The Spanish and the Portuguese, before the encounter with the AmericasLatin American Studies

John Hancock High School

Mr. De Santiago

Centuries of Conquest

Position at the western end of the Mediterranean exposed it to outsiders – shaped culture

Phoenicians – 1100 – 800 BCE

Greeks – 600 BCE Carthaginians – 300

BCE

Roman Influence

Arrived in 218 BCE Drove out the Carthaginians but met

resistance for a century Hispania – Iberian Pen. Law – Architecture – Language –

Religion Latin evolved to Spanish, Catalan

and Portuguese Christianity – Middle of 3rd Century

CE Established trade with the rest of the

Mediterranean Roman rule ended in 5th Century

BCE Vandals, Visigoths and Germanic

Tribes set up kingdoms

Umayyad Caliphate

Muslims in Iberia - 8th to 15th Century CE Crossed Strait of Gibraltar

from North Africa Ruled from Cordoba Extended religious toleration

to Jews and Christians Many converted to Islam

Islamic Middle Ages

Known as the Islamic Golden Age

Advances in many areas Art – Philosophy Architecture Science – Medicine Math Astronomy Engineering

Preserved and added to previous cultures’ findings

Islam continued

Translated texts from Persia, India and Greece that were eventually translated to Latin and spread throughout Europe

Enhanced productivity in agriculture – irrigation techniques – sugar cane and rice

Silk weaving and leatherworking – Steel work

Arabic most widely spoken language in Iberia Found its way into Spanish

Reconquista (Re-conquest)

Began in the middle of the 8th Century CE

Lasted 3 centuries Religion and hunger for

land were driving forces Castile, Leon, Aragon

and Portugal rose Experienced long

periods of peace

Reconquista…continued.

King Fernando III of Castile leads the charge Conquers cities of Seville and

Cordoba in Andalusia in the south In the east – Aragon took

Valencia in 1238 CE Only Granada in southern Spain

remained Muslim – rulers were forced to pay tribute to Castile

Impact of Reconquista

Knights were rewarded with land

Christians willing to settle newly conquered territories were given land as well

Gender roles were reinforced

Christian Heroes – El Cid and Santiago Matamoros (St. James)

Iberian Monarchies in 15th Century Civil wars among

victorious Christian Kingdoms for 200 years Famine – Black Death

Portugal achieved stability first

1385 King Joao I defeats Castile to gain independence for Portugal

Enter Ferdinand and Isabella

1469 – marriage of Isabella of Castile and Leon to Ferdinand of Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia

Isabella became Queen in 1474 and Ferd in 1479 – open door to combine their kingdoms

Their grandson Charles I did so in 1516 (Spain)

Created bureaucracy to organize power Corregidores – kept people in

line Militant Catholics – Bad news

for Jews and Muslims in Iberia

Iberian “Convevencia”

Translate to Co-existence Jews, Christians and Muslims

Occasionally shared in each in others religious ceremonies

Jews held positions of trust with Christian Kings and for Muslim leaders -

Muslims forbade new churches to be built but several were built as early as the 9th century

Breakdown of “Convivencia”

Bloody battles took place Jews and Christians were at

times sold as slaves in Morocco

Discrimination against Jews grew in the 14th and 15th centuries Jews had to wear patches

and paid higher taxes All Jews banished from

Aragon in 14th century Under pressure many Jews

“converted” to Catholicism – continued to practice Judaism underground

“New Christians” became targets of prejudice

Catholic Kings and The Spanish Inquisition Ferdinand and Isabella take

over during time of religious intolerance

1478 get Pope’s permission to clean house

Discipline “New Christians” to conform to Catholic Teachings

2000 executions in 1480s Thousands tortured 1492 all Jews ordered to

convert or to leave

Spanish Inquisition Torture Methods

Muslims Defeated in Granada Castile begins campaign to capture Granada

in 1480s Succeeds in 1492 Set about to convert Muslims to Catholicism

Ordered burning of thousands of Muslim books 1502 all Muslims told to convert or leave Many converted but practiced Islam in secret

Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros

Religious Militant Archbishop of Toledo Head of the Inquisition Worked to eradicate all

traces of Islam and Judaism

Ready to defend against Protestant Reformation

Ambitious Missionary Efforts in the American Colonies

Iberia and the Beginnings of Overseas Expansion The Mediterranean Sea was full of commerce in the

15th century Merchants exchanged woolen textiles for Asian

Merchandise that arrived through the Silk Road Spices – Cinnamon, pepper, ginger, cloves from India Asian silks, cotton, textiles, sugar, slaves and precious

stones Italians from Genoa and Venice dominated this

trade Sophisticated methods of credit, accounting, contract law

and maritime insurance

Iberia and the Beginnings of Overseas Expansion….continued Advances in Navigation Science

Magnetic compass Better Ships for open sea

Portugal takes the lead - 1415 King Joao I’s son – Prince Henry “The Navigator” Sponsors voyages along coast of Africa and into the Atlantic 1482 – reached Congo River 1488 – Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope –

Southern tip of Africa 1498 Vasco de Gama sailed around Africa to India Portuguese no longer needed Italians or Muslim middle-men to

access the “Indies” (Asia) Most knowledgeable people knew the world was round