<P> The Spanish Empire ( Spanish : Imperio español ) was one of the largest empires in history . At the time , it was not known as that by Spaniards , but rather the Spanish Monarchy ( Monarquía española ) with the monarch ruling kingdoms in Spain , the possessions of the king in Italy and northern Europe , and in the `` Spanish Indies , '' its New World territories . From the late fifteenth century to the early nineteenth , Spain 's kingdom of Castile controlled a huge overseas territory in the New World . The crown 's main source of wealth was from gold and silver mined in Mexico and Peru . The empire reached the peak of its military , political and economic power under the Spanish Habsburgs , through most of the 16th and 17th centuries , and its greatest territorial extent under the House of Bourbon in the 18th century . The Spanish Empire became the foremost global power of its time and it was the first to be called ' The empire on which the sun never sets ' . </P>
what did newly discovered land mean for spain in the 16th century
empire reached the peak of its military , political and economic power