1.1: The Iberian Middle Ages

tens: tens villages: peoples AEC (before the Common Era): period before year one. Traditionally, the abbreviation BC (before Christ) is used. later: then loot: to sack point out: to signal, to indicate

There are vestiges of human presence in the Iberian Peninsula dating back tens of thousands of years. The peninsula received this name because the Greeks called the peoples who had lived there since ancient times “Iberians”. Between 900 and 650 BCE, groups from Central Europe known by the generic name of “Celts” entered. Later, the Phoenicians colonized Mediterranean areas of the peninsula between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE, the Greeks from the 6th century BCE, and the Carthaginians from 500 BCE. In 205 BCE, the Romans expelled the Carthaginians and by the years 20 BCE they had consolidated the Romanization of the entire peninsula, a territory they designated with the name of Hispania, a term of probable Phoenician origin. The Romans dominated for more than four hundred years and imposed their language, Latin, which centuries later would become the Romance languages of today, such as Castilian, Catalan and Galician. A number of emperors were of Hispanic origin, including Theodosius, who in 380 CE declared Christianity the official religion of the empire. In 409, Hispania was invaded by Germanic peoples —Swabians, Vandals, Alans— and in 410 another Germanic people, the Visigothic, sacked Rome, signalling the decline of the Western Roman Empire. This event traditionally marks the beginning of the European Middle Ages.

The Visigothic Monarchy (415-711)

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because: because agricola : agricultural servant: serf sir: lord	To resist the Suebi, Alans and Vandals, the Romans of Hispania joined forces with the Visigoths, who began to invade almost the entire peninsula in 415. However, since its power was based on a pact with the Hispano-Romans, who were the majority of the population, Latin continued to be the predominant language. But the Roman empire continued to deteriorate and, by the end of the 5th century, the Goth kings were autonomously governing much of the peninsula, although areas remained under the control of other groups. The Visigothic regime emphasized agricultural production, and the Germans were the owners of most of the farmland. This agricultural economy favored the progressive disappearance of slavery and generated a large peasant class. Thus, the old slave system was gradually replaced by feudal-type modes of production: agricultural workers (the serfs) were economically and legally dependent on the owner of the land (the feudal lord).
bishop: bishop kingdom: kingdom	Iberia 560-pt.svg: Medievalist derivative work: Rowanwindwhistler, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons">The Visigoths, many of whom were Christians before, adopted the majority Catholic religion as their creed. They based their legal system on it, and in the name of Catholicism they managed to unify a monarchy with its capital in the city of Toledo, although different areas of the peninsula operated with feudal autonomy. By the year 630, much of the territory, called by some “Spain”, was under the authority of a Gothic monarch in Toledo, where regular meetings of bishops (representing the educated Hispano-Roman population) were held to agree on the laws of the kingdom. This association between religion and political power generated an increasingly intolerant society towards non-Christians. Many Jews, whose ancestors had lived for centuries on the peninsula (which they called Sefarad), had to convert, emigrate or practice their religion in secret, and in many cases lost their property and were forced to live in closed communities (later called aljamas and Jewish quarters). This repression reduced commercial activity, since a large part of the merchant class was Jewish.
as well as: as well as	Struggles for power between feudal lords, as well as various internal conflicts and economic crises, led to the weakening of central power. In 711, Muslims, encouraged by the opponents of the Visigothic king Rodrigo, entered the peninsula from Africa, starting a domination that would last more than seven hundred years.

Al-Andalus (711-1492)

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starting from: beginning in tras: after caliphate: Islamic form of government, led by a caliph, who was initially elected by a council, but since the 700s became a dynasty. Support: Support Strait: Strait Defeat: To Defeat Strengthen: To Consolidate	Starting in 711, the Umayyad Caliphate, which had been expanding after the death of Mohammed in 632, began to invade the Iberian Peninsula from the south, with the support of some opponents of the Visigothic power. Many Jews and poor peasants also saw Muslims as an opportunity to improve their marginalized or poor situation. Under the command of Tarik Ibn Ziyad (who gave his name to Gibraltar: Gebel Tarik, Mount Tarik), about seven thousand men, mostly from the Berber people of North Africa, crossed the Strait and defeated Rodrigo, the Gothic king, taking parts of the south of the peninsula to his capital, Toledo. The following year, another expedition of some eighteen thousand men, mostly Arabs, continued the conquest of almost all of the peninsular territory. Its rapid expansion to the north was finally stopped by the defeat of Poitiers, in the south of France, in 732, which put an end to the spread of Islam to the rest of Europe. The Muslims called the peninsular territories that were under their control al-Andalus. Initially, they were a province of the extensive caliphate of the Umayyad dynasty that had its capital in Damascus (Syria), from where Arab governors were appointed. The Islamic occupation was consolidated through pacts and gestures of tolerance, such as allowing Christians and Jews to practice their religion and hold administrative positions. But there were tensions, especially between Arabs (from Syria and Yemen) and Berbers (from North Africa, considered socially inferior). The Visigoths, for their part, regained control of the northern part of the peninsula.
featured: outstanding	When the Damascus caliphate disintegrated, the Umayyad heir Abd al-Rahman fled Syria in 749. In 756 he reappeared in the Iberian Peninsula and became the emir (governor) Abderrahman I, who established the capital of the emirate in Córdoba, in the south of the peninsula, with an efficient administration, with great encouragement to the arts and commerce. Al-Andalus was transformed into a prominent economic and cultural power.
Tras: after overcoming: overcome zeal: zeal	In 929, after overcoming strong internal political tensions, the eighth Umayyad emir, Abderrahman III, proclaimed himself an independent caliph, beginning a period of great stability and prosperity for al-Andalus. By 1031, however, the caliphate was fragmented by socio-political rivalries. About twenty kingdoms of taifas (groups) were formed, which, divided, facilitated the advance of Christian armies from the north and the occupation from Africa by Berber militias (Almoravids and Almohads), who practiced a much more intolerant religious zeal, forcing the conversion of Jews and Christians to Islam. This further weakened them politically. After a key victory in 1212, Christian armies gained control over more and more territory, and regions governed by Muslims (whom Christians called “Moors”) were shrinking until the last area to the southeast, Granada, capitulated in 1492.

Map of al-Andalus in the year 732, during its greatest extension

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The Christian Kingdoms (722-1400)

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take advantage: to capitalize on reach: to reach heir: heir

After the Muslims invaded the peninsula in 711-17, some Visigothic leaders took refuge in the mountains to the north, where they won their first victory under Pelayo in 722, at the Battle of Covadonga. For several generations, Christian nobles took advantage of ethnic conflicts between the Muslims themselves to annex other territories to the north, until they reached the Douro River as a border in 910. But in general, these northern kingdoms did not plan a religious reconquest or the permanent union of their crowns. On the contrary, a monarch frequently divided his possessions between two or more heirs, giving rise to dynastic crises that sometimes allowed Muslims to regain territory. The different kingdoms and fiefs united, divided and changed borders periodically according to different marriages, wars and pacts.

Swear: to sear ante: in front of amo: master

An example of this can be seen when King Ferdinand I, around 1065, divided his territories among his sons: Castile for Sancho II, León for Alfonso VI, Galicia and Portugal for Garcia, and the dominion of all the monasteries for his daughters. The brothers fought each other until the kingdoms were united in 1076 under Alfonso who, accused of murdering Sancho, had to swear his innocence before the legendary commander of the Castilian army, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (El Cid). The latter, because of suspicions between León and Castilians, had to go into exile and serve a Muslim master in Zaragoza.

 

Milestone: Milestone Rewind: Retreat Fortress: Fortress	The reign of Alfonso IV marked a milestone when, in 1085, he occupied the strategic city of Toledo, in the center of the peninsula. Thus, it established the hegemony of the new Castile (merged with León) and began its progressive expansion to the south of the peninsula, full of advances and setbacks, with Portugal to the west and Aragon to the east as allies and competitors. This process, which centuries later was called “the reconquest”, became a coherent political project for Christian kingdoms: a way to obtain more wealth and power, to control internal conflicts, and to sustain an economy of war and land allocation. It also inspired a tradition of songs about the struggle of frontiers (romances) and a unique cultural configuration. Many of the famous castles, for example, were initially fortresses built by Muslims. Christian nobles adapted or built their own according to their needs, which sometimes included defense against their own governed.
War: related to warfare	The social structure of the different Christian kingdoms had many elements similar to the feudalism of the rest of Europe: an economy based on land, a hierarchy of three fundamental groups—the nobles, the clergy and the common people—related by values of loyalty, and an ideology centered on religious and warlike discourse. However, the prolonged contact and confrontation with Muslim society determined crucial differences with French or British feudalism: there were more numerous and populated cities, peasant sectors that owned their own land, and there was a need to establish strong monarchies with a significant naval industry.
on the one hand: one one hand, increasingly: ever more	Ideologically, this contact produced two opposite effects. On the one hand, there were periods when much emphasis was placed on cultural dialogue between Jews, Mohammedans and Christians, such as at the court of Alfonso X of Castile, the Wise (1252-1284), who cultivated an influential school of translation and academic production. On the other hand, a sense of nationality based on confessional belonging was reinforced: the Iberian Peninsula was presented as the center of an irreconcilable struggle between those who would go to heaven thanks to Catholicism and those who were condemned for not converting. This increasingly authoritarian vision made relations between different religious groups generally hostile from the 14th century, until the creation of the Inquisition in 1478 and the expulsion or forced conversion of Jews and Muslims from 1492.

Chronology

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Brief chronology of the Iberian Peninsula from the time of the Celts to the Middle Ages (approximate years)
900-650 BCE*	The Celts penetrate the Iberian Peninsula
700-600	Phoenician colonization
600	Greek colonization
500	Carthaginian colonization
205	Roman colonization
100-300 EC	Christianity reaches Hispania.
380	Christianity becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire.
409	Hispania is invaded by Germanic tribes, of which the Visigoths dominate.
576	The Visigoths establish their capital in Toledo
587	The Visigothic monarchy converts to Catholicism. Jews are progressively marginalized.
711	The Muslims invade and defeat the Visigothic king Rodrigo.
718-32	The Visigoths protect their northern domains and contain the Muslim advance.
756	The Umayyad Emirate begins. Abderrahman I becomes the first emir with Cordoba as its capital.
929	The Caliphate of Córdoba began under Caliph Abderrahman III. Economic and cultural splendour.
1031	The caliphate is fragmented into Taifa kingdoms.
1085	Alfonso VI of Castilla-León annexes Toledo to his kingdom.
1139	The Kingdom of Portugal was born to independent life.
1212-1462	The Muslim kingdoms, weakened, are losing territory to the Christian kingdoms of the north.
1479	Union of Castile and Aragon with the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand.
1492	The Christians take Granada, the last Muslim kingdom on the peninsula. Jews are expelled.
* The acronym AEC (before the Common Era) is the non-denominational way of referring to the period before year one that the Catholic Church designated as the birth of Christ. Traditionally, the abbreviation BC (before Christ) is used. For later years, D.C. (after Christ), A.D. (Anno Domini) or, in a non-denominational way, EC (Common Era) are used.

Fuentes

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• Alvarez Palenzuela, Vicente Angel. History of Spain in the Middle Ages. Ariel, 2001.
• Davies, Catherine, ed. The Companion to Hispanic Studies. Oxford University Press, 2002.
• Middle Ages in Spain. https://www.arteguias.com/edadmediaespana.htm
• Kattan Ibarra, Juan. Cultural perspectives of Spain. NTC Publishing, 1990.