Culture splendour and political decline.

In this video you will see one of the most important Spanish books around the world, this book was written during the Golden Age:

The Spanish Golden Age was a period of great artistic activity which lasted from about 1560 to 1680:

• ARCHITECTURE: 
• The Monastery of El Escorial was built in a simple, austere style in the 16th century.
• The Baroque style of rich ornamentation developed in the 17th century. A good example is the Cathedral of Seville.

• LITERATURE:
• Miguel de Cervantes wrote Don Quixote, one of the greatest books.
• Lope de Vega who wrote plays and poetry.
• Luis Góngora who wrote poetry.

• PAINTING: 
• In the 16th Century, El Greco became famous for his characteristic of elongated figures. 
• In the 17th century, Diego Velázquez painted his masterpieces.

THE 17th CENTURY CRISIS:

Three Habsburg kings reigned in the 17th century.

• Philip III (1598-1621)

• Philip IV (1621-1665)

• Charles II (1665-1700):

• They had ministers to help them to govern. Some of these ministers became extremely powerful.
• The 17th century was a period of political and military decline. 
• After lots of years of revolts they lost the Netherlands. 
• There were revolts in Catalonia and Portugal. At the end they lost Portugal. 
• Economy was stagnant and people were very hungry.