Q 01/05

Which 1494 treaty split the newly discovered world between Spain and Portugal?

A) Zaragoza

B) Alcáçovas

C) Tordesillas

D) Madrid

Answer · why

C) Tordesillas

Tordesillas drew a line 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands, handing Castile the lands beyond it. Portugal kept the east, which came to include...

Q 02/05

Which Asian archipelago did Spain rule for over 300 years before ceding it to the United States in 1898?

A) The Philippines

B) The Maldives

C) The Andaman Islands

D) Indonesia

Answer · why

A) The Philippines

The Philippines takes its name from Philip II of Spain. The explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the islands in his honour in 1543.

Q 03/05

Which conquistador defied the governor of Cuba to lead the expedition that toppled the Aztec Empire?

A) Francisco Pizarro

B) Hernán Cortés

C) Pedro de Alvarado

D) Juan Ponce de León

Answer · why

B) Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés ignored a last-minute order recalling his expedition. When the governor sent men to arrest him, he beat them in battle and added the sur...

Q 04/05

Which city, founded by Spain in 1565, is the oldest continuously inhabited European town in the mainland US?

A) Pensacola

B) San Antonio

C) Corpus Christi

D) St. Augustine

Answer · why

D) St. Augustine

St. Augustine was founded on September 8, 1565 by the Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, who became the region's first governor.

Q 05/05

Which Inca citadel, abandoned around the time of the Spanish conquest, was brought to world attention in 1911?

A) Machu Picchu

B) Sacsayhuamán

C) Ollantaytambo

D) Choquequirao

Answer · why

A) Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu was never truly lost. It was known locally, and the Peruvian explorer Agustín Lizárraga reached it before the American historian Hiram Bi...