Spain at the Crossroads

PART ONE: LECTURE

On our last night of this quarter we want to review the unique 600-year story of Moorish, Jewish and Christian cultures in the unique peninsular world of Medieval Spain.

How much Islamic and Jewish influence survived in Renaissance Spain?
What did the Pope think of the unique Spanish mix of cultures?
How did other Christian monarchs in Europe view Medieval Spain?
How did Spain in 1300 compare to France and England?

Chris Lowney, Chaper 18, "Alfonso the Learned King"

Chris Lowney,

A Vanished World: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Spain,

Oxford University Press (2006),

ISBN 0195311914

Spring Vacation (2 weeks) - Monday March 18 and Monday March 25, 2024

Vacation.

No class the week of March 18 and March 25.

First class of Spring Quarter is April 3, 2024

The "History of Spain" studies the Spanish story from the earliest days of the Iberian peninsula to 1700. Spain has an advantage within the European community history of having a national and geographical unit that match almost completely. The one little piece that has drifted in and out of the Iberian unity is Portugal. The Celts came all the way to the Atlantic in the pre-Roman period. Then the Romans colonized Iberia in the third century BC and turned it into the most profitable of their colonies. During Fall Quarter we will study Roman and Visigothic Spain. The Islamic invasion of Spain in 711 sets the stage for our Winter Quarter: Muslims and Jews in Spain and the Reconquista. Spring Quarter is devoted to Renaissance Spain, with Ferdinand and Isabella, and early modern Spain.

Week 20

PART ONE: LECTURE

Spring Vacation (2 weeks) - Monday March 18 and Monday March 25, 2024