OBJECTIVES
This Course will explore the role played by Christians, Moslems, and Jews in the creation of Medieval Spain from the time of the Islamic Invasion of 711, through the emergence of the Frontier and its territorial evolution, to the period of the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, including the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the End of Tolerance, and the Conquest of the Kingdom of Granada in 1492. Likewise, an analysis will be carried out of the fundamental characteristics of the coexistence of these three civilizations in terms of the problems derived therefrom, and in terms of the socio-cultural relations and different mind-sets affecting everyday life.
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Explanations of the subject-content of the syllabus will be linked to practical and theoretical sessions involving attention to the commentary of maps and historical documents. Brief class tests will also be held, while specific assignment results and set readings will also contribute to grading.
Moreover, practical classes will also include planned visits to places of historical and artistic interest in Sevilla related to the period under study (the Jewish Quarter, the Alcázar Palace and the Cathedral).
SYLLABUS
A. ON THE EDGE OF ISLAM. THE CREATION OF MEDIEVAL SPAIN.
1. The Birth and Splendor of Al-Andalus: the Cultural and Political Dominion of the Omeya State (from the Eighth to the Eleventh Centuries).
2. The Nuclei of Hispano-Christian Resistance: the Political Weakness of the Northern Kingdoms and Dukedoms (from the Eighth to the Eleventh Centuries).
3. The Taifas Kingdoms and the Division of Al-Andalus. The Empires of North Africa: Almoravides and Almohades (from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries).
4. The Territorial Expansion of the Christian Kingdoms: The Reconquest and the ‘Frontier’ of Islam (from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries).
5. The Kingdom of Granada. The End of the Reconquest and of Medieval Spain as ‘Frontier’ (from the Fourteenth to the Fifteenth Centuries).
6. The Processes involving the Repopulation, the Occupation, and the Defence of the Conquered Territory. The Frontier as Way of Life: Factors of Equality, and of Social and Economic Development.
B. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COEXISTENCE OF THE THREE CULTURES. FROM TOLERANCE TO EXPULSION.
7. The Difficulties of Living Together and the Case of Ethnic-Religious Minorities: Tolerance, Alienation, and Coexistence in Medieval Spain.
8. Christians and Jews in Al-Andalus: the Mozarabic Population (from the Eighth to the Thirteenth Centuries).
9. Moslems and Jews within the Christian Kingdoms. The Mudejar Population. The Beginnings of Anti-Jewish Feeling (from the Thirteenth to the Fifteenth Centuries).
10. The End of Tolerance. The Attacks upon Jewish Quarters. The Issue of Jewish and Moslem Converts. The Inquisition. The Expulsion of Spanish Jews (from the Fourteenth to the Fifteenth Centuries).
BASIC BIBLIOGRAPHY
• E. MITRE: La España Medieval. Madrid, 1979.
• MACKAY: La España de la Edad Media. Desde la Frontera al Imperio. Madrid, 1980.
• M. WATT: Historia de la España Islámica. Madrid, 1970.
• G. JACKSON: Introducción a la España Medieval. Madrid, 1978.
• M.A. LADERO QUESADA: Granada. Historia de un país islámico. Madrid, 1989.
• M.G. JIMÉNEZ: Andalucía a debate. Sevilla, 1994.
• L. SUÁREZ FERNÁNDEZ: Los judíos españoles en la Edad Media. Madrid, 1980.
• DOMÍNGUEZ ORTÍZ: Historia de los moriscos. Vida y tragedia de una minoría. Madrid, 1978.
• DOMÍNGUEZ ORTÍZ: Los judeos conversos en España y América. Madrid, 1971.
• E. BENITO RUANO: Los orígenes del problema converso. Madrid, 1976.
• H. KAMEN: La Inquisición española. Barcelona, 1965.
• M.A. LADERO QUESADA: Los mudéjares de Castilla. Granad, 1989.
• J. ÁNGEL GARCÍA DE CORTÁZAR: Historia de España. La época medieval. Madrid, 1989.
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