- THE KINGDOMS OF LEÓN AND CASTILLA
THE KINGDOM OF LEÓN
In the Meieval period, many kingdoms were joined together, and then Split again, as a result of royal inheritance. In the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula the kingdomsof León and Castilla were closely conncted to each other between the 11 thand the 13 th centuries. But they sometimes formed a single kingdom, ruled by the same monarch, while a other times they were separate.
King García I of Asturias had established his court in Leónin he 10th century, and the city bécame the capial of a new Kingdom of León. In 1037 León was inherited by King Fernando I of Castilla who bécame the dominant ruler in the Christian territories of the Iberian Peninsula. The kingdoms were Split and then united again after his death. In 1157 one of Alfonso VII ‘s sons, Fernando II, inherited León, and another son, Sancho II inherited Castilla so they became separate kingdoms once again. Finally, they were definitively united in 1230, during the reign of Fernando III.
In the 11 th and 12 th centuries, the kingdoms of Leon and Castilla expanded southwards towards the Sierra Central and he Tajo valley, capturing Muslim territories. In the mid- 12th century, Portugal separeted and bécame a kingdom.
During this period, the monarchs called the first assemblies, or Cortes, to get agreement for extra taxation. These were formed by nobles, clergymen and leading figures from the main cities. The first cortes was called in Leon in 1188, and bécame the precursor of similar assemblies in the other peninsular kingdoms.
THE KINGDOM OF CASTILLA
The expansión of the Medieval peninsular kingdoms was connected to how close they were to the Muslim frontier. For example, the kingdom of Navarra still existed, but it was isolated in the north. Consequently, it did not capture any new territories from the Muslims and it slowly lost nearly all its influence. On the other hand, the Kingdom of Castilla played a decisive role in the Reconquest, and acquired both new teritory and great prestige.
The County of Castila had become a kingdom in the 11 th century following the division of Sancho III of Pamplona ‘s inheritance. Alfonso VI of Castilla’s conquest of Toledo in 1085 was especially significant because Toledo had beeb the capital of the Christian kingdom of the Visigoths four centuries earlier.
In the 12 th century, king Alfonso VII reached an agreement with the newly created Crown of Aragon, which specified the Muslim territories tha each kingdom could adquire through conquest. According to the Treaty of Tudlén (1151), the Crown of Aragon had the right of conquest to the Muslim territories of Valencia and Murcia. However, some years later the Treaty of Cazola (1179) assigned Murcia to Castilla.
THE CONQUEST OF THE TAJO AND THE GUADIANA VALLEYS
As the kingdom of Castilla advanced southwards into the Tajo and Guadiana valleys, many nobles received land as a reward for their participation in the campaigns of conquest. This allow them to build up huge estates where large numbers of peasants worked under their autority. This greatly increased their wealth and influence.
The military orders also played an important role in conquering and then settling on Muslim territory. They played an especially important role in regions like Extremadura and La Mancha.
THE MILITARY ORDERS
During the Crusades, the military orders (like the Knights of Saint John and the Knights of the Temple) were made up of warrior monks. They fought in battles, but also accepted religious discipline. In the early 12 th century, some of these knights came to fight in Spain. However, a few years later the Iberian military orders were created. The Orders of Santiago, Alc´ntara and Calatrava were especially powerful in Castilla, while the knights of Montesa played an important role in Aragon.
- THE CROWN OF ARAGON
THE KINGDOM OF ARAGON AND THE COUNTY OF BARCELONA
In the same way that Leon and Castilla were united by dynastic succession, the Eastern part of the península was also dominated by two closely connected territories.
Until the early 11 th century, the County of Aragon had belonged to the Kigdom of Navarra. But Ramiro I declared himself ruler of the kingdom of Aragon in 1035, and Little by Little his successors expanded into the Ebro valley. The other key región in the east was the County of Barcelona, which bécame independent under Count Borrell II and gradually took control of the other catalán counties.
Under king Alfonso I El Batallador in the early 12 th century, Aragon achieved control over the central part of the Ebro valley and established its capital at Zaragoza. This monarch, who had no children, tried unsuccessfully to leave his teritories to the military orders. But instead, Navarra and Aragon chose seprate rulers. In Aragón, his successor Ramiro II arranged for his daughter Petronila to marry Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, leading to the creation of the Crown of Aragon. Their son Alfonso II of Aragón inherited both territories in 1164, becoming its first king.
But the Crown of Aragon was a federation. Its territories had the same monarch, but they each had their own cortes and comletely separate laws and institutions.
THE CONQUEST OF THE EBRO VALLEY
The Eastern kingdoms expanded southwards from the 11 th century onwards at the expense of the weakened Caliphate, and later the small Taifa Kingdoms.
After his conquest of Zaragoza in 1118, Alfonso I of Aragon captured other towns such as Tudela and Calatayud. The territory ruled by the Counts of Barcelona had formerly been known as Old Cataluña. Now the Counts occupied the landa round Tarragona, whic was the beginning of a new frontier area called New Cataluña.
More territories were acqired after the Crown of Aragón had brought Aragon and Cataluña together. Ramón Beenguer IV ‘s conquest of towns like Tortosa and Lleida and the occupation of the Ebro delta completed New Cataluña. His son Alonso II conquered territory in the south of Aragón and founded the city of Teruel.
This expansión of the Cron of Aragon, together with Castilla’ s similar advances, led the two kingdoms to agree on their frontiers. The Kings of Aragon also played an important role in south-west France, where they gained the allegiance of many feudal lords. But this influence ended with the defeat of Pedro II in the Battle of Muret in 1213.
- CHRISTIAN CULTURE AND ART
Latin was the only language used by the Church and was also the main language of oficial documents during the Middle Ages. However, the popular Latin that was spoken in the Late Roman Empire gradually developedinto a number of related Romance languages such as Castilian Spanish, Catalan and Galician. There were other dialects, too, such as Aragonese, while the Christian Mozarabs used a Latin dialect which only disappeared in about the 14 th century.
- Castilian Spanish first emerged in northern and central Spain. In around 1000, monks used it to write glosses, o additional commentaries, on Latin manuscripts. Hese texts are called the glosas emilianenses and the glosas silenses. Scholars have also studied earlier written commentaries on ecclesiastical documents from the province of Burgos.
- Catalan had its origins in the Eastern mountains and valleys of the Pyrenees. There are a number of surviving texts from the 12 th century, when Catalan was the language of popular poetry.
- Galician- Portuguese was the shared language of Galicia and Portugal before it split into two separete languages. It was promoted by patrons lik Alfonso X El Sabio and the Kings of Portugal.
Only one language of the Iberian Peninsula, Euskara, did not have a Latin origin.
CULTURAL INTERACTION
Three different cultures and religions coexisted in the Christian kingdoms. Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
There were significant cultural exchanges between these three cultures. A famous example was the School of Translators in Toledo in the 12 th century, which allowed philosophical and scientific Works in Arabic and Hebrew to reach Christian scholars. Mudejar art showed the Muslim influence on Christian architecture. The Jewish presence was reflected in buildings like the fine synagogue, later called Santa María la Blanca, which was built in Toledo in about 1180.
ROMANESQUE ART ON THE PENINSULA
Romanesque art reached the Iberian Peninsula through the Pyrenees, and first flourished in Catalonia. Later it spread to other Christian territories along the Wayof Saint James, which was the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela.
- Cataluña. Outstanding monasteries, such as San Pedro de Roda and Santa María de Ripoll were built in Cataluña. In the región of Lleida, churches were built with high towers and fine mural paintings.
- Aragón and Navarra. There were other very fine buildings in northern Sain like the Cathedral of Jaca in Aragón, and the Monastery of Leyre in Navarra.
- Castilla and León. The way of Saint James spread a single, similar style throughout Castilla and León. The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and the Church of San Martín de Frómista in Palencia were exceptional early Works of Romanesque architecture. The Cathedral of Zamora and the Old Cathedral of Salamanca date from the 12 th century.
THE WAY OF SAINT JAMES
A tomb was found in Galicia in the 9 th century, which people believed was the tomb of the apostle Saint James. The place became known as Sanctus Jacobus and later as Santiago de Compostela.
In the 10 th century many pilgrims, like the French Archbishop of Reims, crossed the Pyrenees to visit it. Santiago de Compostela son bécame one of the holiest places in the Christian world, attracting pilgrims from many countries.
Pilgrimage routes were created. Places were built where people could stay, and guidebooks were written about them. The French Liber Sancti Jacobi of the 12 th century, for example, warned pilgrims not to drink from the rivers in Navarra and said that Estella had very good bread, wine and fish. The Way had comercial as well as religious importance, and promoted cultural influences. Pilgrims still travel to Santiago today for religious reasons, but the pilgrimage routes have also become a popular attraction for all kinds of tourists who wish to visit the region.
- AL-ANDALUS FROM THE 11 TH TO THE 15 TH CENTURIES
THE ALMORAVIDS
The weak taifa states lost territory to the Christian kingdoms in the 11 th century. However, in north- west Africa, a nomadic Muslim people called the Almoravids began to build a considerable empire. After the Christian conquest of Toledo in 1085, the Almoravids entered the Iberian Peninsula.
Under the emir, the Almoravids defeated Alfonso VI at the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086, stopping Christian progress. They reconquered the city of Valencia in 1102 and gradually took control of the taifa states.
The Almoravids imposed very strict rule in Al-Andalus , and ere intolerant of the Christian Mozarab and Jewish minorities. Their rule only lasted until the mid-12 th century, when they were weakened by Christian opposition and the rise of the Almohads in north Africa. A second period of Taifa Kingdoms began when their authority collapsed.
THE ALMOHADS
Another north African people, he Almohads, also practised an extreme versión of Islam compared to he less strict religion which was usually practised in Al-Andalus. They replaced the Almoravids in north Africa, where they built a new empire. Like the Almoravids befor them, they crossed over to the Iberian Peninsula where they defeated Alfonso VIII at the Battle of Alarcos in 1195.
A-Andalus was fairly prosperous under the Almohads who developed trade with north Africa and other Mediterranean regions. Sevilla was the Almohad capital on the península, and bécame a very important comercial city. In Sevilla, he Almohads built impressive buildings like the Giralda and the Torre del Oro.
The Christian Kingdoms were united under Alfonso VIII of Castilla and defeated the Almohads at the Battle of Navas de Tolosa in 1212. This ended Almohad rule, and the mid-13 th century the christians had conquered all the Iberian Peninsula except for Granada.
THE NASRID KINGDOM OF GRANADA
After the end of Almohad rule the Christian kingdoms consolidated their conquest in the Guadalquivir valley. The only kingdom that survived was Granada, which was ruled by the Nasrids until the late 15 th century.
The Nasrid kingdom occupied the present-day provinces of Granada, Málaga and Almería, although it later lost some of this territory. It was forced to ay paria, or tribute, to the Christian kings. However, the region was fairly prosperous thanks to its agriculture and its trade with North Africa and Italy.
Granada had a highly sophisticated cultura. Its outstanding achievement was the magnificent walled complex of the Alhambra in Granada.
THE ALHAMBRA OF GRANADA
The Nasrid Kings Yussuf I and Muhamad V built the Alhambra palace on a hill above the city of Granada between 1333 and 1391. It was a royal complex that had a palace, fortress, mosques, houses and defensive walls.
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