Spain and the New World

PART ONE: Lecture
During our second class of Fall Quarter we will review the story of Spanish exploration and colonization of the new world in the fifteenth century: the history of cosmography, the Greeks’ texts, the new maps, the maps and the explorers, the explorers and the monarchs of Portugal and Spain, and the figures of Columbus, Vespucci and others.

We also take up the question: Why were the Spaniards the ones to make the major exploration breakthroughs?
Why not Portugal?
Why not the Islamic civilization?
Why not the Chinese?

PART TWO: Pictures

The city of Seville, Spain.

REQUIRED READING

Mark Williams
The Story of Spain: The Dramatic History of Europe’s Most Fascinating Country