On the second day of January 1492, Boabdil, the last Moorish ruler in Spain, reluctantly handed over the keys of Granada and the beautiful Alhambra palace to the Christian monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. This was the catalyst for an extraordinary time. By the end of the year, Christopher Columbus had discovered the Americas for Spain and, within thirty years, Spain had unexpectedly exploded, like a meteor, onto the international scene to become the dominant power in Europe. Rich, powerful and newly intolerant, Spain had finally come of age, after a sustained history of disunity and international impotence.
In fact, until 1492 Spain had never been united for long, in any meaningful sense, as a single nation. Over a thousand years it had been invaded or colonised by the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Vandals and the Visigoths. Finally, in 711 the Moors crossed into Spain and, helped by ferocious Berber mercenaries, subdued most of the Iberian peninsular.
The Moors remained in Spain for almost 800 years bringing technical advances and tremendous scholarship into the country. They were also remarkably tolerant to other cultures and religions allowing Jews, Christians and Moors to live together in relative peace. Cordoba became the capital of ‘Al Andalus’ (Moorish Spain) and was famous throughout Europe for its learning and extraordinarily beautiful architecture.
But Moorish rule was opposed almost from the start, initially from the tiny Asturias in the 8th Century. Then, over hundreds of years, Christian forces gradually pushed Moorish control ever southwards. From the 11th Century the removal of the Moors took on a strongly religious aspect, consistent with the hysterical Christian fanaticism of the time. Increasingly, the Reconquista was seen as tantamount to a Crusade, with a medieval vision being to create a strong and independent Christian Spain. However, as the Moors were slowly overwhelmed, a series of independent fiefdoms and kingdoms emerged throughout Spain, splintering any potential national unity.
A major step towards unifying Spain finally occurred when the two most powerful kingdoms were effectively joined by the marriage, in 1469, of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. By chance, this not only firmly allied two powerful kingdoms, it also brought together two remarkably competent leaders who ruled as equal partners. Isabella was clearly a feisty, politically astute and determined woman, whilst Ferdinand was a master diplomat of Machiavellian talents.
Ferdinand and Isabella immediately set out to remove the last remaining Moors from their strongholds in Granada, whilst securing and extending their own authority throughout their domains. Over ten years, the Moors in Granada were remorselessly overwhelmed by a sustained and determined campaign that honed Ferdinand and Isabella’s military into a battle hardened and experienced force. This was to prove important in the years to come, as Spain extended her influence to the Americas and secured her future territories in Italy and elsewhere.
Of course, after nearly 800 years of occupation, Spain had numerous Moors and Jews who had integrated over the generations, albeit retaining their own distinct religions and customs. Indeed, to its credit, Spain had become one of the most heterogeneous countries in Europe and one renowned for its toleration. However, this was a concern for Ferdinand and Isabella, who were understandably worried that a possible ‘fifth column’ of indifferent loyalties remained in a country still struggling to unify under a national identity. In 1478 the Inquisition was formed, with the radical and brutal hypocriteTomas de Torquemata created Grand Inquisitor in 1483.
The Inquisition was a vital political tool for Ferdinand and Isabella, as it was the only institution with undisputed authority throughout the kingdom. It served to purify the population into hard line Catholic Christians and was devastatingly effective in attacking or weakening political opponents. As the appointment of the Grand Inquisitor was in the sole remit of Ferdinand and Isabella, it provided the monarchy with a critical implement with which to tighten their control over Spain. In 1492 all Jews who had not converted were expelled and, in 1502, the Muslims in Granada were told to convert or leave the country. Spain was fast losing its tolerance and laying the grounds for the Counter Reformation, later in the century, when it would become a pillar of hard-line European Catholicism.
By extraordinary fortune, in the very year that Spain gained its independence from the Moors, Christopher Columbus was finally authorized to find a route to India and China by going west across the Atlantic – appropriately known as the ‘Sea of Darkness’ by the Moors. After five weeks sailing, Columbus found the Bahamas, thinking that he had come across India. In fact, of course, he had touched upon the Americas, until then an unknown landmass. During the course of three further journeys, he was to discover South America and make the previously inconceivable concept of crossing the Atlantic an almost pedestrian event.
The importance of Columbus’ discoveries was not lost on Ferdinand and Isabella and they agreed, at the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, with King John 11 of Portugal to divide up the New World. A north/south line was drawn through the Atlantic, with Portugal agreeing that Spain had a right to possession of all lands lying to the west. Effectively, Portugal gained modern day Brazil, whilst Spain benefited from the enormous but still unknown territories of the rest of the Americas.
For Spain, ‘ownership’ of the Americas was to have a profound effect that cannot be underestimated. In modern terms it was like a poor country finding fantastic reserves of oil on its territory. Within three decades, Spain was to have access to an almost inexhaustible supply of gold and silver with which to fund the country’s extraordinary growth and international ambitions. Spain’s monarchs would become the richest in Europe and have power unthinkable to any previous Spanish ruler.
If the overthrowing of the Moors was the catalyst for modern Spain then access to the Americas was to become the means to greatness. However, Spain’s acceleration was to be given a further critical and incredible push. In 1516, Ferdinand died, Isabella having predeceased him in 1504. Through a quirk of fate, the throne passed to Ferdinand and Isabella’s grandson, Charles 1, who inherited the lands of no less than four European royal houses, including that of the Habsburgs.
By 1419, after enormous bribery, Charles 1 of Spain consolidated his power by becoming Holy Roman Emperor (Charles V) making him, by far, the most powerful ruler in Europe. Spain now controlled the Low Countries (roughly the modern day Netherlands), vast tranches of Germany, Naples, Sicily and, of course, a fast developing empire of fabulous value in the New World.
And, in the New World, matters moved with extraordinary speed, due to the actions of a few intrepid, ruthless and driven men. By 1521 Hernando Cortez had subdued the Aztecs and by 1533 the Inca Empire had been brutally destroyed and brought under the control of Spain by the cruel and relentless actions of Francisco Pizzarro. As each year passed, Spain’s American territories and associated riches were increasing at a rate that made other European country’s efforts look paltry by comparison.
By the 1520’s Spain had, for the first time, become a recognizable, modern state and one ruled by a single, undisputed and absolute monarch. It had also become a country with a defined, albeit imposed, national identity – as a Catholic Christian state. Furthermore, through Charles 1’s extensive inherited territories throughout Europe, Spain had suddenly, and improbably, become a major power broker within European affairs. And, of course, with colossal wealth coming to Spain from its New World colonies, Spain was actually in the happy position of being able to exert its influence, whether by bribes or military means.
Unfortunately, Spain’s explosively sudden golden age was not to last long, even if the idea of a unified state of Spain was never again to be seriously disputed. The future centuries were to bring appallingly costly wars, often fought as Spain sought to act as a bulwark of Catholicism against Protestantism. Perhaps, more damaging, ironically, was its long term linking with the decaying Habsburg Empire and the wars of succession that erupted periodically over the next two hundred years.
Finally, Spain also made the critical mistake of relying too heavily on its wealth from the New World. It made no serious effort to industrialise and little of the riches produced by its colonies were used to invest within Spain itself, to develop a strong self-perpetuating infrastructure. Power and wealth in Spain remained within the hands of the monarchs and an un-dynamic aristocracy, resulting in a country of tremendous inequality, poverty and oppression.
What happened so explosively between 1492 -1530 created Spain and defined its very future. Like a meteor, it had a brief glorious period, before decaying into one of the most economically and politically backward states in Europe. It is only in the past thirty years that Spain has regained its dynamism and energy, having discarded its religious intolerance, gained politically stability and developed a powerful economic base. Let us hope that Spain’s future has now been set upon firmer foundations than those of the 16th Century.
Nick Snelling
TIMELINE
711 – 1492 Moorish occupation of Spain
1469 Marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille
1478 Formation of the Inquisition by Papal Bull
1480 Appointment of the Grand Inquisitioner (Tomas de Torquemata)
1492 Reconquista completed with the fall of Granada and Spain united under the rule of Ferdinand 1 and Isabella as joint rulers
Christopher Columbus’ 1st voyage of discovery to the America’s
Alahambra Decree expelling all Jews
1494 Treaty of Tordesillas dividing the unknown world between Spain and Portugal
1499 Moorish uprising
1502 Muslims in Granada told to convert or leave Spain
1504 Queen Isabella dies
1513 Vasco de Nunez de Balboa reaches the Pacific
1516 Ferdinand 1 dies
Charles 1 proclaimed king
1519 Charles 1 of Spain becomes Holy Roman Emperor Charles V uniting the House of Bourbon with the House of Habsburg
1521 Hernando Cortes defeats the Aztecs and becomes Governor of Mexico
1531-33 Francisco Pizzaro defeats the Incas
PERSONALITIES
Ferdinand of Aragon (1452 – 1516)
King 1492 – 1516
A master diplomat and administrator
Isabella of Castile (1451 – 1504)
Queen 1492 – 1504
Feisty, religious and strong
Charles 1 of Spain (Holy Roman Emperor Charles V)
1500 – 1558
King 1516 – 1556 (abdicated in favour of his son Philip 11)
Brought to Spain the Netherlands, part of modern Germany and Italy
Spoke: “Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse.”
Gonzalo de Cordova (The Great Captain)
1433 – 1515
First ‘modern’ General
Re-organised Spanish army
Great tactician
Tomas de Torquemata (Grand Inquisitor)
1420 – 1498
Appointed Inquisitor General in 1483
Travelled with 50 mounted guards and 250 armed men
Fanatical and chief supporter of the expulsion of the Jews
Synonymous with torture and hypocrisy
Christopher Columbus
1451 – 1506
In 1492 found the America’s
4 voyages of discovery
Claimed Americas for Spain
Hernando Cortez
1485 – 1547
Insubordinate
Conquered the Aztecs with 600 men
Initiated Mexico City the most important city in the Americas
Francisco Pizarro
1471 – 1541
Illiterate and illegitimate: a driven and cruel man
Ruthlessly conquered Inca Empire with 168 Spanish soldiers
Founded Lima
BY NICK SNELLING