History of Europe and its lands. The European religious wars between German and Spanish rulers. The Reconquista ended Muslim rule in Iberia. By the 1490s a series of oceanic explorations marked the Age of Discovery, establishing direct links with Africa, the Americas, and Asia. Religious wars continued to be fought in Europe, until the 1648 Peace of Westphalia. The Spanish crown maintained its hegemony in Europe and was the leading power on the continent until the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees, which ended a conflict between Spain and France that had begun during the Thirty Years' War. An unprecedented series of
Peace of Münster for approval; it was ratified by the Spanish and Dutch delegations on 15 May, with the States General narrowly approving the Treaty on 5 June 1648. The Peace of Münster together with the Treaty of Münster between the Holy Roman Emperor, France and their allies and the Treaty of Osnabrück involving the Holy Roman Empire, Sweden and their allies were collectively known as the Peace of Westphalia. While European conflict continued, this marks a significant point in the transition to sovereignty based on states rather than individuals e.g. the Hapsburgs. Sovereignty has been defined by historian Harry Hinsley as "the