbarán painted directly from nature and frequently utilized the lay figure in his study of draperies, in which he was particularly skilled. He had a notable talent for depicting white draperies, leading to numerous representations of
18240-452: The long run, partly successful. However, the same counter-reformational impulse had a much more benign expression thirty years earlier, in Philip's decision to build the complex at El Escorial. Philip engaged the Spanish architect, Juan Bautista de Toledo , to be his collaborator in the design of El Escorial. Juan Bautista had spent the greater part of his career in Rome, where he had worked on
18400-758: The medieval India and the beginning of European invasion in India, the empire was weakened by Nader Shah 's invasion. The Mysore Empire was soon established by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan , who allied with Napoleon Bonaparte . Other independent empires were also established, such as those ruled by the Nawabs of Bengal and Nizam of Hyderabad . In the pre-Columbian Americas, two Empires were prominent—the Azteca in Mesoamerica and Inca in Peru. Both existed for several generations before
18560-401: The monumental projects, such as the cathedral, started during its prosperous years, had to be modified due to a lack of proper finance. Thus, the building that stands now could not be finished completely, and due to several additions built during the 17th and 18th centuries, it lacks the purported stylistical uniformity sought by Herrera. Although mainly faithful to the project of Juan de Herrera,
18720-454: The most important Spanish works of poetry. The introduction and influence of Italian Renaissance verse are apparent perhaps most vividly in the works of Garcilaso de la Vega and illustrate a profound influence on later poets. Mystical literature in Spanish reached its summit with the works of San Juan de la Cruz and Teresa of Ávila . Baroque poetry was dominated by the contrasting styles of Francisco de Quevedo and Luis de Góngora ; both had
18880-987: The most powerful of which was probably the Tang Empire (618–690, 705–907). Other influential Chinese empires during the post-classical period include the Sui Empire (581–618), the Great Liao Empire , the Song Empire , the Western Xia Empire (1038–1227), the Great Jin Empire (1115–1234), the Western Liao Empire (1124–1218), the Great Yuan Empire (1271–1368), and the Great Ming Empire (1368–1644). During this period, Japan and Korea underwent voluntary Sinicization . The Sui, Tang and Song empires had
19040-492: The novels of the early modern world. It parodied classical morality and chivalry, found comedy in knighthood, and criticized social structures and the perceived madness of Spain's rigid society. The work has endured to the present day as a landmark in world literary history, and it was an international hit in its own time, interpreted variously as a satirical comedy, social commentary and forebear of self-referential literature. A contemporary of Cervantes, Lope de Vega consolidated
19200-524: The only main rival during the early 19th century. From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire ’s total area at its peak in 1680 was over 10 million km (3.9 million sq mi), the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire . It had many possessions around the world, mainly in the Americas , Asia and Africa . At its peak in 1750, French India had an area of 1.5 million km and
19360-481: The palace in 1527 the latter had yet to design the majority of his architectural works. At the time, Spanish architecture was immersed in the Plateresque style, still with traces of Gothic origin. Machuca built a palace corresponding stylistically to Mannerism , a mode still in its infancy in Italy. El Escorial is the historical residence of the king of Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as
19520-413: The peripheries to support the imperial center. However, the absolute reliance on conquered peoples to carry out the empire's fortune, sustain wealth, and fight wars would ultimately lead to the collapse of the Roman Empire. The Romans were strong believers in what they called their "civilizing mission". This term was legitimized and justified by writers like Cicero who wrote that only under Roman rule could
19680-559: The present day. Lope de Vega, Luis de Gongora , and other famous poets attended the Poetic Academy in Madrid established by Sebastian Francisco de Medrano . Diego Velázquez , regarded as one of the most influential painters of European history and a greatly respected artist in his own time, was patronized by King Philip IV and his chief minister, the Count-Duke of Olivares . What is widely acknowledged as some of Spain's greatest music
19840-451: The royal collections; the influence of both can be seen in the rich colors and softly modeled forms of his later work. Murillo returned to Seville in 1645, where in the same year he painted 13 canvases for the monastery of St. Francisco el Grande. This proved a boost to his reputation. Following the completion of a pair of pictures for the Seville Cathedral , he began to specialize in the themes that brought him his greatest successes: Mary and
20000-416: The rule of the Peshwas. In 1761, the Maratha army lost the Third Battle of Panipat, which halted the expansion of the empire. Later, the empire was divided into a confederacy of states which, in 1818, were lost to the British during the Anglo-Maratha wars . France was a dominant empire possessing many colonies in various locations around the world. During Louis XIV 's long reign, from 1643 to 1715, France
20160-420: The second largest in the world (the first being the British Empire). The Empire of Brazil (1822–1889) was the only South American modern monarchy, established by the heir of the Portuguese Empire as an independent nation eventually became an emerging international power. The new country was huge but sparsely populated and ethnically diverse. In 1889 the monarchy was overthrown in a sudden coup d'état led by
20320-438: The site for his father and subsequent kings to El Escorial outside of Madrid. The main chapel contains two kneeling effigies of the Catholic King and Queen, Ferdinand and Isabel, by Pedro de Mena y Medrano. The busts of Adam and Eve were made by Alonso Cano . The Chapel of the Trinity has a marvelous retablo with paintings by El Greco, Alonso Cano, and José de Ribera (The Spagnoletto ). The Cathedral of Valladolid , like all
20480-404: The span of some European colonial empires. European : Asian : Other countries with informal colonial possessions : Empire List of forms of government An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outposts , and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of
20640-429: The spread of certain Christian ideals caused internal weakness of the military and state. In his book The Fall of the Roman Empire , Peter Heather contends that there are many factors, including issues of money and manpower, which produce military limitations and culminate in the Roman army's inability to effectively repel invading barbarians at the frontier. The Western Roman economy was already stretched to its limit in
20800-603: The structure from ground to cornice, planning the triforium and five naves instead of the usual three. Most unusually, he created a circular capilla mayor rather than a semicircular apse, perhaps inspired by Italian ideas for circular 'perfect buildings' (e.g., in Alberti 's works). Within its structure the cathedral combines other orders of architecture. It took 181 years for the cathedral to be built. Subsequent architects included Juan de Maena (1563–1571), followed by Juan de Orea (1571–1590), and Ambrosio de Vico (1590–?). In 1667, Alonso Cano , working with Gaspar de la Peña, altered
20960-510: The subject states to strengthen the imperial structure; others opted for multicultural and cosmopolitan policies. Cultures generated by empires could have notable effects that outlasted the empire itself. Most histories of empires have been hostile, especially if the authors were promoting nationalism. Stephen Howe, although himself hostile, listed positive qualities: the guaranteed stability, security, and legal order for their subjects. They tried to minimize ethnic and religious antagonism inside
21120-412: The technical qualities of Italian art with the religion and culture of his native Spain. He invigorated his work with emotional appeal, experimental mystical rhythm, and choruses. He broke from the dominant tendency among his contemporaries by avoiding complex counterpoint, preferring longer, simpler, less technical, and more mysterious melodies, and employing dissonance in ways that the Italian members of
21280-432: The territorial, politico-military, and economic facts support. As a consequence, some monarchs assumed the title of " emperor " (or its corresponding translation, tsar , empereur , kaiser , shah etc.) and renamed their states as "The Empire of ...". Empires were seen as an expanding power, administration, ideas and beliefs followed by cultural habits from place to place. Some empires tended to impose their culture on
21440-405: The thirteenth century, Genghis Khan expanded the Mongol Empire to be the largest contiguous empire in the world. However, within two generations, the empire was separated into four discrete khanates under Genghis Khan's grandsons. One of them, Kublai Khan , conquered China and established the Yuan dynasty with the imperial capital at Beijing . One family ruled the whole Eurasian land mass from
21600-421: The total amount of land under French sovereignty reached 13.5 million km (5.2 million sq mi) at the time, which is 10.0% of the Earth's total land area. The total area of the French colonial empire, with the first (mainly in the Americas and Asia) and second (mainly in Africa and Asia), the French colonial empires combined, reached 24 million km (9.3 million sq mi),
21760-498: The two other Spanish 16th-century composers of the first rank. He wrote numerous secular songs and instrumental pieces, in addition to masses, motets, and passions. He was able to capture an astonishing variety of moods in his music, from elation to despair, longing, depression, and devotion. His music remained popular for hundreds of years, especially in cathedrals in Latin America. Stylistically, he preferred homophonic textures rather than Spanish contemporaries. One feature of his style
21920-405: The views of subject populations. And another classical Roman patriot, Lucan confessed that "words cannot express how bitterly we are hated" by subject peoples. The earliest known empire appeared in southern Egypt sometime around 3200 BC. Southern Egypt was divided by three kingdoms each centered on a powerful city. Hierapolis conquered the other two cities over two centuries, and later grew into
22080-456: The voices of subject peoples because history is mostly written by winners. The imperial sources tend to ignore or reduce the resistance by subdued states. But one rich primary source of the subject population is the Hebrew Prophetic books . The hatred towards the ruling empires expressed in this source makes impression of an impact more serious than estimated by Howe. A classical writer and adherent of empire, Orosius explicitly preferred to avoid
22240-416: The western Mediterranean the Empires of Carthage and Rome began their rise. Having decisively defeated Carthage in 202 BC, Rome defeated Macedonia in 200 BC and the Seleucids in 190–189 BC to establish an all-Mediterranean Empire. The Seleucid Empire broke apart and its former eastern part was absorbed by the Parthian Empire . In 30 BC Rome annexed Ptolemaic Egypt. In India during the Axial Age appeared
22400-423: The white-robed Carthusians in his works. Zurbarán is said to have adhered to these meticulous methods throughout his career, which was successful and spent entirely in Spain. His subjects were predominantly austere and ascetic religious scenes, often depicting the spirit subduing the flesh. These compositions were frequently simplified to a single figure. His style is more reserved and subdued than Caravaggio's, with
22560-486: The world flourish and prosper. This ideology, that was envisioned to bring a new world order, was eventually spread across the Mediterranean world and beyond. People started to build houses like Romans, eat the same food, wear the same clothes and engage in the same games. Even rights of citizenship and authority to rule were granted to people not born within Roman territory. The Latin word imperium derives from imperare , meaning "to command", and originally referred to
22720-401: The world's largest economy and leading manufacturing power with a nominal GDP that valued a quarter of world GDP, superior than the combination of Europe 's GDP. It has been estimated that the Mughal emperors controlled an unprecedented one-fourth of the world's entire economy and was home to one-fourth of the world's population at the time. After the death of Aurangzeb, which marks the end of
22880-450: The world's largest economy and were the most technologically advanced during their time; the Great Yuan Empire was the world's ninth largest empire by total land area; while the Great Ming Empire is famous for the seven maritime expeditions led by Zheng He . The Ajuran Sultanate was a Somali empire in the medieval times that dominated the Indian Ocean trade. It was a Somali Muslim sultanate that ruled over large parts of
23040-521: Was ancient Africa 's major force upon incorporating Nubia and the ancient city-states of the Levant . c. 1500 BC in China rose the Shang Empire which was succeeded by the Zhou Empire c. 1100 BC . Both equalled or surpassed in territory their contemporary Near Eastern empires such as the Middle Assyrian Empire , Hittite Empire , Egyptian Empire and those of the Mitanni and Elamites . The Zhou Empire dissolved in 770 BC into feudal multi-state system which lasted for five and
23200-435: Was trade , driven by the new ideas and the capitalism that grew out of the European Renaissance . Agreements were also made to divide the world up between them in 1479 , 1493 , and 1494 . European imperialism was born out of competition between European Christians and Ottoman Muslims, the latter of which rose up quickly in the 14th century and forced the Spanish and Portuguese to seek new trade routes to India , and to
23360-477: Was a period that coincided with the political rise of the Spanish Empire under the Catholic Monarchs of Spain and the Spanish Habsburgs . This era saw a flourishing of literature and the arts in Spain . The most significant patron of Spanish art and culture during this time was King Philip II (1556–1598). However, the period is more broadly associated with the reigns of Isabella I , Ferdinand II , Charles V , Philip II , Philip III , and Philip IV , when Spain
23520-412: Was a time of great flourishing in poetry, prose and drama. Regarded by many as one of the finest works in any language, El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes was the first novel published in Europe; it gave Cervantes a stature in the Spanish-speaking world comparable to his contemporary William Shakespeare in English. The novel, like Spain itself, was caught between
23680-418: Was assumed by Augustus , the Romans themselves continued to refer to their government as the Res publica , meaning "public affair". On the other hand, the concept of imperium Romanum , as in, the authority of the Romans, is attested since the 2nd century BC. The modern concepts of "Empire" and "Emperor" did not appear until several centuries later, long after the fall of Rome in the West. Augustus established
23840-401: Was at the peak of its power and influence in Europe and the world. During this period, Philip II's royal palace, El Escorial , attracted some of Europe's greatest architects and painters, including El Greco . These artists introduced foreign styles to Spanish art, contributing to the development of a uniquely Spanish style of painting. The start of the Golden Age can be placed in 1492, with
24000-425: Was because the Ottomans were Muslim, and the rest of Europe was Christian, so there was a sense of religious fighting going on. This was not just a rivalry of East and West but a rivalry between Christians and Muslims. Both the Christians and Muslims had alliances with other countries, and they had problems in them as well. The flows of trade and of cultural influences across the supposed great divide never ceased, so
24160-403: Was crucial to the subsequent birth of the nationalistic concept of zhonghua minzu . The empire reached its peak during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor , after which the empire entered a period of prolonged decline, culminating in its collapse as a result of the Xinhai Revolution . The Ashanti Empire (or Confederacy), also Asanteman (1701–1896), was a West African state of the Ashanti ,
24320-452: Was impressed by Velázquez's ability to convey emotion through realism in both his portraits and landscapes, the latter of which became a lasting influence on Western painting. Velázquez's friendship with Bartolomé Esteban Murillo , a leading Spanish painter of the next generation, ensured the enduring influence of his artistic approach. Velázquez's most famous painting is the celebrated Las Meninas (1656, Prado Museum in Madrid) in which
24480-402: Was not re-established until the coronation of Ivan the Terrible as Emperor of Russia in 1547. Likewise, with the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), the Austrian Empire (1804–1867) emerged reconstituted as the Empire of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918), having "inherited" the imperium of Central and Western Europe from the losers of said wars. In
24640-455: Was notable for its mysticism and religious themes, which were encouraged by the Counter-Reformation and by the patronage of Spain's Catholic monarchs and aristocracy. Spanish rule of Naples was important for making connections between Italian and Spanish art, with many Spanish administrators bringing Italian works back to Spain. Known for his unique expressionistic style, which elicited both puzzlement and admiration, El Greco ("the Greek")
24800-454: Was only nominally a discrete imperial state. The Holy Roman Empire was not always centrally-governed, as it had neither core nor peripheral territories, and was not governed by a central, politico-military elite. Hence, Voltaire 's remark that the Holy Roman Empire "was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire" is accurate to the degree that it ignores German rule over Italian, French, Provençal, Polish, Flemish, Dutch, and Bohemian populations, and
24960-426: Was originally from the island of Crete. He was not Spanish but Greek by birth. El Greco studied the great Italian masters of his time— Titian , Tintoretto , and Michelangelo —during his stay in Italy from 1568 to 1577. According to legend, El Greco once claimed he would paint a mural as good as one of Michelangelo's if one of the Italian artist's murals was demolished first. After falling out of favor in Italy, he found
25120-416: Was the fourth largest empire in world history by total land area, and laid the foundation for the modern territorial claims of both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China . Apart from having direct control over much of East Asia, the empire also exerted domination over other states through the Chinese tributary system . The multiethnic and multicultural nature of the Great Qing Empire
25280-432: Was the largest of its day and lasted for about sixty years. The Axial Age (mid-First Millennium BC) witnessed unprecedented imperial expansion in the Indo-Mediterranean region and China. The successful and extensive Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC), also known as the first Persian Empire, covered Mesopotamia , Egypt , parts of Greece , Thrace , the Middle East , much of Central Asia , and North-Western India . It
25440-402: Was the leading European power as Europe's most populous, richest and powerful country. The Empire of the French (1804–1814), also known as the Greater French Empire or First French Empire but more commonly known as the Napoleonic Empire , was also the dominant power of much of continental Europe. It ruled over 90 million people and was the sole power in Europe if not the world; Britain was
25600-423: Was written during this period. Composers such as Tomás Luis de Victoria , Cristóbal de Morales , Francisco Guerrero , Luis de Milán and Alonso Lobo helped to shape Renaissance music and the styles of counterpoint and polychoral music. Their influence lasted long into the Baroque period , resulting in a revolution of music. During the Italian Renaissance , few great artists from Italy visited Spain, but
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