Spanish History; a quick guide

Philip V of Spain
King Philip V of Spain who was born in 1683 and died in 1746) was king of Spain from 1700 to 1746. King Philip V. was also the first of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain. Philip was the grandson of Louis XIV of France, he was chosen by the dying Charles II of Spain as his successor. This event provoked the War of the Spanish Succession.
On January 14, 1724, Philip abdicated the throne to his eldest son, Louis, but resumed it later that year when Louis died of smallpox. Philip helped his Bourbon relatives to make territorial gains in the War of the Polish Succession and the War of the Austrian Succession. During his reign Spain began to recover from the stagnation it had suffered during the twilight of the Habsburg dynasty. Ferdinand VI of Spain, his son by his first queen Maria Luisa of Savoy, succeeded him.
He had a second wife Elizabeth Farnese, who bore him another succeesor, Charles III of Spain.

History of Gibraltar
The name Gibraltar comes from the Arabic word Jabal al Tariq, which means “Tariq’s mountain". Earlier it was Calpe, one of the Columns of Hercules. The territory was ceded to Great Britain by Spain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht as part of the settlement of the War of the Spanish Succession. In that treaty, Spain ceded Great Britain “the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications, and forts thereunto belonging … for ever, without any exception or impediment whatsoever.”
Nonetheless, the treaty stipulates that no overland trade between Gibraltar and Spain is to take place, except for emergency provisions in the case that Gibraltar is unable to be resupplied by sea. Another condition of the cession is that “no leave shall be given under any pretence whatsoever, either to Jews or Moors, to reside or have their dwellings in the said town of Gibraltar.” If Britain decides to sell Gibraltar, Spain is guaranteed first purchasing rights.
In a 1967 referendum, Gibraltarians ignored Spanish pressure and voted overwhelmingly by 12 138 to 44, to remain under British sovereignty. Under the 1969 Constitution, Gibraltar attained full internal self-government, with an elected House of Assembly. The preamble to the Constitution stated that “Her Majesty’s Government will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes.”
Major Robert (later Sir Robert) Peliza of the Integration With Britain Party (IWBP) was elected Chief Minister in 1969, although Joshua (later Sir Joshua) Hassan of the Assocation for the Advancement of Civil Rights (AACR) was returned to power in 1972. In 1976, the IWBP broke up after the British Foreign Office Minister Roy Hattersley ruled out integration with the UK, and was succeeded by the Democratic Party of British Gibraltar.
In response, Spain closed the border with Gibraltar in 1969, and severed all communication links. This remained unchanged after the death of General Franco in 1975. The border was not fully reopened until 1985. Under the 1985 Brussels Agreement, Britain agreed to enter into discussions with Spain over Gibraltar, including sovereignty. In 1987, a proposal for joint control of Gibraltar’s airport with Spain led to widespread opposition locally. Chief Minister Sir Joshua Hassan resigned at the end of that year, to be succeeded by Adolfo Canepa.
In 1988 Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP) leader Joe Bossano was elected as Chief Minister, and firmly ruled out any discussions with Spain over sovereignty. In the 1996 election, Bossano was replaced by Peter Caruana, of the Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD), who while favouring dialogue with Spain, also ruled out any deals on sovereignty.
In 1988, there was controversy when three members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) were shot dead by the SAS, after they were suspected of planning to bomb a military parade, although a car bomb was later discovered in Spain. In 1991, the British Army effectively withdrew from Gibraltar, leaving only the locally recruited Royal Gibraltar Regiment, although the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy remain.
Spain has made various proposals involving the sovereignty of Gibraltar, which have been rejected by all parties in the Gibraltar House of Assembly. These have involved either joint sovereignty over Gibraltar with the UK, in which the Rock would become a condominium, or full sovereignty, under which it would become an autonomous region , similar to Catalonia or the Basque Country. In 1997, the Spanish Foreign Minister, Abel Matutes made a proposal in which Gibraltar would be under joint sovereignty for fifty years, before being fully incorporated into Spain, but the British government rejected the idea.
In 2001, the British Government announced plans to reach a final agreement with Spain over the future of Gibraltar, which would involve shared sovereignty, but this was decisively rejected in November 2002 when over 98% of the electorate voted against joint sovereignty between the UK and Spain.

Spanish Succession Peace 
Britain began to get cold feet, too, as an over-decisive victory for Austria would be almost as bad for their interests as one for the French and Spanish. Marlborough fell out of grace with the English (or rather, now, British) crown and with the new Tory government and was recalled. Peace negotiations with France led to the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, in which England, Holland, and France ceased fighting with one another, and Great Britain left the Catalans alone to fight for themselves.
In 1714, September 11, Barcelona surrendered to the Borbonic army after a long siege. The Franco-Austrian hostilities lumbered on until September 1714, before the signing of the Treaty of Baden. With the Peace of Utrecht, the wars to prevent French hegemony that had dominated the 17th century were over for the time being. Philip became the Spanish king, but was removed from the French succession. Louis XIV also agreed to stop supporting the Stuart claim to the throne of England.
The Spanish Netherlands, Naples, and Milan were ceded to Austria; Sicily (replaced by Sardinia in 1720) was ceded to Savoy; Britain was given the exclusive right to slave trading in Spanish America; Gibraltar and Minorca were transferred from Spain to the UK; and a variety of French colonial possessions were given to Britain. In 1715 the Bourbon king Philip V of Spain abolished the constitutions of Kingdom of Valencia and Principality of Catalonia with the Decreto de Nueva Planta.

War of the Spanish Succession
Course of the War
There were two main theaters of the war in Europe: Spain itself and West-Central Europe, especially the Low Countries (although there was also important fighting in Italy and Germany). The latter proved the more important, as Eugene and the English commander, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough distinguished themselves as military commanders. At first, France was successful in the Alsace, and threatened the Austrian capital, but the two generals managed to link up in Bavaria and won the Battle of Blenheim. France’s trans-Rhine ambitions were crushed, and the French were forced into a defensive posture. Bavaria was knocked out of the war, and Portugal and Savoy changed sides.

In Spain, Valencia and Catalonia switched side in favour of the Austrian pretender, Charles. A British fleet, sent to support Catalans, captured Gibraltar, a possession they held throughout the Siege of Gibraltar and hold to this day. Marlborough and Eugene split forces again, with the former going to the Netherlands, and the latter to Italy. Over the next two years, each drove the French back from those territories, with Marlborough winning the notable Battle of Ramillies.
In 1707, April 25, Batle of Almansa (Valencian country) Austriacist army was defeated by the Borbonic army. Then the war in Spain settled into indecisive skirmishing from which it would not emerge. The French fought back, and managed to stall Eugene’s invasion into the south of the country, and Marlborough got caught up in an endless succession of fortresses in and around Flanders. In 1708, Eugene and Marlborough once again managed to link up, and defeated the French again at the Battle of Oudenarde. An attempt to march on Paris resulted in the Battle of Malplaquet, which was won by the two generals but at such a cost to their forces that this final invasion had to be called off.


War of the Spanish Succession
Origin of the War of Spanish Succession
King Charles II of Spain was an invalid from a very young age, and it was clear that he would never produce an heir. The issue of who would rule the Spanish kingdoms after his death became quite contentious. Through his mother Maria Theresa of Spain, an older sister of Charles II, the Dauphin, only legitimate son of Louis XIV, was the most direct heir, but he was a problematic choice: as the heir to the French throne, if he gained both crowns, it would amount to an annexation of Spain and her vast colonial empire by France, at a time when France was already powerful enough to threaten the European balance of power.
The alternative candidates were Emperor Leopold I, a first cousin of the late king and Electoral Prince Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria. The former presented similarly formidable problems, for Leopold’s success would have reunited the powerful Spanish-Austrian Habsburg empire of the 16th century. Although Leopold and Louis were both willing to defer their claims to a younger line of their family - Leopold to his younger son Archduke Charles and Louis to the Dauphin’s younger son, the Duc d’Anjou, the Bavarian prince remained a less threatening candidate. As a result, Joseph Ferdinand was the favored choice of England and the Netherlands.
The War of the Grand Alliance, with essentially the same groupings of countries fighting over different issues, had come to an end just as the Spanish succession was becoming critical. War exhaustion led England and France to agree on the First Partition Treaty, which designated Joseph Ferdinand as heir, in return for which the Dauphin and Archduke Charles received territory in Italy.
Joseph Ferdinand died abruptly the next year, which led to the Second Partition Treaty. Under the terms of that agreement, Charles was to become heir, but the Italian territories that had been parcelled out amongst the two men would now go entirely to France. While France, The Netherlands, and England were all happy with the new arrangement, Austria was not and vied for the entire Spanish inheritance. While the wrangling continued, Charles II unexpectedly spoke out and bequeathed his empire to Anjou, thus keeping the two thrones separate. Louis backed out of the treaty, his grandson was crowned King as Philip V, and the remaining interested parties acquiesced with misgivings.
Unfortunately, Louis overplayed his hand. He threatened a mercantilist policy in the Spanish/French dominions (thus cutting England and Holland off from Spanish trade) and recognized Philip as his heir, passing over the Dauphin and the Dauphin’s eldest son. In 1701, following the death of James II of England, a pensioner at Louis’ court, Louis recognized his son, James Francis Edward Stuart, the “Old Pretender", as King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, thus alienating the English. The war began slowly, with Austrian forces under Prince Eugene of Savoy invading the Spanish territories in Italy. France soon intervened, which in turn brought in England, Holland and most of the German states. Minor powers Bavaria, Portugal, and (perversely) Savoy sided with France and Spain.

Conquistadores
Conquistador means “Conqueror” in the Spanish language and is the term to refer to the soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain from the 15th to the 17th century. After the discoveries of Chrisopher Columbus had gained Spain a foothold in America, many expeditions were soon set out to conquer and evangelize the New World.
The leaders of those expeditions were called conquistadores, a name that denotes that they felt connected with the reconquista, the Christian reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from the Muslim Moors during 711 to 1492. The Conquistadores also evoked the name of Santiago Matamoros also called St. James the Moor-killer, before going into battle against the Indians, another connection with the reconquista. Many of the conquistadors were poor nobles or hidalgos looking forward to make fortune in the Indies since they couldn’t in Europe.
The first Spanish conquest in the Americas was the island of Hispaniola. From there Juan Ponce de León conquered Puerto Rico and Diego Velasquez took Cuba. The first settlement on the mainland was Darién in Panama, settled by Vasco Nuñez de Balboa in 1512. The most successful conquistador was Hernán Cortés, who in 1520-1521, with Native American allies, overran the mighty Aztec empire, thus making Mexico (then called New Spain) a part of the Spanish empire. Of comparable importance was the conquest of the Inca empire by Francisco Pizarro.
After this, rumours of golden cities (Cibola in North America, El Dorado in South America), caused several more expeditions to be sent out, but many of those returned without having found their goal, or having found it, finding it much less valuable than was hoped. Some Spaniards, singularly the priest Bartolome de Las Casas defended Native Americans against of the abuses of conquistadors. Most of the conquistadors acted cruel towards the inhabitants of the regions they visited or conquered, killing, enslaving and otherwise abusing them. In 1542, New Spanish colonial laws were made to protect Indians. In 1552, Bartolomé de las Casas published “Short Account of the Destruction of the West Indies” (Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias), which was used by the other European colonial powers, rivals of Spain, in criticism of Spain’s role.

Treaty of Tordesillas
The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed at Tordesillas on June 7, 1494 divided the world outside of Europe in a exclusive duopoly between the Spanish and the Portuguese along a north-south meridian 370 leagues (1770 km) west of the Cape Verde Islands, roughly 46° 37′ W. The lands to the east would belong to Portugal and the lands to the west to Spain. The treaty was ratified by Spain, July 2, and by Portugal, September 5, 1494.
It was intended to resolve the dispute that had been created following the return of Christopher Columbus. In 1481 the papal Bull Aeterni regis had granted all land south of the Canary Islands to Portugal. In May 1493 The Spanish born Pope Alexander VI decreed in the Bull Inter caetera that all lands west of a meridian only 100 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands should belong to Spain while new lands discovered east of that line would belong to Portugal, although territory already under Christian rule would remain untouched. Naturally the Portuguese King John II was not happy, so he opened negotiations with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to move the line to the west, arguing that the meridian would extend all around the globe - limiting Spanish control in Asia. The treaty effectively countered the bull of Alexander VI but it was sanctioned by Pope Julius II in a new bull of 1506.
Very little of the newly divided area had actually been seen, as it was divided according to the treaty. Spain gained lands including all the Americas. Brazil, when it was discovered in 1500 by Pedro Alvarez Cabral, was granted to Portugal. Although the line extended into Asia, at the time accurate measurements of longitude was impossible so uncertainties arose. The line was not strictly enforced - the Spanish did not resist the Portuguese expansion of Brazil across the meridian.
The remaining exploring nations of Europe such as France, England, and the Netherlands were explicitly refused access to the new lands, leaving them only options like piracy, unless they (as they did later) rejected the papal authority to divide undiscovered countries. The view taken by the rulers of these nations is epitomised by the quotation attributed to Francis I of France demanding to be shown the clause in Adam’s will excluding his authority from the New World.
With the voyage around the globe of Magellan, a new dispute was born. Although both countries agreed that the line should be considered to be running around the globe, dividing the world in two equal halves, it was not clear where the line should be drawn on the other side of the world. In particular, both countries claimed that the Moluccas (important as a source of spices) lay in their half of the world. After new negotiations, the Treaty of Saragossa of April 22, 1529 decided that the line should lay 297.5 leagues west of the Moluccas. Spain got a monetary compensation in return.

Catholic Monarchs
Catholic monarchs or in Spanish “Reyes Católicos” was the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. Isabella and Ferdinand married in 1469. This marriage was uniting both crowns (Aragon and Castile) and created the kingdom of Spain. The nickname “Catholic Monarchs” refers to the extreme catholic views that Isabella and Ferdinand shared, which led them to expel the Moors from the Iberian Peninsula with the conquest of Granada and to force the conversion of thousands of Jews. The Inquisition was created by their royal decree. The title was bestowed on them by Pope Alexander VI.
Their joint motto was Tanto monta, monta tanto ("It amounts so, so it amounts"). Their symbol was el yugo y las flechas, a yoke and a fasces of arrows. The yoke is another allusion to the Gordian knot. Y and F are the initials of Ysabel (archaic spelling) and Fernando. This symbol was later used by the Spanish fascist party the Falange, which claimed the glory and the ideals of the Reyes Católicos. 

El Cid Campeador 
El Cid Campeador, is the name commonly used for the Spanish knight and hero, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar. El Cid was born in Vivar, Burgos, around AD 1045, and he died in Valencia, in July AD 1099. Born a lower nobleman, Although his mother was a close relative of King Alfonso VI of Castile, he was regarded as a lower nobleman. hHis accomplishments as an adult earned him a standing equal to noblemen of higher birth, which brought him a lots of resentment. Don Rodrigo’s life was filled with adventure, which has made him a popular subject for many writers and has led to his status as a legendary figure.
El Cid was sent unfairly into exile twice by the King of Castile, who took away his property and illegally imprisoned his wife and daughters due to palace intrigues. The tale of his journey into exile is told in “Cantar de Mio Cid", a cantar de gesta epic appearing shortly after his death; he reportedly marched stoically into exile with his soldiers and servants, and with tears in his eyes. He never fought back against his king as an exiled lord, which by law would have been his right. Instead, he made his living as a mercenary in the Reconquista wars. He served loyal and respectfully to some of the taifa rulers of Medieval Spain. The Moors respected and admired him, calling him “Al Sayiddi” (The welcome one) and “Sidi” (sir) which is the origin of his nickname, “El Cid".
He was a cultivated man, having served the king as a judge. He kept in life a personal archive with copies of the letters he mailed and important diplomas he signed as part of his cooperation in the king’s administration. During his campaigns he often ordered that books by classic Roman and Greek authors on military themes be read in loud voice to him and his troops, both for entertainment and inspiration during battle. El Cid’s army had a novel approach to planning strategy as well, holding what might be called brainstorming sessions before each battle to discuss tactics. They frequently used unexpected strategies, engaging in what modern generals would call psychological warfare — waiting for the enemy to be paralyzed with terror and then attacking them suddenly, distracting the enemy with a small group of soldiers, etc. El Cid had a humble personality and frequently accepted or included suggestions from his troops. He remained open to input from his soldiers and to the possibility that he himself was capable of error.
El Cid’s sword “Tizona” can still be seen in the Army Museum (Museo del Ejército) in Madrid. Soon after his death it became one of the most precious possessions of the Castilian royal family. In 1999, a small sample of the blade was subjected to metallurgical analysis which partially confirmed its provenance as probably having been made in Moorish Cordoba in the eleventh century, although the report does not specify whether the larger-scale composition of the blade identifies it as Damascus steel.
Never once defeated in battle, El Cid is credited with having made a large contribution to the expulsion of Spain’s Islamic conquerors. He conquered many cities in the east of Spain, and finally Valencia. After capturing it, El Cid ruled the territory around this major city, establishing what could have been called a kingdom but which he always called part of Castile, declaring the territory as belonging to his king. There the king allowed him to meet his wife and daughters, and they lived there until his death.

Battle of Guadalete 
The Battle of Guadalete took place July 19, 711 at the Guadalete River in the extreme south of the Iberian peninsula. It represented a decisive defeat for the Visigothic king Roderic (or Rodrigo), who was killed, and a decisive victory for the Moslem forces that defeated him, 7000 Berbers led by Tariq ibn Ziyab. The governor of Northern Africa, Musa ibn Nusayr, who had sent Tariq, followed the next year with an army of 18,000. The Moors proceeded to conquer most of the Iberian peninsula within the next five years.
The Astures led by Pelayo oppose the new invador, escaping defeat thanks to a complex strategy at the battle of Cuadonga(718) which gave them victory, freeing Asturies from the Moslem yoke, and led to Pelayo’s coronation as king. Thus was born the Asturorum Regnum and it was at this point that the Astures began to evolve towards a superior social-state structure.

Visigothic Kingdom 
By the 5th century A.D., the Visigoths were already romanized people, who considered themselves the heirs of the defunct imperial power. In the middle of that century, the threefold pressures of the Suevi, from the west (Galicia), the Cantabrian-Pyrenaic herdsmen from the north and the Byzantines from the south, the Betica, forced them to establish their capital in Toledo, in the centre of the Peninsula. This decision had implications of great significance; in the first place, because, instead of an east-west delineation of the Peninsula, pivoting between Lisbon and Cartagena, a north-south delineation from Cantabria to the Strait of Gibraltar was created.
It was also significant because it constituted a first attempt at Peninsular unity idependent of the rest of the empire, and therefore the Visigoths have been considered, practically up to the present day, the creators of the first Peninsular kingdom, moreover the Visigothic kingdom would serve, time and again, as the source of legitimacy for any power which tried to unite Hispania, and thirdly, because the Pyrenees and Gibraltar, no longer considered mere places of passage or points within a larger imperial circuit, became the limits or frontiers of a state to be defended.
The Visigoths defended themselves well against the Suevi in Galicia and subdued them in the 6th century A.D.; however, in the north, the Basques, Cantabrians and Asturians were more successful in resisting the Visigoth onslaught than they had been in resisting the Romans, and were almost as adept as they would be against the Moors. The Betica, from the 6th to the 11th century A.D., constituted an exception within western Europe. Facinf a continental Europe which was increasingly closed and fragmented, it would maintain its urban culture and its commercial and cultural connections within the Mediterranean domain; firstly, with the eastern Roman Empire, with Byzantium and later with the Muslim Caliphate.

Her Majesty the Queen
Dona SOFIA DE GRECIA Y HANNOVER was born in Athens on November 2nd, 1938. She was first born daugther of the King and Queen of Greece, Paul I and Federika. Her majesty’ family belongs to one of the oldest Royal Houses in Europe and is related to the Czars of Russia, the German Emperors and Queen Victoria of Great Britain.
Her Majesty spent part of her childhood in Egypt and South Africa, as her family was obliged to go into exile during the Second World War. She returned to her country in 1946, completed her education at the prestigious German boarding school of Schloss Salem, and, having returned to Athens, specialized in paediatrics, music and archaelogy. She took part as a reserve for the Greek sailing team in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
On May 14th 1962 she married Prince Juan Carlos de Borbon y Borbon, and in subsequent years her three children were born: Infanta Elena on December 20th, 1963, Infanta Cristina on June 13th, 1965, and Prince Felipe on January 30th, 1968.
In addition to taking part in institutional events, the Queen devotes a great deal of attention to social and charity activities. She is the executive president of the Queen Sofia Foundation, and honorary president of the Royal Board on Education and Care of Handicapped Persons, and the Foundation for Aid for Drug Addicts.

Romans in Iberia

 

The presence of the romans in Spain began about 200 B.C. with the battle of controling the western Mediterranean Sea. The iberic peninsula was very popular because of it’s ideal geographic position between the Atlantic and the Mediteranean Sea and also it’s agriculture and mineral in the southern part of the country. The Roman conquest of the peninsula lasted from 218 till 15 B.C. 

Important dates are:
200 B. C.
Rome conquered and colonialized Spain. The roman language, the roman civilization and later also Christianity were introduced. The Romans called their first two provinces outside Italy Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior (197 B.C.). 
154 - 133 B. C.
Rebellions of the Celtibers (Viriatus and the Lusitans), who refused to surrender to the Romans, against Rome. 
27 B. C. 
Romans made peace between the different cultures at the island and divided it into 3 provinces: Tarraconense, Baetica and Lusitana. The Roman presence in Hispania lasted 7 centuries. In this period of time the borderline to other European countries was formed. The Romans didn´t only leave the administration of the state, but also their administration of the town. This meant a big change, that finally put the peninsula into a Greek-Latin oriented and later into a Jewish-Christian oriented world.
98 A. C. 
Beginning of the government of Trajan, the first Roman emperor of Spanish origin.
264 A. C. 
Alemannics and Suebs entered the country by force and occupied Tarragona. 
411 A. C.
The barbaric tribes signed an alliance with Rome which allowed them to establish military colonies in Spain. 
568-586 A. C.
The Westgothic king Leovigild tried to unite the island. That was the end of the Roman empire in Spain. Now it was ruled by Westgothics and Suebs. 
711 A. C.
The Arabs defeated the Westgothics and Suebs at Xeres de la Frontera. Begin of the arabic rule in Spain.

The History of Arabs in Spain

 

The Arabs came first in the year AD 711 to Spain and conquered Toledo and Córdoba. It took only seven years and the hispanic peninsula belonged to the Arabs except a small part in the north. During this time the Arabian Spain were called Al-Andalus and Córdoba was its centre.
Christians learned the Arabian language, therefor those Christians in Al-Andalus were given the Arabian expression “Musta’Ribun”. This was the reason that the Arabian language became also the language of Non-Arab’s in Spain. In spite of the safety, which the Non-Arabs in Arabian Spain had, did many convert to the Arabian belief and became the same rights as the native Arabs.
The Arabs brought with them their knowledge and know-how, which was very helpful for the country’s development. Their irrigation system for example made the fields fertile, which raised agriculture to the highest standard in europe at that time. Plants were imported, such as oranges from Persia just to name one. Another important aspect for the economy was the export of leather, ceramic, paper and material, which had been luxury products in Europe, because they hadn’t had the superior knowledge of the Arabs at the time. There were not only important Islamic scientists, but also the Non-Arabian scientists were supported on the Iberian peninsula.
What the Muslims on the Iberian Peninsula had so laboriously developed, was unfortunately damaged by the reconquest. In AD 722 the Muslims suffered a defeat in Covadonga, which is considered the beginning of the reconquest. Outside of Asturias further Christian realms were formed, which were expanding more and more to the south. When the Christian realms in the north noticed the fact that the Islamic area was weakened by discrepancies among the Muslims, they saw their chance come for the reconquest.
In the year AD 1085 the Christians took Toledo again, which signified an enormous defeat for the Muslims. Since that time the Muslims had to hand over more and more areas. After years of war the Muslims had to surrender Granada in 1492; thereby the reconquest was said to be completed. With the defeat of the Islamic rule the high scientific levels created by the Muslims could not be maintained, which had catastrophic consequences for the country.
The spain of the Muslims changed completely in the hands of the Christians. They were not capable of keeping the irrigation systems in good condition not to speak of constructing new irrigation canals, so that the once fertile land became deserted. The Christian conquerors were also not able to achieve something similar in scientific areas as their hated enemies, the Muslims. The Universities were run-down and the cities impoverished, so that the country lost its attraction.
The new rulers tried first to hold on to the coexistence of the religions like the Islamic model. Thus for instance the free practice of their faith was contractually assured to the Muslims after the defeat of Granada. What had, theoretically been fixed on the paper, however could not been found in practice. Under Isabella’s and Ferdinand’s order Ximénez had to force the Muslim population to convert and the Arabic language as colloquial language was forbidden. When the Muslims refused to comply, innumerable Muslims were killed and the mosques were set on fire. The government reacted to this resistance by setting a deadline, by which they either had to convert to the Christian faith or to leave the country, leaving all their property to the church. In fact they only had the choice between baptism and death, because they were only allowed to leave the country by a payment of a certain sum.
 more to follow.......