EUROPEAN BACKGROUND – IBERIAN WORLD

WHO WERE THE EUROPEANS WHO CAME TO THE NEW WORLD?

IBERIANS
CELTS
PHOENICIANS
CARTHAGENIANS
GREEKS
ROMANS
VISIGOTHS
MUSLIMS (Arabs)
JEWS

ROMANS - HISPANIA

MUSLIMS FROM NORTH AFRICA INVADED THE IBERIAN PENINSULA IN 711

RECONQUISTA – RECONQUEST PERIOD – LASTED EIGHT CENTURIES

AL-ANDALUS – NAME UNDER MUSLIM RULE

CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS FOUGHT FOR THE CONTROL OF IBERIA FROM

ABOUT 718 TO ABOUT 1491
MOST ACTIVE YEARS – 850 TO 1250
OBJECTIVE – TERRITORY, ESPECIALLY GRAZING AND AGRICULTURAL
LAND

RELIGIOUS GOALS – MUCH LATER

LOOT
LAND
TITLES
EXPECTED REWARDS FOR SERVICE TO THE CROWN

CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS, AND JEWS LIVED TOGETHER – PEACEFUL

COEXISTENCE - CONVIVENCIA

ARAB CONTRIBUTIONS TO IBERIA

RECOVERY OF TERRITORY (PENINSULA) WAS GRADUAL

COMBINATION OF PRIVATE INITIATIVE AND CROWN SPONSORS

BY 1300 PORTUGAL WAS UNDER CHRISTIAN RULE

EMIRATE OF GRANADA – SOUTHEASTERN IBERIA REMAINED IN MUSLIMS

HANDS
1469 – MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND OF ARAGON AND ISABEL OF CASTILE

ISABEL’S CLAIM TO CROWN OF CASTILE DISPUTED

SETTLEMENT REACHED IN 1479
MARRIAGE BECAME A SYMBOL OF UNIFICATION OF THE KINGDOM

CASTILE WAS RICHEST TERRITORY, LARGER IN POPULATION; DOMINANT

ECONOMY OF THE REGION
MERCHANTS OF NORTHERN CITIES, ESP. BURGOS AND BILBAO,
SOPHISTICATED AND EXPERIENCED IN OVERSEAS TRADE

FINAL RECONQUISTA BEGAN IN 1481

DISPUTE OVER SUCCESSION IN GRANADA – USED BY THE CHRISTIANS TO

THEIR ADVANTAGE
FIGHTING STRATEGY – TO ENCIRCLE THE MUSLIM TOWNS AND ISOLATE
THEM FROM THE REST; CLOSE ALL COMMUNICATIONS AND
TRANSPORTATION OF FOOD
TOWNS DESTROYED, BURNED AND SACKED, PEOPLES TAKEN CAPTIVES
1491 SIEGE OF GRANADA – LAST STRONGHOLD
SPANISH MONARCHS WERE IN SANTA FE – MILITARY CAMP OUTSIDE
GRANADA

2 JANUARY 1492 – SPANISH MONARCHS ENTERED GRANADA

SYMBOLIC UNIFICATION OF IBERIA UNDER THE KINGDOMS OF CASTILE,
LEON AND ARAGON

COLUMBUS WAS AT SANTA FE AT THE TIME

HIS PROPOSAL TO FIND A SHORT ROUTE TO ASIA (THE INDIES) WAS FIRST
ACCEPTED BY THE SPANISH MONARCHS