1.
Flag of Asturias
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The flag of Asturias shows the Cruz de la Victoria in yellow over blue. The origin of the flag of Asturias is in 1808, during the Peninsular War, as there was not any Spanish national flag yet, Asturians created the current flag, without any separatist intention in the war against the Napoleons empire. In its first version, it included the motto Asturias jamás vencida, according to the tradition, the Victory Cross was carried by Pelagius, first King of Asturias, in the decisive Battle of Covadonga against the Moors in 722. However, there is not any evidence about the use of this cross. In 908 the Asturian King Alfonso III the Great ordered that the wooden cross, made of oak, be clad in gold. Currently, it is kept in the Holy Chamber of the Oviedo Cathedral, the Greek letters Alpha and Omega hang from its horizontal axis. This is a reference to the Book of Revelation. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. Law 4/1990 of December 19, about the flag of the Principality of Asturias Asturias flag at Vexilologia. org
2.
Oviedo
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Oviedo is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality contains the city. Oviedo is located approximately 20 km to 25 km south of neighbouring cities Gijón and Avilés and its proximity to the ocean causes Oviedo to have a maritime climate, in spite of it not being located on the shoreline itself. The Kingdom of Asturias began in 720, with a Visigothic Aristocrat Pelagiuss revolt against the Muslims occupying most of Spain at the time, the Moorish invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 711 took control of most of the peninsula until the revolt in the northern mountains by Pelagius. The resulting Kingdom of Asturias, located in a poor region of the peninsula, was largely ignored by the Muslims. In 720, the area where Oviedo was located was still uninhabited and it is said that two monks, Máximo and Fromestano, founded the city in 761. That settlement was soon to be completed with the construction of a church dedicated to Saint Vincent. Oviedo was established on a hillside, with no Visigothic or Roman foundation before it became an Asturian city. Following Pelagius, who died in 737, Alfonso I founded a dynasty that would last until 1037, the Asturian Kingdom was on hostile terms with southern Moorish Spain. In 794, Oviedo was sacked and pillaged by Caliph Hisham I in one of his numerous campaigns against the Christian kingdoms. King Alfonso I is said to have set in place the order of the Goths, as it had been in Toledo. The intention with Oviedo was to shape it into a city similar to that of Visigothic Toledo, once kings had settled in Oviedo, they adopted as much of the architectural style and imagery of Toledo. Even with this in mind, Oviedo did not necessarily resemble the old Visigothic capital in Toledo, the churches and buildings of Oviedo follow instead late provincial Roman tradition. Since Asturias at the time was a poor area of Spain the scale of the buildings is quite impressive. Oviedo’s rich architectural tradition began with King Fruela I, King Fruela I of Asturias, the fourth of the Asturian monarchs, was the first decided promoter of the city as may be witnessed by his construction of both a palace and a nearby church. This church was restored by Alfonso II. Also constructed during Alfonso IIs reign was the San Julian de los Prados church, Alfonso IIs successor, Ramiro I, continued Alfonso IIs construction streak. Ramiro I constructed two buildings, the Church Santa Maria del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo, the Church Santa Maria de Naranco was likely to originally be Ramiro Is palace and later changed into a church
3.
Latin
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Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
4.
Vulgar Latin
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Vulgar Latin or Sermo Vulgaris is a generic term for the nonstandard sociolects of Latin from which the Romance languages developed. Works written in Latin during classical times used Classical Latin rather than Vulgar Latin, because of its nonstandard nature, Vulgar Latin had no official orthography. Vulgar Latin is sometimes also called colloquial Latin, or Common Romance, in Renaissance Latin, Vulgar Latin was called vulgare Latinum or Latinum vulgare. The term common speech, which later became Vulgar Latin, was used by inhabitants of the Roman Empire, traces of their language appear in some inscriptions, such as graffiti or advertisements. The educated population mainly responsible for Classical Latin might also have spoken Vulgar Latin in certain contexts depending on their socioeconomic background, the term was first used improperly in that sense by the pioneers of Romance-language philology, François Juste Marie Raynouard and Friedrich Christian Diez. These terms, as he points out later in the work, are a translation into German of Dantes vulgare latinum and Latinum vulgare, and these names in turn are at the end of a tradition extending to the Roman republic. Latin could be sermo Latinus, but in addition was a variety known as sermo vulgaris, sermo vulgi, sermo plebeius and these modifiers inform post-classical readers that a conversational Latin existed, which was used by the masses in daily speaking and was perceived as lower-class. These vocabulary items manifest no opposition to the written language, there was an opposition to higher-class, or family Latin in sermo familiaris and very rarely literature might be termed sermo nobilis. The supposed sermo classicus is a scholarly fiction unattested in the dictionary, all kinds of sermo were spoken only, not written. If one wanted to refer to what in post-classical times was called classical Latin one resorted to the concept of latinitas or latine. If one spoke in the lingua or sermo Latinus one merely spoke Latin, but if one spoke latine or latinius one spoke good Latin, and formal Latin had latinitas, the original opposition was between formal or implied good Latin and informal or Vulgar Latin. The spoken/written dichotomy is entirely philological, although making it clear that sermo vulgaris existed, the ancients said very little about it. Because it was not transcribed, it can only be studied indirectly, knowledge comes from these chief sources, Solecisms, especially in Late Latin texts. Mention of it by ancient grammarians, including prescriptive grammar texts from the Late Latin period condemning linguistic errors that represent spoken Latin, the comparative method, which reconstructs Proto-Romance, a hypothetical vernacular proto-language from which the Romance languages descended. The original written Latin language was adapted from the spoken language of the Latins, with some minor modifications. As with many languages, over time the spoken language diverged from the written language with the written language remaining somewhat static. Nevertheless, during the period spoken Latin still remained largely common across the Empire. The collapse of the Western Roman Empire rapidly began to change this, the former western provinces became increasingly isolated from the Eastern Roman Empire leading to a rapid divergence in the Latin spoken on either side
5.
Astur-Leonese linguistic group
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This is the area with most speakers left. Leonese, llionés, encompassing the vernaculars spoken in northern and western parts of the province of León, the distinction between Asturian and Leonese cannot be made in purely linguistic terms. Leonese was spoken in the past in a larger area, however. In addition, Cantabrian, cántabru, encompassing the vernaculars spoken in Cantabria, some of them, especially western ones, are further grouped with the traditional name montañés while eastern ones are included in pasiegu. There are different positions about whether these varieties are dialects of the Spanish language, the Extremaduran language, estremeñu, spoken in northwestern Extremadura is more distantly related to the group. Leonese was once regarded as a dialect of Spanish, but in 1906. Leonese is officially recognised by the Autonomous Community of Castile and León, in Asturias it is protected under the Autonomous Statute legislation and is an optional language at schools, where it is widely studied. Initially thought to be a basilect of Portuguese, José Leite de Vasconcelos studied Mirandese, the language developed from Vulgar Latin with contributions from the pre-Roman languages which were spoken in the territory of the Astures, an ancient tribe of the Iberian peninsula. Castilian came to the later in the 14th century when the central administration sent emissaries and functionaries to occupy political and ecclesiastical offices. Much effort has made since 1974 to protect and promote Asturian. In 1981 Asturian, or Bable, as the language is named, was recognized as an area in need of special protection by the local government. In 1994 there were 100,000 first language speakers and 450,000 second language speakers able to speak or understand Asturian, however, the outlook for Asturian remains critical, with a large decline in the number of speakers in the last 100 years. A new generation of Asturian writers has championed the language and these developments have given Asturian greater hope of survival. Leonese was probably spoken in a larger area in the Middle Ages. As the Castilian language became the language in Spain, the linguistic features of the Leonese language retreated progressively westwards. In the late 1990s several associations unofficially promoted Leonese language courses, in 2001 the Universidad de León created a course for Leonese teachers, and local and provincial governments developed Leonese language courses for adults. Nowadays Leonese can be studied in the largest towns of León, Zamora, leoneses desperate reality as a minority language has driven it to an apparent dead end, and it is considered a Seriously Endangered Language by UNESCO. There are some efforts at language revival aimed at the urban population, some experts think Leonese will be dead in two generations
6.
Spanish language
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Spanish —also called Castilian —is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain, with hundreds of millions of native speakers around the world. It is usually considered the worlds second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese and it is one of the few languages to use inverted question and exclamation marks. Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Beginning in the early 16th century, Spanish was taken to the colonies of the Spanish Empire, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa, Oceania, around 75% of modern Spanish is derived from Latin. Greek has also contributed substantially to Spanish vocabulary, especially through Latin, Spanish vocabulary has been in contact from an early date with Arabic, having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula. With around 8% of its vocabulary being Arabic in origin, this language is the second most important influence after Latin and it has also been influenced by Basque as well as by neighboring Ibero-Romance languages. It also adopted words from languages such as Gothic language from the Visigoths in which many Spanish names and surnames have a Visigothic origin. Spanish is one of the six languages of the United Nations. It is the language in the world by the number of people who speak it as a mother tongue, after Mandarin Chinese. It is estimated more than 437 million people speak Spanish as a native language. Spanish is the official or national language in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, speakers in the Americas total some 418 million. In the European Union, Spanish is the tongue of 8% of the population. Spanish is the most popular second language learned in the United States, in 2011 it was estimated by the American Community Survey that of the 55 million Hispanic United States residents who are five years of age and over,38 million speak Spanish at home. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the language of the whole Spanish State in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas. Article III reads as follows, El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado, las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas. Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State, the other Spanish languages as well shall be official in their respective Autonomous Communities. The Spanish Royal Academy, on the hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. Two etymologies for español have been suggested, the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary derives the term from the Provençal word espaignol, and that in turn from the Medieval Latin word Hispaniolus, from—or pertaining to—Hispania
7.
Galician-Portuguese
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Galician-Portuguese, also known as Old Portuguese or Medieval Galician, was a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Middle Ages, in the northwest area of the Iberian Peninsula. Alternatively, it can be considered a period of the Galician. It is the ancestor of modern Portuguese, Galician, Eonavian. The term Galician-Portuguese also designates the subdivision of the modern West Iberian group of Romance languages, in general, the more cultivated variety of Latin spoken by the Hispano-Roman elites in Roman Hispania had a peculiar regional accent, referred to as Hispano ore and agrestius pronuntians. The more cultivated variety of Latin coexisted with the popular variety and it is believed that by 600, Vulgar Latin was no longer spoken in the Iberian Peninsula. An early form of Galician-Portuguese was already spoken in the Kingdom of the Suebi, the first known phonetic changes in Vulgar Latin, which began the evolution to Galician-Portuguese, took place during the rule of the Germanic groups, the Suebi and Visigoths. And the Galician-Portuguese inflected infinitive and the vowels may have evolved under the influence of local Celtic languages. The nasal vowels would thus be a characteristic of the Vulgar Latin spoken in Roman Gallaecia. The oldest known document to contain Galician-Portuguese words, found in northern Portugal, is called the Doação à Igreja de Sozello and dated to 870 but otherwise composed in Late/Middle Latin. Another document, from 882, also containing some Galician-Portuguese words is the Carta de dotação e fundação da Igreja de S. Miguel de Lardosa, in fact, many Latin documents written in Portuguese territory contain Romance forms. The Notícia de fiadores, written in 1175, is thought by some to be the oldest known document written in Galician-Portuguese, the Noticia de Torto, of uncertain date, and the Testamento de D. Afonso II are most certainly Galician-Portuguese. The earliest poetic texts date from c.1195 to c, thus, by the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th there are documents in prose and verse written in the local Romance vernacular. Over 160 poets are recorded, among them Bernal de Bonaval, Pero da Ponte, Johan Garcia de Guilhade, Johan Airas de Santiago, the main secular poetic genres were the cantigas damor, the cantigas damigo and the cantigas descarnho e de mal dizer. All told, nearly 1,700 poems survive in three genres, and there is a corpus of over 400 cantigas de Santa Maria. The Castilian king Alfonso X composed his cantigas de Santa Maria and his cantigas de escárnio e maldizer in Galician-Portuguese, King Dinis of Portugal, who also contributed to the secular poetic genres, made the language official in Portugal in 1290. Until then, Latin had been the language for royal documents. Galician-Portuguese and português arcaico are modern terms for the ancestor of modern Portuguese. Compared to the differences in Ancient Greek dialects, the differences between 13th-century Portuguese and Galician are trivial
8.
Gothic language
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Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the Codex Argenteus, a copy of a fourth-century Bible translation. As a Germanic language, Gothic is a part of the Indo-European language family and it is the earliest Germanic language that is attested in any sizable texts, but it lacks any modern descendants. The oldest documents in Gothic date back to the fourth century, the language was in decline by the mid-sixth century, partly because of the military defeat of the Goths at the hands of the Franks, the elimination of the Goths in Italy, and geographic isolation. Gothic-seeming terms found in manuscripts may or may not belong to the same language. The existence of such early attested texts makes it a language of considerable interest in comparative linguistics, only a few documents in Gothic survive, not enough for completely reconstructing the language. That is especially true considering that most Gothic corpora are translations or glosses of other languages and he commissioned a translation of the Greek Bible into the Gothic language, of which roughly three-quarters of the New Testament and some fragments of the Old Testament have survived. It contains a part of the four Gospels. Since it is a translation from Greek, the language of the Codex Argenteus is replete with borrowed Greek words, the syntax in particular is often copied directly from the Greek. Codex Ambrosianus and the Codex Taurinensis, Five parts, totaling 193 leaves It contains scattered passages from the New Testament, of the Old Testament, the text likely had been somewhat modified by copyists. Codex Gissensis, One leaf, fragments of Luke 23–24 was found in Egypt in 1907 and was destroyed by damage in 1945. Several names in an Indian inscription were thought to be possibly Gothic by Krause, busbecqs material also contains many puzzles and enigmas and is difficult to interpret in the light of comparative Germanic linguistics. Reports of the discovery of parts of Ulfilas Bible have not been substantiated. Heinrich May in 1968 claimed to have found in England 12 leaves of a palimpsest containing parts of the Gospel of Matthew, only fragments of the Gothic translation of the Bible have been preserved. The translation was apparently done in the Balkans region by people in contact with Greek Christian culture. The Gothic Bible apparently was used by the Visigoths in Iberia until about 700 AD, and perhaps for a time in Italy, the Balkans, in exterminating Arianism, many texts in Gothic were probably expunged and overwritten as palimpsests or collected and burned. Very few secondary sources make reference to the Gothic language after about 800, some writers even referred to Slavic-speaking people as Goths. However, it is clear from Ulfilas translation that despite some puzzles the language belongs with the Germanic language group, the relationship between the language of the Crimean Goths and Ulfilass Gothic is less clear
9.
Vandalic language
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Vandalic was a Germanic language probably closely related to Gothic. The Vandals, Hasdingi and Silingi established themselves in Gallaecia and in southern Spain, by the first century AD, the writings of Pomponius Mela, Pliny the Elder, and Tacitus indicate a division of Germanic-speaking peoples into large groupings who shared ancestry and culture. Very little is known about the Vandalic language other than various phrases, the regional name Andalusia is believed to be derived from the Vandals, according to the traditional view. When the Moors invaded and occupied Spain from the 8th century to the end of the 15th, in one inscription from the Vandal Kingdom, the Christian incantation of Kyrie eleison is given in Vandalic as Froia arme. The fragment reads, Inter eils Goticum scapia matzia ia drincan, non audet quisquam dignos educere versus. Lets get eat and drink nobody dares to put forth decent verses, another Vandalic phrase is found in Collatio Beati Augustini cum Pascentio ariano 15 by Pseudo-Augustine, Froja armes, Lord, have mercy. Other surviving Vandalic words are Baudus, master and Vandalirice, King of the Vandals, the phonological features of Vandalic are similar to the ones of Gothic. The Proto-Germanic long vowel *ē is often preserved in Vandalic names, the Proto-Germanic *z is also preserved in the language but is written as s in the Latin names. Proto-Germanic *ō turns into /u/ in Vandalic, Blumarit, Vilimut, the Proto-Germanic diphthong *eu tends to remain the same in Vandalic, Theudo-, while it changes to /iu/ in Gothic. The original diphthong *ai is preserved as /ai/, but tends to become /ei/ later, the original h- was also lost early in Vandalic when compared to Proto-Germanic. When royal names are spelled on Vandal coins, a conservative and official spelling is used, the Proto-Germanic cluster *-ww- can be strengthened as -g-. The *-z is rendered both as -s and -x in Vandalic, some of the Vandalic names have a Romanized ending with -us. Vandalic also didnt have an Umlaut, which can be observed in names which contain the word *ari, in comparison to the Old English form here, which does show umlaut. The epithet Vandalirice could possibly mean that there existed a genitive plural ending -e, non-East Germanic languages like Old English and Old Norse had the genitive plural ending -a. Some of the names occur in other declinations. The genitive of *rith is ridos, the Proto-Germanic fricatives *þ and *ð often turned into t or d, but there are also some names in which they were retained. The original h- was also lost under Latin influence, though it was included in the spelling of some royal names on Vandalic coins. The initial Proto-Germanic *w- sometimes changed into, but, in instances, it is spelled as /v/
10.
Christianity
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Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
11.
Monarchy
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The actual power of the monarch may vary from purely symbolic, to partial and restricted, to completely autocratic. Traditionally and in most cases, the monarchs post is inherited and lasts until death or abdication, occasionally this might create a situation of rival claimants whose legitimacy is subject to effective election. Finally, there have been cases where the term of a reign is either fixed in years or continues until certain goals are achieved. Thus there are widely divergent structures and traditions defining monarchy, Monarchy was the most common form of government until the 19th century, but it is no longer prevalent. Currently,47 sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state,19 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognise Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. The monarchs of Cambodia, Japan, and Malaysia reign, the word monarch comes from the Greek language word μονάρχης, monárkhēs which referred to a single, at least nominally absolute ruler. In current usage the word usually refers to a traditional system of hereditary rule. Depending on the held by the monarch, a monarchy may be known as a kingdom, principality, duchy, grand duchy, empire, tsardom, emirate, sultanate, khaganate. The form of societal hierarchy known as chiefdom or tribal kingship is prehistoric, the Greek term monarchia is classical, used by Herodotus. The monarch in classical antiquity is often identified as king, the Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese monarchs continued to be considered living Gods into the modern period. Since antiquity, monarchy has contrasted with forms of democracy, where power is wielded by assemblies of free citizens. In antiquity, monarchies were abolished in favour of such assemblies in Rome, much of 19th century politics was characterised by the division between anti-monarchist Radicalism and monarchist Conservativism. Many countries abolished the monarchy in the 20th century and became republics, advocacy of republics is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchies is called monarchism. In the modern era, monarchies are more prevalent in small states than in large ones, most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, the centre of the royal household and court. Growing up in a family, future monarchs are often trained for the responsibilities of expected future rule. Different systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, and agnatic seniority. While most monarchs have been male, many female monarchs also have reigned in history, rule may be hereditary in practice without being considered a monarchy, such as that of family dictatorships or political families in many democracies. The principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the continuity of leadership
12.
Pelagius of Asturias
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Pelagius was a Visigothic nobleman who founded the Kingdom of Asturias, ruling it from 718 until his death. Through his victory at the Battle of Covadonga, he is credited with beginning the Reconquista and he established an independent Christian state in opposition to Moorish hegemony. The chief sources for Pelagiuss life and career are two Latin chronicles written in the ninth century in the kingdom he founded. The first is the Chronica Albeldensia, written at Albelda towards 881, the only likely earlier written sources from which these chroniclers could derive information are regnal lists. Pelagius was a Visigoth nobleman, the son of Fafila, the Chronica Albeldensis says that this Fafila was a dux of Gallaecia, who was killed by Wittiza. The Chronicle of Alfonso III identifies Pelagius as a grandson of Chindasuinth and says that his father was blinded in Córdoba, Wittiza is also said to have exiled Pelagius from Toledo upon assuming the crown in 702. In the opinion of Collins, all of this is a late tradition, if Munuzas seat is identified with Gijón, it may be inferred that the Arabs had established their rule in the Asturias and that Pelagius was not the leader of a local resistance to Arab conquest. At some point Pelagius is said to have rebelled, but for what reasons is unknown, a Muslim army was sent against him under the command of Alkama and the Christian bishop of Seville, Oppa. That Alkama was the general and that there was a bishop of Seville named Oppa among his ranks is generally accepted, a battle was fought near Covadonga in which Alkama was killed and Oppa captured. Moorish chronicles of the event describe Pelagius and his force as thirty wild donkeys. The battle is dated to 718 or 719, between the governorships of al-Hurr and as-Sham, though some have dated it as late as 722. After his election as princeps of the Asturians by the magnates in the Visigothic manner. The Chronica Rotensis says about this election, His kingdom, firstly centred on the eastern Asturias and he married his daughter Ermesinda to the future king Alfonso I, son of Pelagius eastern neighbour, Duke Peter of Cantabria. Pelagius reigned for eighteen or nineteen years until his death in 737 and he was buried in the church of Santa Eulalia de Abamia, located in the surroundings of the village of Corao, near Cangas de Onís. His remains were transferred by King Alfonso X of Castile to the Holy Cave of Covadonga, as were those of his wife Gaudiosa and his sister. He left, in addition to his son and successor Fafila, a daughter, Ermesinda, further reading Díaz y Díaz, Manuel C. Asturias en el siglo VIII, La cultura literaria, media related to Pelayo I of Asturias at Wikimedia Commons
13.
Fruela II of Asturias
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Fruela II was the King of Asturias from the death of his father, Alfonso III of Asturias, in 910 to his own death. When his father died, the kingdom was divided, with the son, Fruela, taking the original portion, the second, Ordoño, taking Galicia. As king of Asturias, he had the job of consolidating the region later called Castile, Fruelas mother was Jimena of Pamplona. He himself married twice, first to a woman of unknown origin named Nunila or Nunilona and his second wife, Urraca, according to Ibn Khaldun and Ibn Hazm, was the daughter of the Banu Qasi governor of Tudela. Fruela maintained good relations with his brother Ordoño, who had the hegemony and they cooperated in the Reconquista and Fruela undersigned Ordoños diplomas as Froila rex with his second wife, Urraca regina. When Ordoño died in 924, the magnates ignored his heirs, Fruela had never been popular with the nobles and his subjects and his election has been doubted by some, who see it as a likely usurpation. He assassinated Gebuldo and Aresindo, sons of Olmundo, who claimed descent from King Witiza, for this, one chronicler relates, he was condemned to a reign of only fourteen months. According to Ramón Menéndez Pidal, he exiled the bishop Frunimio of León, whatever the case, he did reign for a mere fourteen more months and died in early summer 925, some say after having contracted leprosy. Following Fruelas death, there were several competing claimants to his lands, including his younger brother Ramiro, there is some debate as to the immediate succession, although eventually his family lost out to that of brother Ordoño. According to the Bishop Pelayo, he left three sons by Nunila, Alfonso, Ordoño, and Ramiro, Ibn Khaldun gives Ordoño and Ramiro to Urraca and leaves open the possibility of other children by either wife. Genealogy Ni obtuvo gloria ni venció enemigo
14.
Battle of Covadonga
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The Battle of Covadonga was the first victory by Christendom military forces in Iberia since the Islamic conquest of Hispania in 711–718. It was fought at Covadonga, most likely in the summer of 722, as a result, the Battle of Covadonga has been credited by historians with catalyzing the Reconquista or the reconquest of Christian rule to the entire peninsula. According to texts written by Mozarabs in northern Iberia during the ninth century, from the beginning of the Muslim invasion of Iberia, refugees and combatants from the south of the peninsula had been moving north to avoid Islamic authority. Some had taken refuge in the mountains of Asturias in the northwestern part of the Iberian peninsula. There, from among the dispossessed of the south, Pelagius recruited his band of fighters and his first acts were to refuse to pay the Jizya to the Muslims any longer and to assault the small Umayyad garrisons that had been stationed in the area. Eventually, he managed to expel a provincial governor named Munuza from Asturias and he held the territory against a number of attempts to re-establish Muslim control, and soon founded the Kingdom of Asturias, which became a Christian stronghold against further Muslim expansion. For the first few years, this rebellion posed no threat to the new masters of Hispania, consequently, there was only a minor perfunctory reaction. Pelagius was not always able to keep the Muslims out of Asturias but neither could defeat him. Islamic forces were focused on raiding Narbonne and Gaul, and there was a shortage of manpower for putting down an insurrection in the mountains. Pelagius never attempted to force the issue, and it was a Umayyad defeat elsewhere that probably set the stage for the Battle of Covadonga. On July 9,721, a Muslim force that had crossed the Pyrenees and invaded the Kingdom of the Franks was defeated by them in the Battle of Toulouse and this was the first serious setback in the Muslim campaign in southwestern Europe. In 722, forces commanded by the Umayyad commanders Al Qama and Munuza, as Al Qama overran much of the region, folklore suggests that Oppas attempted to broker the surrender of his fellow Christians, but he failed in the effort. Pelagius may have had as few as three hundred men with him, Al Qama eventually arrived at Covadonga, and sent forward an envoy to convince Pelagius to surrender. He refused, so Al Qama ordered his best troops into the valley to fight, the Asturians opened fire from the slopes of the mountains, and then, at the climactic moment, Pelagius personally led some of his soldiers out into the valley. They had been hiding in a cave, unseen by the Muslims, the Christian accounts of the battle claim that the slaughter among the Muslims was horrific, while Umayyad accounts describe it as a mere skirmish. Al Qama himself fell in the battle, and his soldiers fled from the battlefield, in the aftermath of Pelagius victory, the people of the conquered villages of Asturias now emerged with their weapons, and killed hundreds of Al Qamas fleeing troops. Munuza, learning of the defeat, organized force. At some later date, he confronted Pelagius and his now greatly augmented force, again Pelagius won, and Munuza was killed in the fighting
15.
Visigothic Kingdom
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The Visigothic Kingdom or Kingdom of the Visigoths was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. The Kingdom maintained independence from the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, the kingdom of the 6th and 7th centuries is sometimes called the regnum Toletanum after the new capital of Toledo. The ethnic distinction between the indigenous Hispano-Roman population and the Visigoths had largely disappeared by this time, Liber Iudiciorum abolished the old tradition of having different laws for Romans and for Visigoths. Most of the Visigothic Kingdom was conquered by Arab Umayyad troops from North Africa in 711 AD and these gave birth to the medieval Kingdom of Asturias when a local landlord called Pelayo, most likely of Gothic origin, was elected Princeps by the Astures. The Visigoths also developed the influential law code known in Western Europe as the Liber Iudiciorum. From 407 to 409 AD, the Germanic Vandals, with the allied Alans and Suebi, crossed the frozen Rhine, for their part, the Visigoths under Alaric famously sacked Rome in 410, capturing Galla Placidia, the sister of Western Roman emperor Honorius. After he married Placidia, the Emperor Honorius enlisted him to provide Visigothic assistance in regaining nominal Roman control of Hispania from the Vandals, Alans and Suevi. In 418, Honorius rewarded his Visigothic federates under King Wallia by giving land in the Garonne valley of Gallia Aquitania on which to settle. This probably took place under hospitalitas, the rules for billeting army soldiers, the Visigoths with their capital at Toulouse, remained de facto independent, and soon began expanding into Roman territory at the expense of the feeble Western empire. Under Theodoric I, the Visigoths attacked Arles and Narbonne, but were checked by Flavius Aetius using Hunnic mercenaries, by 451, the situation had reversed and the Huns had invaded Gaul, now Theodoric fought under Aetius against Attila the Hun in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. Attila was driven back, but Theodoric was killed in the battle, the Vandals completed the conquest of North Africa when they took Carthage on October 19,439 and the Suevi had taken most of Hispania. The Roman emperor Avitus now sent the Visigoths into Hispania, Theodoric II invaded and defeated the King of the Suevi, Rechiarius, at the battle on the river Orbigo in 456 near Asturica Augusta and then sacked Bracara Augusta the Suevi capital. The Goths sacked the cities in Spain quite brutally, they massacred a portion of the population and even attacked some holy places, theoderic took control over Hispania Baetica, Carthaginiensis and southern Lusitania. In 461, the Goths received the city of Narbonne from the emperor Libius Severus in exchange for their support. This led to a revolt by the army and by Gallo-Romans under Aegidius, as a result, Romans under Severus and the Visigoths fought other Roman troops, in 466, Euric, who was the youngest son of Theodoric I, came to the Visigothic throne. He is infamous for murdering his elder brother Theodoric II who had become king by murdering his elder brother Thorismund. Under Euric, the Visigoths began expanding in Gaul and consolidating their presence in the Iberian peninsula, Euric fought a series of wars with the Suebi who retained some influence in Lusitania, and brought most of this region under Visigothic power, taking Emerita Augusta in 469. Euric also attacked the Western Roman Empire, capturing Hispania Tarraconensis in 472, by 476, he had extended his rule to the Rhone and the Loire rivers which comprised most of southern Gaul
16.
County of Portugal
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A larger entity under the same name was then reestablished in the late 11th century and lasted until the mid-12th century, when its count elevated it into an independent Portuguese kingdom. The history of the county of Portugal is traditionally dated from the reconquest of Portus Cale by Vímara Peres in 868 and he was named a count and given control of the frontier region between the Limia and Douro rivers by Alfonso III of Asturias. South of the Douro, another border county would be formed decades later when what would become the County of Coimbra was conquered from the Moors by Hermenegildo Gutiérrez. This moved the frontier away from the bounds of the county of Portugal. The recapture of Coimbra by Almanzor in 987 again placed the County of Portugal on the frontier of the Leonese state for most of the rest of the first countys existence. The regions to its south were only conquered in the reign of Ferdinand I of León and Castile, with Lamego falling in 1057, Viseu in 1058. It could have been this Count Gonzalo who assassinated Sancho I of León after inviting the King to a banquet, not all historians, however, believe that Gonzalo Menéndez was responsible for the kings death and some attribute the regicide to a contemporary count named Gonzalo Muñoz. In the late 960s Gonzalos lands were ravaged by Vikings, and in 968 and his son Menendo had close relations with Ramiros rival and successor, Bermudo II, being made the kings alférez and tutor of his son, the future king Alfonso V. Following Alfonsos succession, Menendo would serve as regent for the boy king, the former Kingdom of Galicia, then including modern Portugal as far south as Coimbra, was given by Alfonso VI as a county to his son-in-law Raymond of Burgundy. Its territory included much of the current Portuguese territory between the Minho River and the Tagus River, Count Henry continued the Reconquista in western Iberia and expanded his countys dominions. In 1111 the Muslims conquered Santarém, when Count Henry died in 1112, the population of the County of Portugal, including the powerful families, favored independence. Henrys widow, Theresa, took the reigns on behalf of her young son, however, she was defeated by Urraca in 1121 and forced to accept a position of feudal subservience to the Leonese state. Her own son, Afonso Henriques, took the reins of the government in 1128 after routing his mothers forces in the Battle of São Mamede, after this battle, he began to exhibit a seal with a cross and the word Portugal. He continued to win battles, supported by the nobles of Entre-Douro-e-Minho, eventually triumphing in the Battle of Ourique in 1139, also, he never used the title of count which would place him in a clear position of dependence vis-à-vis the king of León and Castile. It was finally in 1143 when his nominal overlord Alfonso VII of León, ricos-homens, infanções e cavaleiros, a nobreza medieval portuguesa nos séculos XI e XII. Serrão, Joel, Dicionário de História de Portugal Volume II Castanhoso-Fez, Portugal, Livraria Figueirinhas /Porto
17.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
18.
Portugal
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Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
19.
History of Spain
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The history of Spain dates back to the Early Middle Ages. In 1516, Habsburg Spain unified a number of disparate predecessor kingdoms, its form of a constitutional monarchy was introduced in 1813. After the completion of the Reconquista, the kingdoms of Spain were united under Habsburg rule in 1516, during this period, Spain was involved in all major European wars, including the Italian Wars, the Eighty Years War, the Thirty Years War, and the Franco-Spanish War. The former Spanish Empire overseas quickly disintegrated with the Latin American wars of independence, the war ended in a nationalist dictatorship, led by Francisco Franco, which controlled the Spanish government until 1975. The post-war decades were relatively stable, and the country experienced economic growth in the 1960s. Only with the death of Franco in 1975 did Spain return to Bourbon constitutional monarchy headed by Prince Juan Carlos, Spain entered the European Economic Community in 1986, and the Eurozone in 1999. The financial crisis of 2007–08 ended a decade of economic boom and Spain entered a recession and debt crisis and remains plagued by high unemployment. Spain is ranked as a middle power able to exert regional influence but unlike other powers with similar status it is not part of the G8, the Iberian Peninsula was first inhabited by anatomically modern humans about 32,000 years BP. Modern humans in the form of Cro-Magnons began arriving in the Iberian Peninsula from north of the Pyrenees some 35,000 years ago, the seafaring Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Greeks successively established trading settlements along the eastern and southern coast. The first Greek colonies, such as Emporion, were founded along the northeast coast in the 9th century BC, the Greeks are responsible for the name Iberia, apparently after the river Iber. In the 6th century BC, the Carthaginians arrived in Iberia, struggling first with the Greeks and their most important colony was Carthago Nova. The Celts mostly inhabited the inner and north-west part of the peninsula, in the inner part of the peninsula, where both groups were in contact, a mixed culture arose, the Celtiberians. The Celtiberian Wars were fought between the legions of the Roman Republic and the Celtiberian tribes of Hispania Citerior from 181 to 133 BC. The Roman conquest of the peninsula was completed in 19 BC, Hispania was the name used for the Iberian Peninsula under Roman rule from the 2nd century BC. The populations of the peninsula were gradually culturally Romanized, and local leaders were admitted into the Roman aristocratic class, the Romans improved existing cities, such as Tarragona, and established others like Zaragoza, Mérida, Valencia, León, Badajoz, and Palencia. The peninsulas economy expanded under Roman tutelage, Hispania supplied Rome with food, olive oil, wine and metal. The emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Theodosius I, the philosopher Seneca, and the poets Martial, Quintilian, hispanic bishops held the Council of Elvira around 306. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, parts of Hispania came under the control of the Germanic tribes of Vandals, Suebi, Spains present languages, its religion, and the basis of its laws originate from this period
20.
Prehistoric Iberia
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The prehistory of the Iberian Peninsula begins with the arrival of the first hominins 1.2 million years ago and ends with the Punic Wars, when the territory enters the domains of written history. Hominin inhabitation of the Iberian Peninsula dates from the Paleolithic, early hominin remains have been discovered at a number of sites on the peninsula. Significant evidence of an occupation of Iberia by Neanderthal man has also been discovered. Homo sapiens first entered Iberia towards the end of the Paleolithic, for a time Neanderthals and modern humans coexisted until the former were finally driven to extinction. Modern man continued to inhabit the peninsula through the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, many of the best preserved prehistoric remains are in the Atapuerca region, rich with limestone caves that have preserved a million years of human evolution. Among these sites is the cave of Gran Dolina, where six hominin skeletons, experts have debated whether these skeletons belong to the species Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, or a new species called Homo antecessor. In the Gran Dolina, investigators have found evidence of used to butcher animals and other hominins. Evidence of fire has also found at the site, suggesting they cooked their meat. Also in Atapuerca, is the site at Sima de los Huesos, excavators have found the remains of 30 hominins dated to about 400,000 years ago. The remains have been classified as Homo heidelbergensis and may be ancestors of the Neanderthals. No evidence of habitation has been found at the site except for one stone hand-ax, the age similarity suggests the remains were not the result of accidents. Around 200,000 BC, during the Lower Paleolithic period, around 70,000 BC, during the Middle Paleolithic period the last ice age began and the Neanderthal Mousterian culture was established. The Escoural Cave has evidence of human activity starting in the Middle Palaeolithic, around 35,000 BC, during the Upper Paleolithic, the Neanderthal Châtelperronian cultural period began. Emanating from Southern France this culture extended into Northern Iberia and this culture continued to exist until around 28,000 BC when Neanderthal man faced extinction, their final refuge has been said to be Gibraltar. Neanderthal remains have been found at a number of sites on the Iberian Peninsula, a Neanderthal skull was found in Forbes Quarry in Gibraltar in 1848 making it the second territory after Belgium where remains of Neanderthals were found. Subsequent Neanderthal discoveries in Gibraltar have also made including the skull of a four-year-old child. The Neanderthals were present in Iberia until at least 28,000 or 27,000 BC, evidence of their presence in this period is found in Columbeira, Figueira Brava and Salemas. The Cave of Salemas, located in Loures Municipality, was inhabited in the Paleolithic, archaeological industries of the Middle Paleolithic in Iberia lasted until about 28,000 or 26,000 BC
21.
Carthaginian Iberia
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The Carthaginian presence in Iberia lasted from 575 BC to 206 BC when the Carthaginians were defeated by the Roman Republic at the Battle of Ilipa in the Second Punic War. The Phoenicians were a people from the eastern Mediterranean who were traders from the cities of Tyre, Sidon. They colonised much of the Mediterranean and in the year 814 BC and they also annexed territory in Sicily, Africa, Sardinia and in 575 BC, they created colonies on the Iberian peninsula. In eight years, by force of arms and diplomacy, he secured an extensive territory in Hispania, the fall of Carthages Iberian territories came in the Second Punic War. In the year 209, after the Romans had landed on Iberia under the command of Scipio Africanus, they captured the centre of Punic power in Iberia, Cartagena. They then moved south and faced the Punic army of Hasdrubal in the Battle of Baecula but were not able to prevent him continuing his march to Italy in order to reinforce his brother Hannibal. This catastrophic defeat sealed the fate of the Carthaginian presence in Iberia and it was followed by the Roman capture of Gades in 206 BC after the city had already rebelled against Carthaginian rule. A last attempt was made by Mago in 205 BC to recapture New Carthage while the Roman presence was shaken by a mutiny, so in the same year he left Iberia, setting sail from the Balearic islands to Italy with his remaining forces. Four Iberian Ladies, Lady of Cerro de los Santos, Lady of Baza, Lady of Guardamar, the Lady of Guardamar, found in 1987, is in the Museum of Alicante. This series of sculptures can be seen as types of funerary urns to hold ashes, there has been speculation that the Elche bust was originally full-length. Mythological animals of an earlier period – 6th–5th century BC, the Bull of Osuna, the Sphinx of Agost, Carthaginian currency, including the Barcid mints in Iberia Timeline of Portuguese history
22.
Hispania
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Hispania was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces, Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior, during the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divided into two new provinces, Baetica and Lusitania, while Hispania Citerior was renamed Tarraconensis. Subsequently, the part of Tarraconensis was split off, first as Hispania Nova. The name, Hispania, was used in the period of Visigothic rule. The modern placenames Spain and Hispaniola are both derived from Hispania, one theory holds it to be of Punic derivation, from the Phoenician language of colonizing Carthage. Specifically, it may derive from a Punic cognate of Hebrew אי-שפניא meaning Island of the Hyrax or island of the hare or island of the rabbit. Others derive the word from Phoenician span, in the sense of hidden, and make it indicate a hidden, that is, Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis. Occasionally Hispania was called Hesperia Ultima, the last western land in Greek, by Roman writers, another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for border or edge, thus meaning the farthest area or place. The use of Latin Hispania, Castilian España, Catalan Espanya and French Espaigne, a document dated 1292 mentions the names of foreigners from Medieval Spain as Gracien dEspaigne. You are, Oh Spain, holy and always happy mother of princes and peoples and you, by right, are now the queen of all provinces, from whom the lights are given not only the sunset, but also the East. Navarre followed soon after in 1512, and Portugal in 1580, during this time, the concept of Spain was still unchanged. The King of Portugal would protest energetically when during a public act King Fernando talked about the Crown of Spain and it was after the independence of Portugal in 1640 when the concept of Spain started to shift and be applied to all the Peninsula except Portugal. Even so, Portugal would still complain when the terms Crown of Spain or Monarchy of Spain were still used in the 18th century with the Treaty of Utrecht. The Iberian peninsula has long inhabited, first by early hominids such as Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis. In the Paleolithic period, the Neanderthals entered Iberia and eventually took refuge from the migrations of modern humans. In the 40th millennium BC, during the Upper Paleolithic and the last ice age and these were nomadic hunter-gatherers originating on the steppes of Central Asia. When the last Ice Age reached its maximum extent, during the 30th millennium BC, in the millennia that followed, the Neanderthals became extinct and local modern human cultures thrived, producing pre-historic art such as that found in LArbreda Cave and in the Côa Valley. In the Mesolithic period, beginning in the 10th millennium BC and this was an interstadial deglaciation that lessened the harsh conditions of the Ice Age
23.
Roman conquest of Hispania
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It was completed after the fall of the Republic, by Augustus, the first Roman emperor, who annexed the whole of Hispania to the Roman Empire in 19 BC. Hispania was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula, the peninsula had various ethnic groups and a large number of tribes. This established Roman territorial presence in Hispania, four years after the end of this war, in 197 BC, the Romans established two Roman provinces. They were Hispania Citerior along most of the east coast and Hispania Ulterior in the south, over the next 170 years the Roman Republic slowly expanded its control over Hispania. This was a process of pacification, rather than the result of a policy of conquest. Roman actions in Hispania were reactive and they responded to rebellions to suppress them, rather seek annexation. It was driven by numerous rebellions by the local tribes, the Romans had to fight countless battles and lost a very large amount of men. On one occasion a Roman commander conducted a sweeping operation in the west of the peninsula. Pacification and retention and extension of control over the tribes was the priority. The Romans turned some of the cities outside their provinces into tributary cities and established outposts. There was little interest in Hispania on the part of the Roman senate, to Rome Hispania was a faraway land, remote from her main interests—Italy and the eastern Mediterranean. Administrative arrangements were ad hoc measures undertaken by men on the spot, in the later part of this period the Roman senate attempted to exercise more control in Hispania, but this was to try to curb abuse and extortion by the unsupervised officials in the peninsula. Hence, in this period conquest was an assimilation of the local tribes into the Roman world. This changed after the fall of the Roman Republic and the establishment of rule by emperors in Rome and this was in 19 BC,187 years after the expulsion of the Carthaginians from Hispania. The Roman province of Hispania Citerior was significantly expanded and came to include the part of central Hispania. Due to the size of the annexed territory, a third province was established in the west of the peninsula. This was Hispania Lusitania, which covered present day Portugal up to the River Durius, the present autonomous community of Extremadura, Hispania Citerior was renamed Hispania Baetica and it borders were expanded inland only marginally. Between the 8th and 7th centuries BC, the Phoenicians established trading contacts in the part of the Iberian Peninsula as well as in part of the east coast
24.
Romanization of Hispania
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The Romanization of Hispania is the process by which Roman or Latin culture was introduced into the Iberian Peninsula during the period of Roman rule. Several factors aided the process of Romanization, Creation of civil infrastructure, including road networks, commercial interaction within regions and the wider Roman world. Foundation of colonia, settling Roman military veterans in newly created towns, the spread of the hierarchical Roman administrative system throughout the Hispanic provinces. Growth of Roman aristocratic land holdings, Roman towns or settlements were conceived as images of the imperial capital in miniature. The construction of buildings was carried out by the curator operatum and were run directly by the supreme municipal magistrates. To undertake any work by public funds, authorization from the emperor was needed, patriotism and local euergetism encouraged local cities to compete, creating more affluent neighboring municipalities. Public works undertaken with private funds were not subject to the requirement of approval of the emperor, the planners decided the space needed for the houses, plazas and temples, the volume of water required and the number and width of streets. Soldiers collaborated in the construction of the city, as well as local craftsmen together with slaves owned by patricians or equestrians, the first mention of the city is by Pliny the Elder where he characterizes the city as scipionum opus, work of Scipio. In fact, Tarraco was the capital at the outset of the Hispania Citerior during the Roman Republic, Emerita Augusta was founded in 25BC. by Publius Carisio, as the representative of the emperor Octavian Augustus as a resting place for troops discharged from the Legions V and X. Over time, this city one of the most important in Hispania, capital of the province of Lusitania. Italica was the first purely Roman city founded in Hispania and they originated from Italica, which would give great prestige to the former Spanish colony in Rome. Both emperors were particularly generous to their hometown, expanding and revitalizing its economy, Hadrian ordered the construction of the nova urbs, the new city, a city that only had slight activity over the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. Also during the reign of Hadrian, the city changed its status to become a Roman colony and it is at this time renamed Colonia Aelia Augusta Italica, in honor of the emperor. By then, the Roman Senate had an important pressure group originating from the Spanish city, founded around the year 227 BC. by the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal the Fair under the name of Qart Hadast. It was strategically located in a natural harbor from which the nearby silver mines of Carthago Nova could be controlled. It was taken by the Roman general Scipio Africanus in the year 209BC, during the Second Punic War to cut off the silver going to general Hannibal. The city would receive the title of colony under the name Colonia Iulia Urbs Nova Carthago, decided to reorganize Hispania and the city was included in the new imperial province Tarraconensis, through Tiberius and Claudius, it was made the capital of conventus iuridicus Carthaginensis. The Roman fort was the focus of military strategy passive or active
25.
Kingdom of the Suebi
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The Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallæcia, was a Germanic post-Roman kingdom, one of the first to separate from the Roman Empire. It maintained its independence until 585, when it was annexed by the Visigoths, little is known about the Suevi who crossed the Rhine on the night of 31 December 406 AD and entered the Roman Empire. Other groups of Sueves are mentioned by Jordanes and other historians as residing by the Danube regions during the 5th and 6th centuries, the reasoning being that the activities of the Huns disrupted and threatened the existing peoples of the region forcing them to uproot. It should be noted that this theory has created controversy within the academic community, whether displaced by the Huns or not, the Suevi along with the Vandals and Alans crossed the Rhine on the night of 31 December 405. In response to the invasion of Gaul, the usurper Constantine III, halted the masses of Vandals, Alans, and Sueves. But in the spring of 409, Gerontius led a revolt in Hispania and set up his own emperor, Constantine, who had recently been elevated to the title of Augustus, set off to Hispania to deal with the rebellion. Hydatius documents that the crossing into the Iberian Peninsula by the Vandals, Alans, the initial relation between Galicians and Suevi were not as calamitous as sometimes suggested, as Hydatius mentions not war or conflict with the locals between 411 and 430. In the other hand, Orosius affirmed that the newcomers turned their swords into ploughs once they received their new lands, in 416, the Visigoths entered the Iberian Peninsula, sent by the emperor of the West to fight off the barbarians arrived in 409. In 419, after the departure of Wallia to their new lands in Aquitania, in 429, as the Vandals were preparing their departure to Africa, a Suevi warlord named Heremigarius moved to Lusitania to plunder it, but was confronted by the new Vandal king Gaiseric. Heremigarius drowned in the river Guadiana while retreating, this is the first instance of an armed Suebi action outside the limits of Galicia. Then, after the Vandals left for Africa, the Sueves were the only barbarian entity left in Hispania, King Hermeric spent the remainder of his years solidifying Suevic rule over the entire province of Galicia. In 433 king Hermeric sent a bishop, Synphosius, as ambassador. Anyway, it was not until 438 that an enduring peace, having annexed the entirety of the former Roman province of Gallaecia, he made peace with the local population, and retired, leaving his son Rechila as king of the Sueves. Rechila saw an opportunity for expansion and began pushing to other areas of the Iberian Peninsula, in the same year he campaigned in Baetica, defeating in open battle the Romanae militiae dux Andevotus by the banks of the Genil river, capturing a large treasure. A year later, in 439, the Sueves invaded Lusitania and entered into its capital, Mérida, which briefly became the new capital of their kingdom. Rechila continued with the expansion of the kingdom, and by 440 he fruitfully besieged and forced the surrender of a Roman official, count Censorius, in the strategic city of Mértola. Next year, in 441, the armies of Rechila conquered Seville, just months after the death of the old king Hermeric, with the conquest of Seville, capital of Baetica, the Suevi managed to control Baetica and Carthaginensis. It has been said, however, that the Suevi conquest of Baetica and Carthaginensis was limited to raids, Rechila marched to meet the Romans, and after defeating the Goths, Vitus fled in disgrace, no more imperial attempts were made to retake Hispania
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Spania
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Spania was a province of the Byzantine Empire from 552 until 624 in the south of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. It was established by the Emperor Justinian I in an effort to restore the provinces of the Empire. In 409 the Vandals, Suebi and Alans, who had broken through the Roman border defences on the Rhine two years before, crossed the Pyrenees into the Iberian peninsula, nevertheless, effective Roman rule was maintained over most areas through the death of Emperor Majorian in 461. The Visigoths, vassals of the Roman Empire who had settled in Aquitaine by imperial invitation, in 468 they attacked and defeated the Suevi, who had occupied Roman Gallaecia were threatening to expand. A large scale migration of the Visigoths into Iberia began in 494 under Alaric II, the Visigoths ended the Roman administration in Spain in 473, but they did not replace it with a provincial administration of their own until the early 6th century. In 534, Roman general Belisarius re-established the Byzantine province of Mauretania with the conquest of the Vandal Kingdom in northern Africa and this citadel was nevertheless seized the following year by an expedition dispatched by Belisarius. Ceuta became a part of Mauretania and it was an important base for reconnaissance of Spain in the years leading up to the peninsulas invasion by Justinians forces in 552. In 550, in the reign of Agila I, Spain was troubled by a series of revolts, the citizens of Córdoba rebelled against Gothic or Arian rule and Agila was roundly defeated, his son killed, and the royal treasure lost. The date of the major revolt cannot be arrived at precisely. Either at the commencement of his reign or as late as 551, a nobleman named Athanagild took Seville, capital of Baetica, exactly who approached the Byzantines for assistance and when is also disputed, the primary sources are divided. Even the name of the general of the Byzantine army is disputed, although Jordanes wrote that the Patrician Liberius was its commander, He was succeeded by Agila, who holds the kingdom to the present day. Athanagild has rebelled against him and is even now provoking the might of the Roman Empire, so Liberius the Patrician is on the way with an army to oppose him. James J. However, according to Isidore of Seville in his History of the Goths, it was Athanagild, in autumn of 551 or winter of 552, the army was probably sent in 552 and made landfall in June or July. Roman forces landed probably at the mouth of the Guadalete or perhaps Málaga, the war dragged on for two more years. Their landing at Cartagena was violent, Leander and most of his family fled and his writings preserve the strong anti-Byzantine sentiment. In late March 555, the supporters of Agila, in fear of the recent Byzantine successes, turned and assassinated him, quickly the new king tried to rid Spain of the Byzantines, but failed. The Byzantines occupied many cities in Baetica and this region was to remain a Byzantine province until its reconquest by the Visigoths barely seventy years later. The most important cities of Byzantine Spania were Málaga and Cartagena, the landing sites of the Byzantine army
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Umayyad conquest of Hispania
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The Umayyad conquest of Hispania was the initial expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate over Hispania, largely extending from 711 to 788. The conquest marks the westernmost expansion of both the Umayyad Caliphate and Muslim rule into Europe, forces commanded by Tariq ibn Ziyad disembarked in early 711 at Gibraltar at the head of an army consisting of Berbers. He campaigned his way northward after the decisive Battle of Guadalete against the usurper Roderic, by 717, the combined force had crossed the Pyrenees into Septimania and Provence. Precisely what happened in Iberia in the early 8th century is uncertain, there is one contemporary Christian source, the Chronicle of 754, regarded as reliable but often vague. There are no contemporary Muslim accounts, what Muslim information there is comes from later compilations subject to contemporary ideological influence. The most prominent such compilation is that of Al-Maqqari, which dates from the 17th century and this paucity of sources means that any specific or detailed claims need to be regarded with caution. Numismatic evidence suggests a division of authority, with several coinages being struck. There is also a story of one Julian, count of Ceuta, whose wife or daughter was raped by Roderic, however, these stories are not included in the earliest accounts of the conquest. According to the later chronicler Ibn Abd-el-Hakem, in 711, Tariq Ibn Ziyad led an approximately 1, however,12,000 seems a more accurate figure. They defeated the Visigothic army, led by King Roderic, in a battle at Guadalete in 712. Tariqs forces were reinforced by those of his superior, the wali Musa ibn Nusair. According to the Muslim historian Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, Iberia was first invaded some sixty years earlier during the caliphate of Uthman, however, this putative invasion is not accepted by modern historians. The conquering army was made up mainly of Berbers who had only recently come under Muslim influence. Both the Chronicle of 754 and later Muslim sources speak of raiding activity in previous years, the Chronicle of 754 stated that the entire army of the Goths, which had come with him fraudulently and in rivalry out of hopes of the Kingship, fled. This is the contemporary account of the battle and the paucity of detail led many later historians to invent their own. The location of the battle is not totally clear but was probably the Guadalete River, Roderic was believed to have been killed and a crushing defeat would have left the Visigoths largely leaderless and disorganized. The resulting power vacuum, which may have indeed caught Tariq completely by surprise, in 714, Musa ibn Nusayr headed north-west up the Ebro river to overrun the western Basque regions and the Cantabrian mountains all the way to Gallaecia, with no relevant or attested opposition. During the period of the second Arab governor Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa, the northern areas of Iberia drew little attention to the conquerors and were hard to defend when taken
28.
Al-Andalus
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Al-Andalus, also known as Muslim Spain or Islamic Iberia, was a medieval Muslim territory and cultural domain occupying at its peak most of what are today Spain and Portugal. At its greatest geographical extent in the century, southern France—Septimania—was briefly under its control. Rule under these kingdoms led to a rise in cultural exchange, a number of achievements that advanced Islamic and Western science came from al-Andalus including major advances in trigonometry, astronomy, surgery, pharmacology, and other fields. Al-Andalus became an educational center for Europe and the lands around the Mediterranean Sea as well as a conduit for culture. For much of its history, al-Andalus existed in conflict with Christian kingdoms to the north, after the fall of the Umayyad caliphate, al-Andalus was fragmented into a number of minor states and principalities. Attacks from the Christians intensified, led by the Castilians under Alfonso VI, the Almoravid empire intervened and repelled the Christian attacks on the region, deposing the weak Andalusi Muslim princes and included al-Andalus under direct Berber rule. In the next century and a half, al-Andalus became a province of the Berber Muslim empires of the Almoravids and Almohads, ultimately, the Christian kingdoms in the north of the Iberian Peninsula overpowered the Muslim states to the south. In 1085, Alfonso VI captured Toledo, starting a gradual decline of Muslim power, with the fall of Córdoba in 1236, most of the south quickly fell under Christian rule and the Emirate of Granada became a tributary state of the Kingdom of Castile two years later. In 1249, the Portuguese Reconquista culminated with the conquest of the Algarve by Afonso III, finally, on January 2,1492, Emir Muhammad XII surrendered the Emirate of Granada to Queen Isabella I of Castile, completing the Christian Reconquista of the peninsula. The toponym al-Andalus is first attested to by inscriptions on coins minted by the new Muslim government in Iberia, the etymology of the name has traditionally been derived from the name of the Vandals. A number of proposals since the 1980s have contested this, Vallvé proposed a corruption of the name Atlantis, halm derives the name from a Gothic term *landahlauts. Bossong suggests derivation from a pre-Roman substrate and they crossed the Pyrenees and occupied Visigothic Septimania in southern France. Most of the Iberian peninsula became part of the expanding Umayyad Empire and it was organized as a province subordinate to Ifriqiya, so, for the first few decades, the governors of al-Andalus were appointed by the emir of Kairouan, rather than the Caliph in Damascus. Visigothic lords who agreed to recognize Muslim suzerainty were allowed to retain their fiefs, resistant Visigoths took refuge in the Cantabrian highlands, where they carved out a rump state, the Kingdom of Asturias. In the 720s, the al-Andalus governors launched several raids into Aquitaine. At the Battle of Poitiers in 732, the al-Andalus raiding army was defeated by Charles Martel, in 734, the Andalusi launched raids to the east, capturing Avignon and Arles and overran much of Provence. In 737, they climbed up the Rhône valley, reached as far as Burgundy, Charles Martel of the Franks, with the assistance of Liutprand of the Lombards, invaded Burgundy and Provence and expelled the raiders by 739. Relations between Arabs and Berbers in al-Andalus had been tense in the years after the conquest
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Reconquista
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The Reconquista ended just before the European discovery of the Americas—the New World—which ushered in the era of the Portuguese and Spanish colonial empires. The concept of a Christian reconquest of the peninsula first emerged, in tenuous form, a landmark was set by the Christian Chronica Prophetica, a document stressing the Christian and Muslim cultural and religious divide in Iberia and the necessity to drive the Muslims out. Nevertheless, the difference between Christian and Muslim kingdoms in early medieval Spain was not seen at the time as anything like the clear-cut opposition that later emerged, both Christian and Muslim rulers fought amongst themselves. Alliances between Muslims and Christians were not uncommon, blurring distinctions even further were the mercenaries from both sides who simply fought for whoever paid the most. The period is looked back upon today as one of religious tolerance. In fact previous documents from the 10th and 11th centuries are mute on any idea of reconquest and their rebellious pursuit was thus a Crusade for the restoration of Churchs unity, where Franco stood for both Pelagius of Asturias and El Cid. Many recent historians dispute the concept of Reconquista as a concept created a posteriori in the service of later political goals. A number of historians have called it a myth, One of the first Spanish intellectuals to question the idea of a reconquest that lasted for eight centuries was José Ortega y Gasset, writing in the first half of the 20th century. However, the term is widely in use. In 711, Muslim Moors, mainly North African Berber soldiers with some Arabs, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, from their stronghold of Narbonne, they launched raids into the Duchy of Aquitaine. At no point did the invading Islamic armies exceed 60,000 men and these armies established an Islamic rule that would last 300 years in much of the Iberian Peninsula and 770 years in Granada. After the establishment of a local Emirate, Caliph Al-Walid I, ruler of the Umayyad caliphate, tariq ibn Ziyad, the first governor of the newly conquered province of Al-Andalus, was recalled to Damascus and replaced with Musa bin Nusair, who had been his former superior. Musas son, Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa, apparently married Egilona, Roderics widow and he was suspected of being under the influence of his wife, accused of wanting to convert to Christianity, and of planning a secessionist rebellion. Apparently a concerned Al-Walid I ordered Abd al-Azizs assassination, Caliph Al-Walid I died in 715 and was succeeded by his brother Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik. Sulayman seems to have punished the surviving Musa bin Nusair, who soon died during a pilgrimage in 716. In the end Abd al-Aziz ibn Musas cousin, Ayyub ibn Habib al-Lakhmi became the emir of Al-Andalus, the conquering generals were necessarily acting very independently, due to the methods of communication available. Old rivalries and perhaps even full-fledged conspiracies between rival generals may have had influence over this development, in the end, the old successful generals were replaced by a younger generation considered more loyal by the government in Damascus. A serious weakness amongst the Muslim conquerors was the tension between Berbers and Arabs
30.
Catholic Monarchs
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The Catholic Monarchs is the joint title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. They married on October 19,1469, in the city of Valladolid, Isabella was eighteen years old and it is generally accepted by most scholars that the unification of Spain can essentially be traced back to the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella. The court of Ferdinand and Isabella was constantly on the move, the title of Catholic King and Queen was bestowed on Ferdinand and Isabella by Pope Alexander VI in 1494, in recognition of their defence of the Catholic faith within their realms. Catholic monarchs or kings can also be used in a generic sense, Isabella was named heir to the throne of Castile by her half brother Henry IV of Castile in the Treaty of the Bulls of Guisando. She became Queen of Castile in 1474 and her niece, Joanna of Castile, attempted to gain the throne by bringing in the foreign help of Afonso V of Portugal, leading to the War of Castilian Succession. More recently, some speculate that Joanna was the legitimate successor, Isabellas supporters came out ahead in good part due to Aragons support through Ferdinand, and she officially won in 1479 via the Treaty of Alcáçovas. Ferdinand became the King of Aragon in 1479, the Catholic Monarchs set out to restore royal authority in Spain. To accomplish their goal, they first created a group named the Holy Brotherhood and these men were used as a judicial police force for Castile, as well as to attempt to keep Castilian nobles in check. To establish a more uniform system, the Catholic Monarchs created the Royal Council. This establishment of authority is known as the Pacification of Castile. Even after his death and the union of the crowns under one monarch, the Aragonese, Catalan, further, the monarchs continued ruling through a form of medieval contractualism, which made their rule pre-modern in a few ways. One of those is that they traveled from town to town throughout the kingdom in order to promote loyalty, another is that each community and region was connected to them via loyalty to the crown, rather than bureaucratic ties. Ferdinand and Isabella were noted for being the monarchs of the newly united Spain at the dawn of the modern era and they had a goal of conquering the Muslim kingdom of Granada and completing the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. The beginnings of a series of known as the Granada War began with the attack on Alhama de Granada. The attack was led by two Andalusian nobles, Rodrigo Ponce de León and Diego de Merlo, the city fell to Andalusian forces in 1482. The Granada War was aided by Pope Sixtus IV by granting a tithe, after 10 years of fighting the Granada War ended in 1492 when Emir Boabdil surrendered the keys of the Alhambra Palace in Granada to the Castilian soldiers. After a number of revolts, Ferdinand and Isabella ordered the expulsion from Spain of all Jews, the Inquisition had been created in the twelfth century by Pope Lucius III to fight heresy in the south of what is now France and was constituted in a number of European kingdoms. The Catholic Monarchs decided to introduce the Inquisition to Castile, the bull gave the monarchs exclusive authority to name the inquisitors
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Habsburg Spain
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Habsburg Spain refers to the history of Spain over the 16th and 17th centuries, when it was ruled by kings from the House of Habsburg. The Habsburg rulers reached the zenith of their influence and power and this period of Spanish history has also been referred to as the Age of Expansion. The Habsburg years were also a Spanish Golden Age of cultural efflorescence, in some cases, these individual kingdoms themselves were confederations, most notably, the Crown of Aragon. Isabella and Ferdinand were bestowed the title of Most Catholic Monarchs by Pope Alexander VI in 1496, the Habsburg period is formative of the notion of Spain in the sense that was institutionalized in the 18th century. Her husband Philip I was the Habsburg son of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, shortly thereafter Joanna began to lapse into insanity, though how mentally ill she actually was the topic of some debate. In 1506, Philip I was declared jure uxoris king, but he died later that year under mysterious circumstances, possibly poisoned by his father-in-law, Ferdinand II. Since their oldest son Charles was only six, the Cortes reluctantly allowed Joannas father Ferdinand II to rule the country as the regent of Joanna, Spain was now in personal union under Ferdinand II of Aragon. He also attempted to enlarge Spains sphere of influence in Italy, as ruler of Aragon, Ferdinand had been involved in the struggle against France and the Republic of Venice for control of Italy, these conflicts became the center of Ferdinands foreign policy as king. The war was less of a success than that against Venice, Ferdinand would die later that year. Ferdinands death led to the ascension of young Charles to the throne as Charles I of Castile and Aragon and his Spanish inheritance included all the Spanish possessions in the New World and around the Mediterranean. Upon the death of his Habsburg father in 1506, Charles had inherited the Netherlands and Franche-Comté, in 1519, with the death of his paternal grandfather Maximilian I, Charles inherited the Habsburg territories in Germany, and was duly elected as Holy Roman Emperor that year. At that point, Emperor and King Charles was the most powerful man in Christendom, the accumulation of so much power by one man and one dynasty greatly concerned Francis I of France, who found himself surrounded by Habsburg territories. In 1521 Francis invaded the Spanish possessions in Italy and Navarre, the war was a disaster for France, which suffered defeats at Biccoca, Pavia, and Landriano before Francis relented and abandoned Milan to Spain once more. Charless victory at the Battle of Pavia surprised many Italians and Germans, Pope Clement VII switched sides and now joined forces with France and prominent Italian states against the Habsburg Emperor, in the War of the League of Cognac. Henry VIII of England, who bore a grudge against France than he held against the Emperor for standing in the way of his divorce. Although the Spanish army was defeated at the Battle of Ceresole, in Savoy Henry fared better. The Austrians, led by Charless younger brother Ferdinand, continued to fight the Ottomans in the east, with France defeated, Charles went to take care of an older problem, the Schmalkaldic League. The Protestant Reformation had begun in Germany in 1517, the German Peasants War broke out in Germany in 1524 and ravaged the country until it was brutally put down in 1526, Charles, even as far away from Germany as he was, was committed to keeping order
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Spanish Empire
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The Spanish Empire was one of the largest empires in history. The Spanish Empire became the foremost global power of its time and was the first to be called the empire on which the sun never sets, the Spanish Empire originated during the Age of Discovery after the voyages of Christopher Columbus. Following the Spanish–American War of 1898, Spain ceded its last colonies in the Caribbean and its last African colonies were granted independence or abandoned during Decolonisation of Africa finishing in 1976. The unity did not mean uniformity, nevertheless, some historians assert that Portugal was part of the Spanish monarchy at the time, while others draw a clear distinction between the Portuguese and Spanish empires. During the 15th century, Castile and Portugal became territorial and commercial rivals in the western Atlantic. The conquest was completed with the campaigns of the armies of the Crown of Castile between 1478 and 1496, when the islands of Gran Canaria, La Palma, and Tenerife were subjugated. The Portuguese tried in vain to keep secret their discovery of the Gold Coast in the Gulf of Guinea, chronicler Pulgar wrote that the fame of the treasures of Guinea spread around the ports of Andalusia in such way that everybody tried to go there. Worthless trinkets, Moorish textiles, and above all, shells from the Canary and Cape Verde islands were exchanged for gold, slaves, ivory and Guinea pepper. The Crown officially organized this trade with Guinea, every caravel had to get a government license, the treaty delimited the spheres of influence of the two countries, establishing the principle of the Mare clausum. It was confirmed in 1481 by the Pope Sixtus IV, in the papal bull Æterni regis, thus, the limitations imposed by the Alcáçovas treaty were overcome and a new and more balanced worlds division would be reached at Tordesillas between both emerging maritime powers. Seven months before the treaty of Alcaçovas, King John II of Aragon died, Ferdinand and Isabella drove the last Moorish king out of Granada in 1492 after a ten-year war. The Catholic Monarchs then negotiated with Christopher Columbus, a Genoese sailor attempting to reach Cipangu by sailing west, Castile was already engaged in a race of exploration with Portugal to reach the Far East by sea when Columbus made his bold proposal to Isabella. Columbus discoveries inaugurated the Spanish colonization of the Americas and these actions gave Spain exclusive rights to establish colonies in all of the New World from north to south, as well as the easternmost parts of Asia. The treaty of Tordesillas was confirmed by Pope Julius II in the bull Ea quae pro bono pacis on 24 January 1506, Spains expansion and colonization was driven by economic influences, a yearning to improve national prestige, and a desire to spread Catholicism into the New World. The Catholic Monarchs had developed a strategy of marriages for their children in order to isolate their long-time enemy, the Spanish princes married the heirs of Portugal, England and the House of Habsburg. Following the same strategy, the Catholic Monarchs decided to support the Catalan-Aragonese house of Naples against Charles VIII of France in the Italian Wars beginning in 1494. As King of Aragon, Ferdinand had been involved in the struggle against France and Venice for control of Italy, these conflicts became the center of Ferdinands foreign policy as king. Only a year later, Ferdinand became part of the Holy League against France and this war was less of a success than the war against Venice, and in 1516, France agreed to a truce that left Milan in its control and recognized Spanish control of Upper Navarre
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Spanish Golden Age
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The Spanish Golden Age is a period of flourishing in arts and literature in Spain, coinciding with the political rise of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty. El Siglo de Oro does not imply precise dates and is considered to have lasted longer than an actual century. Politically, it no later than 1659, with the Treaty of the Pyrenees. The last great writer of the period, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, died in 1681, the Habsburgs, both in Spain and Austria, were great patrons of art in their countries. El Escorial, the royal monastery built by King Philip II, invited the attention of some of Europes greatest architects. El Greco, another respected artist from the period, infused Spanish art with the styles of the Italian renaissance, some of Spains greatest music is regarded as having been written in the period. Spanish literature blossomed as well, most famously demonstrated in the work of Miguel de Cervantes, Spains most prolific playwright, Lope de Vega, wrote possibly as many as one thousand plays during his lifetime, of which over four hundred survive to the present day. Spain, in the time of the Italian Renaissance, had seen few great artists come to its shores, Luis de Morales, one of the leading exponents of Spanish mannerist painting, retained a distinctly Spanish style in his work, reminiscent of medieval art. Spanish rule of Naples was important for making connections between Italian and Spanish art, with many Spanish administrators bringing Italian works back to Spain. Known for his impact in bringing the Italian Renaissance to Spain, El Greco was not Spanish. He studied the great Italian masters of his time - Titian, Tintoretto, according to legend, he asserted that he would paint a mural that would be as good as one of Michelangelos, if one of the Italian artists murals was demolished first. El Greco quickly fell out of favor in Italy, but soon found a new home in the city of Toledo and he was influential in creating a style based on impressions and emotion, featuring elongated fingers and vibrant color and brushwork. Uniquely, his works featured faces that captured expressions of sombre attitudes and his paintings of the city of Toledo became models for a new European tradition in landscapes, and influenced the work of later Dutch masters. Spain at this time was an environment for the Venetian-trained painter. Art was flourishing in the empire and Toledo was a place to get commissions. He was born on June 6,1599, in Seville, both parents were from the minor nobility. He was the oldest of six children, diego Velázquez is widely regarded as one of Spains most important and influential artists. He was a painter for King Philip IV and found increasingly high demand for his portraits from statesmen, aristocrats
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Enlightenment in Spain
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The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment came to Spain in the eighteenth century with the new Bourbon dynasty, following the death of the last Habsburg monarch, Charles II, in 1700. Like the Spanish Enlightenment, the Spanish Bourbon monarchs were imbued with Spains Catholic identity, the Bourbon monarchs sought the expansion of scientific knowledge, which had been urged by Benedictine friar Benito Feijóo. From 1777 to 1816, the Spanish crown funded scientific expeditions to gather information about the potential wealth of the empire. Spanish scholars sought to understand the decline of the Spanish empire from its glory days. In Spanish America, the Enlightenment also had an impact in the intellectual and scientific sphere, the Napoleonic invasion of the Iberian peninsula was enormously destabilizing for Spain and the Spanish overseas empire. The ideas of the Hispanic Enlightenment have been seen as a contributor to the Spanish American wars of independence. The French Bourbons had a claim on the Spanish throne following the 1700 death of the last Hapsburg monarch, Charles II. France won War of the Spanish Succession and the Bourbon monarchy was established in Spain, once it consolidated rule in Spain, the Bourbon monarchs embarked upon a series of reforms to revitalize the Spanish empire, which had significantly declined in power in the late Hapsburg era. The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment had an impact in Spain. A cortes was convened in Cádiz, which ratified a constitution in 1812. Ferdinand VII claimed he supported the liberal constitutions, but once restored to power in 1814, he renounced it, New Spain and Peru were the exceptions, becoming independent in 1821 and 1824. Mexico briefly had a monarchy under royalist military officer turned insurgent Agustín de Iturbide, Spain was at the center of this political crisis, but it was the object not the arbiter. The vastness of the Spanish Empire in the New World, along with her naval resources, had made Spain a vital part of European power politics. If the throne of Spain was to go to a relative of the king of France, if it remained in the hands of another member of the anti-French, Austrian Habsburg dynasty, the status quo would remain. European politics during the century became dominated by establishing an orderly succession in Spain that would not alter the balance between Europes great powers. Castilian legitimists, who valued the succession of the closest heir of the king over the continuation of Habsburg rule, Spanish officials were also concerned with Spain remaining an independent country, rather than another part of the French or Austrian empires. Even so, on hearing the news that his grandson had become King of Spain, Louis XIV proclaimed, at age 17, Philip V arrived in Madrid in early 1701 without visible opposition. Philip confirmed the fueros of Catalunya and Aragon, and to all appearances the Bourbon succession was successful, the Austrian Hapsburg claimant to the Spanish throne, Archduke Charles of Austria, argued that he had been cheated out of the throne of Spain unfairly
35.
Kingdom of Spain under Joseph Bonaparte
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Napoleonic Spain was the part of Spain loyal to Joseph I during the Peninsular War after the country was partially occupied by French forces. During this period, the country was considered a client state of the First French Empire and that part of Spain which continued to resist French occupation remained loyal to Ferdinand VII and allied with Britain and Portugal to expel Napoleons armies from Spain. Allied victories at Salamanca and Vitoria meant the defeat of the Bonapartist régime, the Treaty of Valençay recognized Ferdinand VII as the legitimate king of Spain. Spain had been allied with France against the United Kingdom since the Second Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1796. In 1806, Spain readied for an invasion in case of a Prussia victory, however, Spain continued to resent the loss of their fleet at Trafalgar and the fact that they were forced to join the Continental System. Nevertheless, the two agreed to partition Portugal, a long-standing British trading partner and ally, and which refused to join the Continental System. Napoleon was fully aware of the state of Spains economy and administration, and its political fragility. The presence of French troops on Spanish soil was extremely unpopular in Spain, resulting in the Mutiny of Aranjuez, Charles IV hoped that Napoleon, who by this time had 100,000 troops stationed in Spain, would help him regain the throne. However, Napoleon refused to help Charles, and also refused to recognize his son, Ferdinand VII, instead, he succeeded in pressuring both Charles and Ferdinand to cede the crown to his brother, Joseph Bonaparte. The failure of the remaining Spanish government to stand up to Murat caused popular anger, on 2 May 1808, Murat ordered the younger son of Charles IV, the Infante Francisco de Paula, left Spain for France, leading to a widespread rebellion in the streets of Madrid. The Council of Castile, the organ of central government in Spain under Charles IV, was now in Napoleons control. However, due to the anger at French rule, it quickly lost authority outside the population centers which were directly French-occupied. Provincial juntas began to coordinate their actions, regional juntas were formed to oversee the provincial ones, finally, on 25 September 1808, a single Supreme Junta was established in Aranjuez to serve as the acting resistance government for all of Spain. Murat established a plan of conquest, sending two armies to attack pockets of pro-Ferdinand resistance. One army secured the route between Madrid and Vitoria and besieged Zaragoza, Girona, and Valencia, the other, sent south to Andalusia, sacked Córdoba. Instead of proceeding to Cádiz as planned, General Dupont was ordered to back to Madrid. This victory encouraged the resistance against the French in several countries elsewhere in Europe, after the battle, King Joseph left Madrid to take refuge in Vitoria. In the fall of 1808, Napoleon himself entered Spain, entering Madrid on 2 December, meanwhile, a British army entered Spain from Portugal but was forced to retreat to Galicia
36.
Peninsular War
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The Peninsular War was a military conflict between Napoleons empire and the allied powers of Spain, Britain and Portugal, for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war started when French and Spanish armies invaded and occupied Portugal in 1807, the Peninsular War overlaps with what the Spanish-speaking world calls the Guerra de la Independencia Española, which began with the Dos de Mayo Uprising on 2 May 1808 and ended on 17 April 1814. The French occupation destroyed the Spanish administration, which fragmented into quarrelling provincial juntas, the British Army, under the then Lt. Gen. Arthur Wellesley, guarded Portugal and campaigned against the French in Spain alongside the reformed Portuguese army. The demoralised Portuguese army was reorganised and refitted under the command of Gen, in the following year Wellington scored a decisive victory over King Josephs army at Vitoria. The years of fighting in Spain were a burden on Frances Grande Armée. The Spanish armies were beaten and driven to the peripheries. This drain on French resources led Napoleon, who had provoked a total war. War and revolution against Napoleons occupation led to the Spanish Constitution of 1812, the burden of war destroyed the social and economic fabric of Portugal and Spain, and ushered in an era of social turbulence, political instability and economic stagnation. Devastating civil wars between liberal and absolutist factions, led by officers trained in the Peninsular War, persisted in Iberia until 1850. The cumulative crises and disruptions of invasion, revolution and restoration led to the independence of most of Spains American colonies, the Treaties of Tilsit, negotiated during a meeting in July 1807 between Emperors Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon, concluded the War of the Fourth Coalition. With Prussia shattered, and Russia allied with France, Napoleon expressed irritation that Portugal was open to trade with the United Kingdom, furthermore, Prince John of Braganza, regent for his insane mother Queen Maria I, had declined to join the emperors Continental System against British trade. After a few days, a large force started concentrating at Bayonne, meanwhile the Portuguese governments resolve was stiffening, and shortly afterward Napoleon was once again told that Portugal would not go beyond its original agreements. After he received the Portuguese answer, he ordered Junots corps to cross the frontier into Spain, while all this was going on, the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau had been signed between France and Spain. The document was drawn up by Napoleons marshal of the palace Géraud Duroc and Eugenio Izquierdo, the treaty proposed to carve up Portugal into three entities. Porto and the part was to become the Kingdom of Northern Lusitania. The southern portion, as the Principality of the Algarves, would fall to Godoy, the rump of the country, centered on Lisbon, was to be administered by the French. According to the Treaty of Fontainebleau, Junots invasion force was to be supported by 25,500 men in three Spanish columns, Gen. Taranco and 6,500 troops were ordered to march from Vigo to seize Porto in the north. Capt. Gen. Solano would advance from Badajoz with 9,500 soldiers to capture Elvas, Gen. Caraffa and 9,500 men were instructed to assemble at Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo, and cooperate with Junots main force
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Spanish Constitution of 1812
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The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was established on 19 March 1812 by the Cádiz Cortes, Spains first national sovereign assembly, the Cortes Generales, in refuge in Cádiz during the Peninsular War. It established the principles of universal suffrage, national sovereignty, constitutional monarchy and freedom of the press. This constitution, one of the most liberal of its time, was effectively Spains first, on 24 March 1814, six weeks after returning to Spain, Ferdinand VII abolished the constitution and had all monuments to it torn down. The Constitution Obelisk in Saint Augustine, Florida survived, the constitution was reinstated during the Trienio Liberal, and again briefly 1836—1837 while the Progressives prepared the Constitution of 1837. The Spaniards nicknamed the Constitution La Pepa, possibly because it was adopted on Saint Josephs Day, from a Spanish point of view, the Peninsular War was a war of independence against the French Empire and the king installed by Napoleon, his brother Joseph Bonaparte. While many in elite circles in Madrid were willing to accept Josephs rule, the war began on the night of 2 May 1808, and was immortalized by Francisco Goyas painting The Second of May 1808, also known as The Charge of the Mamelukes. The Junta first met on 25 September 1808 in Aranjuez and later in Seville, in any event, Floridablancas strength failed him and he died on 30 December 1808. When the Cortes convened in Cádiz in 1810, there appeared to be two possibilities for Spains political future if the French could be driven out. The first, represented especially by Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, was the restoration of the absolutist Antiguo Régimen, the origins of the Cortes did not harbor any revolutionary intentions, since the Junta saw itself simply as a continuation of the legitimate government of Spain. The opening session of the new Cortes was held on 24 September 1810 in the now known as the Real Teatro de las Cortes. Few of the most conservative voices were at Cádiz, and there was no communication with King Ferdinand. Three basic principles were soon ratified by the Cortes, that sovereignty resides in the nation, the legitimacy of Ferdinand VII as king of Spain, and the inviolability of the deputies. Although the Cortes was not unanimous in its liberalism, the new Constitution reduced the power of the crown, the Catholic Church, the Cortes of Cádiz worked feverishly and the first written Spanish constitution was promulgated in Cádiz on 19 March 1812. The Constitution of 1812 is regarded as the document of liberalism in Spain. Suffrage, which was not determined by property qualifications, favored the position of the class in the new parliament. Repeal of traditional property restrictions gave liberals the freer economy they wanted, the first provincial government created under the Constitution was in the province of Guadalajara con Molina. Its deputation first met in the village of Anguita in April 1813, among the most debated questions during the drafting of the constitution was the status of the native and mixed-race populations in Spains possessions around the world. Most of the provinces were represented, especially the most populous regions
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Spanish American wars of independence
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These conflicts started in 1809 with short-lived governing juntas established in Chuquisaca and Quito opposing the composition of the Supreme Central Junta of Seville. When the Central Junta fell to the French invasion, in 1810, Cuba and Puerto Rico remained under Spanish rule until the Spanish–American War in 1898. The new republics from the abolished the formal system of racial classification and hierarchy, casta system, the Inquisition. Slavery was not abolished immediately, but ended in all of the new nations within a quarter century, criollos and mestizos replaced Spanish-born appointees in most political offices. Criollos remained at the top of a structure which retained some of its traditional features culturally. For almost a century thereafter, conservatives and liberals fought to reverse or to deepen the social and political changes unleashed by those rebellions, both armies originated from Spanish colonial troops of Americas. The events in Spanish America were related to the wars of independence in former French colony of St-Domingue, Haiti, a more direct cause of the Spanish American wars of independence were the unique developments occurring within the Kingdom of Spain and its monarchy during this period. Political independence was not necessarily the outcome of the political turmoil in Spanish America. There was little interest in outright independence, humphreys and John Lynch note, it is all too easy to equate the forces of discontent or even the forces of change with the forces of revolution. Since by definition, there was no history of independence until it happened, because Spanish American independence did occur, there are a number of factors that have been identified. First, increasing control by the Crown of its overseas empire via the Bourbon Reforms of the mid-eighteenth century introduced changes to the relationship of Spanish Americans to the Crown. The language used to describe the overseas empire shifted from kingdoms with independent standing with the crown to colonies and this meant that Spanish American elites were thwarted in their expectations and ambitions by the crowns upending long-standing practices of creole access to office holding. The regalist and secularizing policies of the Bourbon monarchy were aimed at decreasing the power of the Roman Catholic Church, the crown had already expelled the Jesuits in 1767, which saw many creole members of the Society of Jesus go into permanent exile. In the economic sphere, the sought to gain control over church revenues. In a financial crisis of 1804, the crown attempted to call in debts owed the church, shortening the repayment period meant many elites were faced with bankruptcy. Prominently in Mexico, lower clergy participated in the insurgency for independence with priests Miguel Hidalgo, in some areas—such as Cuba, Río de la Plata and New Spain—the reforms had positive effects, improving the local economy and the efficiency of the government. Other factors may include Enlightenment thinking and the examples of the Atlantic Revolutions, the Enlightenment spurred the desire for social and economic reform to spread throughout Spanish America and the Iberian Peninsula. Ideas about free trade and physiocratic economics were raised by the Enlightenment in Spain and spread to the overseas empire, the political reforms implemented and the many constitutions written both in Spain and throughout the Spanish world during the wars of independence were influenced by these factors
39.
First Spanish Republic
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The next day,11 February the republic was declared by a parliamentary majority made up of radicals, republicans and democrats. The Constituent Cortes was called upon to write a federal constitution, the radicals preferred a unitary republic, with a much lesser role for the provinces, and once the republic had been declared the two parties turned against each other. Initially, the radicals were largely driven from power, joining those who had already driven out by the revolution of 1868 or by the Carlist War. The first republican attempt in the history of Spain was an experience, characterized by profound political and social instability. The period was marked by three civil wars, the Third Carlist War, the Cantonal Revolution, the Petroleum Revolution in Alcoy. The gravest problems for the consolidation of the regime were the lack of true republicans, the monarchists and Republicans refused, leaving the unitary Radicals and Constitutionalists as the only group willing to govern, again a narrow political base. General Francisco Serrano formed a new government and was appointed President of the Republic although it was a mere formality since the Cortes had been dissolved. However the other monarchists had taken the name of Alfonsists as supporters of Alfonso, the son of the former Queen Isabel, and were organised by Cánovas del Castillo. This period of the Republic lasted until Brigadier Martínez-Campos pronounced for Alfonso in Sagunto on 29 December 1874, the government collapsed, leading to the end of the republic and the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy with the proclamation of Alfonso XII as king. King Amadeo I abdicated from the Spanish throne on 11 February 1873, there also was a small republican minority in the National Assembly, ideologically divided between federalism and centralism. An Executive Power shall be elected directly by the Cortes, in the same session, the first government of the Republic was elected. Federal republican Estanislao Figueras was elected the first President of the Executive Power, no President of the Republic was ever elected, as the Constitution creating such office was never enacted. In his speech, Figueras said that the Republic was like a rainbow of peace, the passage of these resolutions surprised and stunned most Spaniards, as the recently elected Cortes had a wide majority of monarchists. The first government of the Republic was formed of federalists and progressives who had been ministers during the monarchy, four ministers, in particular, had served with King Amadeo, Echegaray, Becerra, Fernández de Córdoba and Berenguer. At the beginning, they were plagued by a terrible situation, with a 546M peseta budgetary deficit, 153M in debts requiring immediate payment. The Artillery Corps had been dissolved in the most virulent moment of the Carlist and Cuban wars, for there were not enough soldiers or armament. Besides, Spain was going through an economic crisis matching the Panic of 1873. This prompted the first remodeling of the government in which the progressives were ousted and replaced with federalists, twelve days after the establishment of the Republic, compulsory military service was removed and voluntary service set up with a daily salary of 1 peseta and one crust of bread
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