Ferdinand II and Isabella united Spain, drove out the Moslems, and used Christopher Columbus and numerous conquistadors to build a large colonial empire in Latin America. Spain became an international power in the 16th century, especially under the rule of kings Charles V (1516–1565) and Philip II (1556–1598). They fought against the Protestant Reformation and had large holdings across Western Europe. The American colonies shipped large amount of gold and silver, but the new wealth was spent in interminable wars against France and the Netherlands, as well as the Ottoman Empire, England and others. By 1700 decline and poverty had set in and Spain played a smaller and smaller role. It became a battlefield between the British Empire and France in the Napoleonic Era. Nearly all its colonies fo