The Spanish Golden Age refers to the decades in which Spain reached the peak of its power and influence across the world and was a leader of European culture, producing some of the greatest art, literature, and music of this time. King Phillip II (1527-1598) was arguably the most influential ruler of this period, reigning as king of Spain as well as Portugal, Naples, and Sicily.

The start of the Golden Age is generally placed at 1492, a year of several singular events for the nascent Spanish empire. This was the year the rulers Ferdinand II and Isabella financed the voyage of Christopher Columbus, whose ships landed in what he would call the West Indies, discovering a world new to Europeans. This was also the year of the final military triumph of the Spanish Reconquista, in which the Spanish forces reclaimed Granada, the last stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula still under the dominion of a Muslim ruling dynasty. In the same year, building on centuries of oppression and massacres of Jewish people, the Alhambra Decree authorized the expulsion of all practicing Jews from Spain.

A new Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition had been authorized by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1478 to eradicate heresy and enforce orthodox observance of the Catholic faith.