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The siglo de oro (a Spanish-language phrase meaning "golden century") was to the great age of Spanish wealth and power, roughly from the early-to-mid-16th century to the early-to-mid-17th century.
The term siglo de oro is used especially in referring to the literature of that era, for example Miguel de Cervantes, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Lope de Vega and Francisco de Quevedo, and to artists of the era, for example El Greco and Diego Velazquez.
While the term siglo de oro does not generally imply any great precision about dates, it begins no earlier than 1492, with the completion of the reconquista and the voyages of Christopher Columbus to the New World, and ends no later than the independence of the Netherlands from the Spanish monarchy, recognized by Spain in 1648.
During this period, Spain established itself as the world's first super-power with globe-spanning reach, though it was not without rivals. In the Mediterranean there were the Ottoman Turks; on the European continent, France was comparably strong; in East Asia, China still held its own; in both India and the Americas, Spain was rivalled by Portugal, and later by England; once the Dutch gained their independence, they also became contenders.
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