Curated playlist
Spanish Roman Catholics
- Catherine of AragonWidowed at sixteen, Catherine of Aragon became the first known female ambassador in European history.
- Diego VelázquezVelázquez freed his assistant Juan de Pareja from slavery in 1650.
- Charles V, Holy Roman EmperorCharles V was born during a ball in Ghent in 1500. He ruled more of the world than any Christian monarch before.
- Philip V of SpainA singer performed every night to calm Philip V of Spain. Farinelli's arias eased the king's manic depression.
- Salvador DalíSalvador Dalí was born nine months after his older brother, also named Salvador, died.
- Felipe VIFelipe VI, King of Spain, stands 1.97 metres tall, or 6 feet 5 and a half inches. That height earned him a Guinness World Record as the tallest reigning monarch in the world. It is a small fact about a man whose public life has been shaped…
- Philip II of SpainPhilip II of Spain ruled the largest empire in the world while his treasury went bankrupt five times.
- Juan Bautista de ToledoEl Escorial's cornerstone, set in 1563, names Juan Bautista de Toledo as chief architect.
- Enrique IglesiasEnrique Iglesias once went to great lengths to hide the most famous surname in Spanish pop. He was a young man in Miami holding a demo cassette with one Spanish song and two English songs. He had borrowed the money to make it from his…
- El GrecoEl Greco once offered to repaint Michelangelo's Last Judgment. He made the offer to Pope Pius V.
- Francisco GoyaFrancisco Goya painted 14 works on his own walls that he never meant anyone to see.
- Inca Garcilaso de la VegaInca Garcilaso de la Vega was the son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca princess. He grew up speaking Quechua.
- Juan Luis VivesJuan Luis Vives wrote the first Western tract arguing that the state must help the urban poor.
- Juan de HerreraJuan de Herrera was a soldier before he ever drew a building. He later shaped Spain's bare granite style.