1. The Spanish and the Portuguese, before the encounter with the Americas
Latin American Studies
John Hancock High School
Mr. De Santiago

2. 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

3. 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

4. Umayyad Caliphate

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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)

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Spanish Inquisition Torture Methods

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. Iberia and the Beginnings of Overseas Expansion….continued
Advances in Navigation Science
Magnetic compass
Better Ships for open sea
Portugal takes the lead
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