Diego Velazquez paints his only surviving female nude, The Toilet of Venus (known as the Rokeby Venus)

Velazquez, in Las Meninas, paints himself painting the king and queen of Spain

Spain finally accepts the independence of the kingdom of Portugal, after nearly a century of Spanish rule

In the Treaty of Rijswijk, Spain cedes the western half of Hispaniola to France, which names its new colony Saint-Domingue

Charles II, the childless king of Spain. leaves all his territories to Philip of Anjou, a grandson of the French king, Louis XIV

The War of the Spanish Succession breaks out between French and Austrian claimants to the Spanish throne

The treaties signed in Utrecht bring to an end the War of the Spanish Succession

In the aftermath of the War of the Spanish Succession, the Spanish Netherlands are transferred to Austria

An alliance between the French and Spanish Bourbons is the first of what become known as the Family Compacts

Britain declares war on Spain, partly in a mood of indignation over Captain Jenkins' ear

Spain, now an ally of France, joins in the war against Austria

Britain, already fighting Spain (in the War of Jenkin's Ear), is drawn into the wider conflict as an ally of Austria

A treaty signed in Paris ends the Seven Years' War between Britain, France and Spain

In the treaty of Paris, Spain cedes Florida to Britain, completing British possession of the entire east coast of north America

Francisco de Goya begins a series of designs for tapestries to be made in Spain's Royal Tapestry Factory

Spanish America is now administered as four viceroyalties - New Spain, New Granada, New Peru and La Plata

Francisco de Goya is appointed painter to the king of Spain, Charles III

Spain's affairs are controlled by Manuel de Godoy, lover of the queen, Maria Luisa

Francisco de Goya is appointed court painter to the new Spanish king, Charles IV

A treaty negotiated by US minister Thomas Pinckney provides a temporary resolution of disputes between Spain and the USA

Horatio Nelson dies on the deck of the Victory after winning the battle of Trafalgar

A French army under Joachim Murat advances on Madrid, causing the Spanish royal family to flee

Napoleon transfers his brother Joseph Bonaparte from the throne of Naples to that of Spain

The French capture of Madrid provokes a British response and the resulting Peninsular War

An uprising in Madrid, brutally put down by the French, is vividly depicted by the Spanish painter Goya