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Hispanic History and Exploration
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The earliest recorded history of Spain dates from the third century B.C., when the Roman Republic was engaged in the Punic Wars, a century long struggle between Rome and Carthage. The coastal regions of Hispania, which at the time were controlled mainly by Carthage, figured prominently in these wars, and when Rome succeeded in vanquishing Carthage, she inherited the Carthaginian Empire in Spain. These holdings, however, represented only a fraction of the Iberian Peninsula.
Most of the interior of Hispania was inhabited by semi-civilized Celts and Iberians. The first battles in the Roman Conquest of Hispania occurred around 210 B.C., but several regions of the interior of Hispania held out against Roman rule for nearly 200 years. By the turn of the millennium, however, Spain was solidly Roman, and for hundreds of years was one of the most important and stable provinces of the Roman Empire.
It is difficult to make broad generalizations regarding the Roman Conquest of Hispania because the country itself was highly diverse both in geography and also in the ethnic mix of the people. The coastal cities of Spain, including those on navigable rivers, were populated by relatively civilized and diverse peoples, including Carthaginians, Greeks, Turdetani, and Celt-Iberian. The inland regions were primarily Celt and Iberians but were broken up into autonomous tribes of varied ancestry. The Roman conquerors included both noble and admired leaders such as Scipio Africanus and Sertorius, who treated the natives with great consideration, and treacherous butchers, such as Lucullus and Cato (the censor). Some of the more civilized regions submitted peacefully, while others, such as the Lusitanians and Celt-Iberians, under the great native chief Viriathus, held out for years, and caused appalling casualties among the Romans. In some cases the native tribes submitted to Roman rule and in other cases, most spectacularly that of Numantia, they annihilated themselves rather than submit.
The conquest of Hispania was a difficult and highly contentious project that caused enormous political problems in Italy, and figured prominently in the decline of Republican Rome. Once Spain was finally conquered however, it became thoroughly Romanized, and therefore Christianized, and remained so even after the fall of the empire. For much of the era of the Roman Empire, Spain was one of the most stable and properous regions of the empire, and it produced many famous Romans, including Trajan, Seneca, and Martial.
During the fifth century A.D., Spain was overrun by various tribes of Germanic Barbarians, including the Suevi, Alans, Franks, Visigoths, and Vandals. The Visigoths eventually emerged as the dominant tribe, but Spain remained relatively Romanized under their reign—the culture and language of the conquered was absorbed by the conquerors rather than vica versa. The Visigoths, who were Arian Christians, even converted to the Roman Rite, which did much to help solidify the Catholic Church's influence in Western Europe.
The Visigothic reign in Spain lasted from the reign of Ataulfus, in 410 to the Moorish conquest under Roderic, almost exactly 300 years later. The Visigoth kings spent much of their time driving off other invaders. They allied themselves with the Roman Empire in 451 in order to drive off Attila the Hun, and they contended with the Suevis for regions in the mountains of Cantabria, and with the Franks for territories north of the Pyrenees. The Visigoths had a tradition of electing their kings rather than allowing the throne to become hereditary. This method produced a few notable Visigoth kings, including Good King Wamba and Recared, but did not prevent civil wars altogether. Roderic, the last king of the Visigoths assumed the throne during such a period of internal conflict, and the resulting division of loyalties resulted in the collapse of the Visigoth kingdom at the hands of the Moorish invaders.
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In 623 the followers of Mohammed began a campaign of conquest, and within sixty years, were masters of Arabia, Palestine, Syria, Persia, Egypt, and all of North Africa. In most of these formerly Christian regions the people converted to Islam, and the Umayyad dynasty, based in Damascus, held sway.
By 710, when Roderic came to the throne of the Visigoths as the result of a civil war, the region of North Africa directly across from Spain was held by Musa bin Nusair, an Arab general. Several Visigoth refugees, who had fled to North Africa, asked Musa to help them overthrow Roderic, so he sent an army under Tariq ibn Ziyad. A great battle was fought at the Guadalete River, and the Moors won an overwhelming victory against the divided Visigoths. Although several towns held out against the Moslems, there was no organized resistance, and within a few years the Moslems had captured almost all of the Peninsula and were working their way into Gaul. Their advance was checked, not by the Visigoths, but by the Franks, at the battle of Tours.
The only region of the Spanish peninsula that held off the Moslem hordes was a mountainous region in the Northwest called Asturias, founded by Pelayo of Asturias, a Visigoth noble. The population of Asturias was not Visigoth however, but a collection of Roman Spaniards, Visigoths, Franks, and Suevis who fled from the Moslem persecutions.
Forty years after the first establishment of the Moorish empire in Spain, there was a great civil war involving the leadership of the Caliphate of Damascus. In the East, the Abbysid dynasty overthrew the Umayyad, but an Umayyad Prince, Abderrahman I, escaped the massacre and was declared Emir of Hispania, and governed independently from the Abbysid Dynasty. He set up his capital in Cordoba and for over two hundred years that city was a leading center of commerce and culture. These were the golden years of Moorish Spain, and although there was some division and infighting among the royal family, the outward show of unity was largely preserved.
The Christian state of Asturias also grew during this period, and split into the kingdoms of Leon, Aragon, and Castile. For the first three hundred years of Moorish rule, however, they lived in relative peace. There were a great many Christians and Jews living under Moorish rule during this time, and although non-Moslems were excluded from power and made to pay special taxes, there was a reasonable degree of toleration between Christians, Jews and Moslems in the early years of the Caliphate of Cordova.
As the authority of the Caliphate waned over time, due largely to a series of pleasure loving and irresponsible Caliphs, a great general by the name of Almanzor arose who once again consolidated Moslem power under his irrepressible force. He drove back the Christian kingdoms in the north and extended the realm of Moslem influence to its greatest extent during his period of influence, from 970 to 1002 A.D. Because of their common fear, the Christian kingdoms did eventually unite against him, and successfully opposed him at the battle of Calatanazor. When he died without anyone to succeed him in influence, Moslem unity, which had been strained by his usurpation of power, broke down altogether. The eleventh century, therefore, was an era during which the Christian kingdoms made significant gains in territory. The Umayyad caliphate of Cordova collapsed in 1031, and in the following generation, the Christians took the great city of Toledo.
During the mid eleventh century, during the reign of Alfonso VI of Castile the Christian kingdoms, and especially Castile, made such great gains against the Moors that some of the Moorish princes called upon the Almoravid dynasty in North Africa to help them against their Christian enemies. Great armies of Berbers crossed the straight of Gibraltar, and resisted the Christian incursions, but they never really unified the Moslem princes under their dominion. During this period Christian vs. Molsem wars were common, but so were palace insurrections and civil war, so the loyalties of various factions are exceedingly hard to follow. Rival claimants to power in both Christian and Moslem kingdoms would frequently align themselves with the infidel enemies of their king, in hopes of improving their own situation. Overall, however, the tide was in favor of the Christians. It was during this era that the great hero El Cid lived, and his conquest of Valencia, one of the great Moslem cities of Spain, was one of the turning points in the long struggle.
The twelveth and thirteenth centuries saw even more dramatic losses in Moorish territory to the Christians. The Almohads replaced the Almoravids as the ruling dynasty, and they set up their capital in Seville, but never succeeded in truly uniting the Moorish kingdoms or opposing the Christian powers. They brought in an enormous army from Africa of over 500,000 Berbers, but were utterly routed on the plain of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. After this disaster, the Moors were everywhere on the defensive, and in the years following, the Christians gained nearly the whole Peninsula.
In the early 13th century the kingdom of Granada, along the southern coast of Spain, became a vassal state of Castile. In 1236 a Moslem prince, Mohammed Alhamar, came to power and founded a dynasty that was to remain the last stronghold of Moorish Spain for the next two hundred and fifty years. Although within a few generations the ruling family of Granada became divided, the political situation in Castile was even worse, and all of Europe suffered under the Black Plague. These disruptions delayed the fall of Granada for several hundred years, and during this period, Moorish culture continued to thrive. It was not until after Castile and Aragon united their kingdoms under Isabel of Castile and and Ferdinand of Aragon, that the Spaniards were united enough to tackle the fortified city of Granada. Once Ferdinand and Isabella had committed to driving the last vestiage of Moors from Spain, however, they approached their task systematically, and in 1492, Boabdil, the last king of Granada, surrendered the city to the Spanish monarchs.
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The Christain kingdoms of Northern Spain arose during the early years of the Moorish Empire in Spain, but did not become of great consequence until after the fall of the Cordova Caliphate in 1031 A.D. The leader of the band of exiles that fled to the mountains of Northeastern Spain after the Moorish invasion was Pelayo, a Visigoth prince, but the kingdom of Asturias that he formed was not Visigoth. Rather, it was a combination of indigeonus celt-iberians, exiles and refugees from various regions, including Spaniards, Visigoths, Suevi, and Franks.
In the earliest years of its existance, the kingdom of Asturias was not recognized as an independent kingdom. The dominant Christian forces in the region were the Franks, who successfully drove the Moors out of Gaul, and under Charlemagne even crossed the Pyrenees to give battle to the Mohammedans. But in 778 the Franks retreated, leaving Asturias as the predominant Christian kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula. During the early years of the Moorish empire, there was a large population of Christians still living within its bounds and paying special taxes while being denied full rights of citizenship. Considering the large population of tax-paying Christians in their realm and the ferocious Franks immediately to their north, the Cordova Caliphate was not inclined to take aggressive measures against the small and seemingly insignificant, independent mountain kingdom.
The region immediately south of Asturias was Leon, and early on the Asturians gained control of this strategic region. The territory of Asturias-Leon expanded slightly in the 9th and 10th centuries as a result of several Christian victories against the neighboring Moors, but also due to the settlement of the frontiers as more Christians emigrated from the Moorish domains into Christian territories. In 910 the king of Asturias moved his capital to Leon and the kingdom was henceforth known as the kingdom of Leon. The kingdom of Castile, which was originally a duchy of Asturias was "declared independent" by Fernan Gonsalez in 932, but continued to be overshadowed by Leon until the reign of Alfonso VI of Castile, several generations hence.
Other Christian kingdoms in the region were Navarre in the Pyrenees, which became independent of the Frankish empire in 837, and Aragon, which was split off from Navarre in 1035 and won lands to the South once held by the Moorish Caliphate. To the far Northwest were Galacia and Portugal, which were vassal kingdoms of Leon, but during the Castilian Wars achieved a degree of independence. The Christian kingdoms of Leon, Castile, Navarre, Aragon, Galacia and Portugal together controled all of Northern Spain, and for several hundred years warred with each other as well as the Moors to increase their territory. The wars between the Christian kingdoms are generally known as the Castilian Wars, because Castile was of central importance, and came to be the dominant kingdom on the Penninsula.
The eleventh century was a critical one for the rising Christian kingdoms. The Cordova Caliphate that had dominated the peninsula for the last three hundred years effectively collapsed and the Moorish Empire split into numerous independent kingdoms. At the same time, Ferdinand I of Leon united all of Galacia, Leon and Castile. He split his kingdom among his sons upon his death, but this only resulted in a decade of civil war which placed Alfonso VI of Castile on the throne of all three kingdoms, uniting them again under the crown of Castile. Alfonso VI, whose reign coincided with the career of the famous El Cid, was extremely successful in his wars against the Moors, and conquered the important city of Toledo, which gave Castile control of all of Central Spain.
The Christian victories against the Moors continued for another century. During this time, the territory of Aragon increased greatly, especially under James I of Aragon, and the kingdom of Portugal rose to prominance under Afonso Henry. The Moors continued to lose territory until 1212 at which time the terrific battle of Las Navas de Tolosa was fought in Southern Spain. In this battle, the united Christian armies defeated and nearly annihilated an enormous body of Moors and African Berbers. This effectively destroyed the power of the Moors, and by 1300 the Spaniards controled the entire Iberian Peninsula, save the vassal state of Granada. The conquest of Granada however, was delayed for nearly 200 years, due largely to the Black Plague and civil wars among the Christian Kingdoms.
The late fourteenth century was a very sorry one for all of Europe, and it produced some terrible tyrants in Spain, including Pedro of Castile. He instigated a number of civil wars which impoverished his country. It was several generations before a worthy successor rose to power in Castile, and it was not until the reign of Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, who united the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, that the Christians were unified enough to drive the last Moorish kingdom from their realm. These monarchs, who reigned for over forty years and put down a rebellion in Portugal and numerous civil wars in their own domains, brought an enormous amount of stability, unity, and prestige to their kingdom, and essentially established the modern state of Spain.
The fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries were excedingly important for Spain and Portugal because during these years they rose to great prominance internationally, due to their sea-faring exploration in Asia and the Americas. These early explorations were so important to world history, that they are dealt with seperately, even though there is considerable overlap with the rise of Spain.
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During the fifteenth century, the countries of Portugal and Spain embarked on an adventure of sea-faring exploration, the results of which were to dramatically change the course of world history, and thoroughly upset the existing balance of national powers. It is almost impossible to overstate the significance of European exploration and conquest, led by the Iberian states of Spain and Portugal during this era. More than any other factor, the discovery of the new continents of the western hemisphere, and just as significantly, the increased trading opportunities in the far east, changed the entire outlook of European thought and the western economy. Eventually other nations besides Spain and Portugal, most notably France, Holland, and England, became involved in trade and exploration, but the Hispanic explorers and conquistadors were the first and most significant.
The first notable name in sea-faring exploration was Prince Henry the Navigator, a Portuguese Prince, who who undertook many groundbreaking projects in navigation, map-making, and ship-building. In particular, he popularized the use of the caravel for long-distance voyages, and collected all known knowledge of the geography of the continent of Africa. From his base at Sagres in the south of Portugal he sent off numerous expeditions to the mysterious regions of Africa. Each expedition proceeded further than the one previously, and each crew returned with reports of new sites and new geographic discoveries. These explorations culminated in the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope by Bartholomew Diaz in 1488, and the first sea-faring voyage to India, by way of Africa, by Vasco da Gama in 1498.
Once a path to the rich markets of the east was open to westerners, the colonization of territories in the east, to serve as trading stations, was undertaken. Portugal succeeded in settting up colonies that would serve both as trading ports and also as re-feuling stations along the way. Although the Portguese sought trade with the mainland in the east, they generally colonized islands in the far east rather than attempting to set up trading stations on the mainland, since islands were more easily defended. Some of the earliest Portuguese settlements were on Socotra, Ceylon, Goa, Ormuz, Malacca, Macau, and Nagasaki. Several of these islands were already controled by Moslem traders rather than natives, so most of the combat that the Portuguese was involved in during their early years of conquest was directed against the Moslem Turks rather than the native princes of the region. Two of the most famous sailors involved in establishing the Portuguese empire in the east were Alfonso de Albuquerque and Francisco de Almeida. The Portuguese domination of the eastern trade lasted only until the late 1500's, when they began to lose ground to the Dutch, but they retained important colonies in the east and in Africa until the twentieth century.
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During the same era that Portugual was establishing trading routes to the east, the Spanish, led first by Christopher Columbus, were establishing colonies in the New World. Whereas the Portguese, once they doubled the Cape of Good Hope, encountered the advanced civilization of the east, and from the first had access to maps and navigational aids used by the Moslem traders, the Spanish in America had no clear idea of the geography of the region, and there were no previously established trading ports. There were, however, (very unfortutely for the natives), rumors of gold and silver, so from the beginning the exploration of the new world was driven by adventure seekers, and grasping, greedy, and brutal soldiers-of-fortune, rather than established merchants. The atrocities committed by the Spanish explorers against the native inhabitants of the west Indies was therefore, far worse than that inflicted by the Portuguese in the east.
In the earliest years of Spanish exploration in the new world, the initiative for exploration and conquest was driven largely by individual explorers, rather than being masterminded by the Spanish crown. In many cases, government support was only provided after "proof" of riches had already been established. Vasco Nunez Balboa, Ponce de Leon, Hernando Cortez, Francisco Pizarro, and Hernando De Soto, all undertook ambitious expeditions largely on their own initiative, and almost all either came to a bad end, or were bypassed by the Spanish government, who put their own functionaries in charge of governing the newly-discovered region.
Some of these early Spanish governors, including Pedrarias Davila and Nicholas de Ovando, were much worse villains than the famous explorers, and were largely responsible for the systematic atrocities against the natives and their eventual extermination. While the explorers themselves undertook tremendous personal risks, endured insufferable hardships, and in all cases encountered the natives in situations in which they were overwhelmingly outnumbered, the cowardly and dispicable governors lived in state and security, attacked and pillaged defenseless villages with enormous armies, and enslaved the native populations, so that they might gain promotion by sending gold home to Spain. Too much calumny, in modern times, is heaped on the well-known explorers, who were in every case, at least extraordinarily brave and interesting characters, and not enough on the craven and villainous government representatives, who are far more deserving of scorn.
In the years after Columbus established the first European settlement in the Americas, on the Island which is now the Dominican Republic, (then known as Santo Domingo), the region was thought to be a group of islands to the east of India; hence they were referred to as the "West Indies". Columbus made four voyages, and during each explored more of the region, but never found a passage to the orient, much to the disappointment of many of those who joined him on subsequent voyages, expecting opportunites for quick riches. He was stripped of his title, and replaced as governor of Santo Domingo and generally badly treated by the Spanish government after the death of his sponsor, Isabella, due to the fact that the riches anticipated by his discoveries were slow to materialize.
Later explorers, such as Ojeda, Pinzon, and Vespucci finally established, by sailing up and down the coast of south American and Mexico, that the new world was, in fact, a new and unknown continent. About the same time this knowledge came to light, Vasco de Gama successfully sailed around the Cape of Africa, and successfully established a sea-route to the Orient. The combination of the two events changed the aspect of things considerably. Henceforth, serious traders and merchants focused their efforts more on establishing fixed routes by way of Africa, leaving the Americas to be explored primarily by adventurers and relatively unsavory types, whose main interest in the region was plunder and gold rather than trade.
The Spanish governors who followed Columbus began to "pacify" Santo Domingo and neighboring islands, often in the most brutal manner imaginable. Their only concern was to gain riches to send back to Spain, and this could only be done by plunder and enslavement of the natives, and still, there was great disappointment because although the natives had some gold ornaments, no gold mines, or large reserves of gold were ever found.
The first Spanish settlement on the mainland was at established at Darien near the isthmus of Panama in 1510. The famous names associated with the early early of Darien include Pedrarias Davila, Francisco Pizarro, Hernando De Soto, and most famously, Vasco Nunez Balboa. Balboa was the original founder of the colony, and a few years after establishing himself in the region and making peace with most of the native chiefs, Balboa and a small crew crossed the isthmus and discovered the Pacific Ocean in 1513. When he returned to Darien, however, he was replaced as a governor by Pedrarias, a thoroughly wretched creature, who makes even the murderous Balboa look sympathetic by comparison. On his travels Balboa had also heard rumors of the great Incan Empire to the south, and spent the last few years of his life building a small fleet on the Pacific Ocean with which he could explore the western coast of South America. Pendrias, however, was jealous of Balboa and had him tried and executed on trumped-up charges.
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It is very fortuitous for current residents of America that almost the entire eastern half of the United States is devoid of gold, silver, or precious metals of any kind. This is the only explanation for why the region was left relatively free from the plundering conquistadors, soldiers-of-fortune, and rapacioius governors that plagued Latin America, so that it could be settled centuries later by English farmers, traders, and otherwise respectable citizens.
Rogues, mercenaries, scallywags, butchers and scoundrels were not lacking in England, France, or other nations, but instead of working under the auspices of the Spanish government, they became pirates and privateers, and stole gold from the Spanish galleons rather than the native peoples. They did however, sack and plunder Spanish towns and kill hundreds of Spaniards, to the muffled cheers of their home governments. Most of the other European nations were exceedingly jealous of Spain's conquests in the New World, but did not dispute its sovereignty over the region.
Early Spanish explorers, most notably Ponce de Leon, Hernando De Soto, and Francisco de Coronado did explore the regions of America north of Mexico, which the Spanish called Florida, but did not find major empires, advanced civilizations, or gold. Ponce de Leon considered his exploration of the Peninsula of Florida a failure because he failed to find the Fountain of Youth, and De Soto, upon laying eyes on the great Mississippi, was discouraged and considered it only "another river to cross". Both had set their hearts on discovering great empires in the region, but found only hostile natives.
The North American Indians, in many cases, did a terrific job of massacring Spaniards, and keeping foreigners out of their territories. Tuscaloosa was one of the chiefs that made great names for themselves by fending off the Spaniards. That their great valor succeeded in leaving them unconquered for an additional three hundred years, however, had more to do with their lack of material wealth than their dauntless courage. Latin American tribes fought just as valiently, but were ultimately overcome by endless hordes of treasure-seeking hidalgos. It was the poverty of the North Americans that assured their security, rather than merely their courageous resistance.
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Ferdinand and Isabella had five children, and under Isabel's guidance, all were raised with the utmost care and rectitude. Their son John, the intended heir to the throne, however, died soon after he was married, and two of their daughters and a grandson also died young, leaving their daughter Juana of Castile, and her sons as the rightful heirs to the throne. After much palace intrigue, the throne passed to her eldest son Charles I of Spain, better known as Charles V (of Austria), who was also the sole heir to the Habsburg empire in the east, inherited from his father.
The vesting of so much power in one throne was bound to cause division and sure enough, the reign of Charles V was an endless series of wars. Some of these wars accomplished worthy goals, such as opposing Turkish encroachments in the Balkans and defeating the Barbary pirates at Tunis, but others were pure intrique. The Wars of Italy, for example, were fought between France and Spain for control of Italy, and during the seventy year conflict, virtually every power in Europe was at some point drug into the fray.
The Protestant Reformation occured during the reign of Charles V, but he dealt with the problem much more as a political difficulty than a theological one. He saw his primary enemies as the Ottoman Turks, and Catholic France, so to a large extent he tolerated the dissentions in Germany.
Also during the reign of Charles V, large quantities of gold and silver were found in the New world colonies, and development of the region expanded rapidly. Likewise, the Portuguese settlements in the far east became firmly established. In a relatively short period, therefore, the Iberian Peninsula became the wealthiest region in Europe.
Charles V was succeeded by his son Philip II of Spain, the notorious nemesis of northern Protestants. Although he is best known as the Catholic antagonist of Elizabeth I of England and William the Silent of the Netherlands, the most significant military accomplishment of his reign was a crushing victory against the Ottoman Turks. At the Battle of Lepanto, Philip's half-brother, Don John of Austria, demolished the Turkish navy, who in league with the Barbary pirates, threatened all the Christian kingdoms of the Mediterranean.
The Netherlands War of Independence, and the Anglo Spanish Wars also occurred during his reign. Although both these wars are generally thought of as religious conflicts, there were political and commercial aspects as well. Even though Spain eventually lost both struggles, she remained at the height of her power for several generations, due largely to the vast wealth inflowing from her American colonies. Unfortunately, the inevitable corruptions and decay that follow easy and sudden wealth were soon to bring about her downfall. Indulgence, bureaucracy, and infighting were far more destructive in the long term to Spain than any of her outside enemies, and during the 17th century she fell from being the leading power in Europe to an inept lackey of France.
The last Habsburg King of France was Charles II, and because he was severely deformed, it was understood even before his death that he was unlikely to produce an Habsburg heir. At this time, France was at the height of her power, and all of Europe feared what would happen if France and Spain were united under one crown. The Austrians, therefore, put forth the claims of a Habsburg cousin, and almost every independent country in Europe joined forces against the behemoth France. The resulting War of the Spanish Succession drug on for 14 years and consumed the whole continent in conflict. Although the allies failed in their objective of placing a Habsburg on the throne of Spain, the conflict dramatically curtailed the power of France.
Aside from political developments during the Habsburg era, several very important religious occurances are worthy of note. The Spanish kings tended to see Protestantism primarily as a political threat, and dealt with it in that manner. There was, however, a tremendous need at the time for genuine reform of the Catholic church, and several Spanish religious orders, most notably the Jesuits, led these critical reforms.
Besides Saint Ignatius of Loyola, who founded the Jesuits, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint John of the Cross, and Bartholomew de las Casas, were at the forefront of both the reform of exisiting orders, and the propagation of the faith in the new world. Since the interests of the bishops and parish priests were closely aligned with those of the state, it was primarily the religious orders who had enough independence to promote the interests of the universal church, especially when it opposed the material interests of the crown.
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The War of the Spanish Succession was fought between Louis XIV of France, and an alliance of European powers who feared his growing influence. On the death of Charles II of Spain, there was danger that the Spanish crown would fall to the Bourbons and upset the balance of powers. The war failed to prevent a Bourbon monarchy in Spain, but did much to curtail the territorial expansion of France.
In the end, the Spanish crown fell to Philip V of Spain, a grandson of Louis XIV, but it was agreed that the two thrones of France and Spain should never be united. Spain had lost a great deal of territory in Italy during the war, and the first order of business for Philip V of Spain was to attempt to regain these dominions. After this proved futile, Philip V and his son Ferdinand IV, implemented a series of reforms aimed at modernizing the government. There was from the first, however, much opposition to modernist ideas among the peasants and nobility alike, and a strong traditionalist faction survived until the 20th century, making the implementation of progressive reforms very difficult.
The Catholic Church held great tracts of land in Spain and its colonies, and was a prime target for modernist reformers. Confiscation of church property, so that it could be put to "better use" was a primary objective for progressive opportunists throughout Europe, and the government of Charles III of Spain was full of them. As a result of much intrigue, both within the statehouses of Europe, and the church itself, the Spanish government under Charles III broke faith with the Jesuits, who had done so much to Christianize Spain's American colonies, and in 1773 helped suppress the order. All Jesuits were forced out of the dominions of Spain and their properties were split between local governments and religious orders in better favor with the Spanish court.
In 1789 the first rumblings of the French Revolution were apparent in France, and at about the same time the Spanish government fell into the hands of the deplorable Maria Louisa and her corrupt minister Emanuel Godoy. Although the Spanish monarchy was thorougly corrupt and cravenly submitted to most of Napoleon's demands, the Spaniards themselves objected vehemently to the tyrant's usurpations, and rose against him when he invaded Spain and put his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the throne. The Peninsular War which followed Napoleon's invasion was terrible for Spain—its army was too disorganized to resist without British help, so many Spaniards fought as guerillas or submitted to British command. The country was ravaged by war and bitterly divided, and the Spanish colonies in both South America and Mexico took the opportunity to declare their independence from the Spanish throne.
As Napoleon's empire began to collapse, the Peninsular war was finally brought to a close, and Ferdinand VII of Spain was restored to the throne. This brought little peace to Spain, however. It was still so deeply divided between traditionalists and modernists that it was nearly ungovernable for much of the 19th century. In 1820 there was a liberal coup, but it did not last, and by 1823 almost all of Spain's American colonies were lost. Ferdinand remained in power until his death in 1833, but only by managing to displease everyone, so that he was equally distrusted by all sides.
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Before 1830, Ferdinand had no heir, so the throne was set to pass to his brother, Don Carlo, a traditionalist. In order to prevent this, the liberals passed a law allowing the crown to pass to his infant daughter, Isabella II of Spain. This led directly to a long-term civil dispute which came to be known as the Carlist Wars. The First Carlist War lasted from Ferdinand's death in 1833 until Don Carlos went into exile in 1843. The peace was a temperorary one, and again, pleased no one. Although Isabella was finally declared sovereign at age 13, the government remained in the hands of the palace ministers who tried to maintain order by appeasing both the conservatives and progressives to some extent, but without a viable long-term plan. Isabella governed very badly, showing favor to some of the reactionaries at court, but tending toward decadence in her personal life. Her court was filled with intrigue and corruption, and she was deposed by a liberal coup in 1868.
The conspirators who overthrew Isabella, however, had no clear plan of government, and could not agree on the terms of either a republican government or a constitutional monarchy. One European royal by the name of Amedeus of Savoy was offered the Spanish crown, but abdicated after three years, declaring the country of Spain ungovernable. During his reign, a third Carlist uprising broke out, resulting in four more years of civil war and anarchy. By 1876 however, the revolution was spent and its leader, Don Carlos (son of the Don Carlos who led the first Carlist uprising), went into exile. At this point Alfonso XII, son of Isabella II, was restored to the throne.
For the following fourty-five years, Spain was ruled as a constitutional monarchy under Alfonso XII, and later under his son Alfonso XIII. The strife between progressives and conservatives continued unabated, but the popularity of both Alfonsos helped to unify the country somewhat. Spain suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of the United States in 1898. She lost both Cuba and the Philippines during the Spanish American War. Although greatly humiliated by this defeat, the fact that Spain had lost all of her colonies and was no longer an imperial power helped her remain neutral during World War I, which improved her situation somewhat, especially relative to those portions of Europe devasted by the Great War.
In 1921 a coup broke out, and a military dictatorship ruled unitl 1930. Soon after, Alfonso XIII went into exile, and a Second Republic was attempted. The long-simmering disputes between left and right in Spain continued, however. When conservatives were elected to power in 1934, the left responded with strikes and uprisings, and when the various factions from the left and center united to wrest power from the conservatives in 1936, a military coup by Francisco Franco led to a bitter civil war.
The Spanish Civil War was fought between the rightist Nationalist Party, and the leftist Republicans, but various internationalist political movements that were active throughout Europe became involved in the struggle, particularly on the side of the leftist. There was in fact, a great struggle for power on the side of the republicans, which aided the nationalist cause, and after four years, the rightist party prevailed. Franco ruled Spain as a dictator for nearly four decades, but his rule was relatively mild, and Spain transitioned peacefully to a democracy in 1974.
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The conquest of Mexico was accomplished by Hernando Cortez, a hidalgo who had arrived in Hispanolia in 1510 and established his reputation during the conquest of Cuba. In 1518 he was put in charge of an expedition to the mainland, but fell out of favor with Velazquez, the governor of Cuba, and left the island without permission. He landed first on the Yucatan, where he fought and made peace with some of the coastal natives, and there he learned details of the fabulous city of the Aztecs in the heart of Mexico. One of the female slaves that he obtained early in his journey, whom he called Dona Marina, spoke both the Mayan and Aztec languages and she became his invaluable assistant throughout his conquests. Cortez began his march on the capital of Mexico and after vanquishing several hostile tribes en route, made alliances with natives who were enemies of the Aztecs. The Tlaxcalan tribe, who submitted to Cortez only after a decisive loss to the Spaniards, were ferocious warriors who hated the Aztecs and were invaluable allies during the conquest.
Cortez, along with his Tlaxcalan allies, marched to Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) unopposed, and quickly got the emperor Montezuma under his power. Thus far things had gone well, but they quickly got out of hand. First Cortez had to leave the city to fend off an unfriendly Spanish army sent by his enemy Velazquez. When he returned an unprovoked massacre of the Aztec priests had set the whole city in rebellion; Montezuma died; and the Spaniards scarcely escaped with their lives. Although they lost over half their numbers in the flight from the city, Cortez mananged to turn the situaiton around by making more alliances with Aztec enemies. In a few months he was sufficiently recovered to make another attack on the city, but the Aztecs refused to submit and the entire city was destroyed before the new emperor surrendered. As soon as the region was pacified however, the Spanish king replaced Cortes with one of his governors. Cortes received an award in land and riches, but was allowed no further position in government.
For the following three hundred years, from 1521 until the early 1800's, Mexico was ruled by Viceroys of Spain. The first of these viceroys, Antonio de Mendoza, is probably the most notable. In an age of rapine greed, cruelty, and conquest, he exemplified the best of Spanish character, and laid a solid foundation for the Government of Mexico. His treatment of the natives was as fair and just as possible under the circumstances, and a great many submitted to Spanish rule peacefully. He was helped in his early efforts by a multitude of monks and missionaries who built schools, converted the Indians to Christianity, and in some cases protected them from the abuses of Spanish adventurers and opportunists.
Few of the later viceroys made notable contributions, and some were grossly unjust, but the worst oppressors of the Indians were neither the official government representatives, nor the Christian missionaries. The New World attracted a great number of adventurers, greedy merchants, miners, and landholders, who sought to enslave, rob, and abuse the natives for their personal gain. "The laws of Spain provided for justice and humanity in the dealings with the Indians, but the settlers, thousands of miles away, paid no attention to these laws". Likewise, the Church's official teachings on the treatment of the Indians was invariably charitable, but individual clerics exploited them as badly as any grasping landlord. It is fair to generalize that the Indians were treated very badly by the Spaniards, but the worst offenses were the result of local abuses, not official policy.
The Spanish Empire in the new world was far-flung and sparcely populated. In truth, the Spanish rule was confined mostly to highly populated areas, and although vast tracts of North America were claimed by Spain, little was done to colonize the northern regions until the 18th century. For many years North American Indians traded with the Spaniards but were not ruled by them. Junipero Serra was a Franciscan monk whose work building missions along the coast of California was especially noteworthy, but as late a 1846, at the opening of the Mexican American War, the Spanish presence in all of the American southwest was very limited.
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Before the late 18th century, the idea of the Spanish colonies breaking free from their mother country did not have much currency. After the American and French Revolutions, however, the idea was considered by a small, intellectual class of Latin American aristocrats. Little was done to advance the cause at first, but in 1808, the Bourbon monarch was deposed, and Napoleon put his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the throne of Spain. As a result Spain was plunged into the Peninsular War. This provided an opportunity for revolutionaries throughout America to strike when the mother country was in disarray.
The first declaration of Independence was set forth by Miguel Hidalgo, a priest from the small town of Delores. He was subsequently executed, but the movement for independence, supported by strange mix of liberals, conservatives, peasants, and aristocrats, continued to gain steam until it was finally resolved in 1821. From the beginning, those fighting for independence from Spain had widely differing ideas of how an independent Mexico would be governed, and this caused terrific problems in the early years of the republic. The coalition did hold together, however, long enough to permanently sever Spain's claim to the colonies.
The War of Mexican Independence mainly involved a series of armed rebellions in the colonies. Most were put down by the Spanish loyalists, but eventually Agustin Iturbide, the commander of the Spanish forces, deserted to the other side, with the intention of making himself dictator. He was, in fact declared Emperor, but was soon deposed by rival political factions and later executed. The first republic was established soon afterward, with an American style constitution, but in reality the power was held by warring generals, most prominently Santa Anna. The presidency of the republic changed hands constantly, and Santa Anna held the office a total of 11 times in 20 years.
The Mexican American War, during which the United States gained a great deal of territory at the expense of Mexico, occurred only 20 years after independence. The divisive political sects in the country, which had caused so much turmoil in the first few years of Mexican history, worsened after the conflict with America. A new civil war between liberal and conservative factions broke out in 1857, and eventually led to the occupation of Mexico by French soldiers, who sought to place a Habsburg on the throne of Mexico. The reign of Archduke Maximilian of Austria lasted only three years, since he proved too liberal for the conservatives, and too conservative for the liberals. He was deposed and executed in 1867, and for a brief time following, Benito Juarez led a government that was democratically elected and dedicated to liberal reform.
Sabastian Lerdo followed Juarez in the Mexican presidency, but the era of free elections was already drawing to a close. In 1876, Porfirio Diaz, a popular general who had sided at times with both liberals and conservatives, took power by force and made himself president. Although he stepped down briefly after his first term was over, he later decided that the country could not do without him, so he finagled his way back into power, this time permanently. After he was elected president again in 1884, he changed the constitution as required to allow him to retain power indefinitely. He kept a strong rein on power for the next 27 years, until he was deposed and exiled in 1911.
It is difficult to describe the politics of Diaz in terms other than despotic opportunism. He supported many liberal policies, but did so in a centralized and tyrannical manner. He sought alliances with both liberal wealthy businessmen and conservative wealthy land-owners, while permitting the exploitation of landless peons. He allowed the confiscation of communal lands from illiterate peasants so that they could be sold to foreigners and speculators. In short, the Mexican rich got richer, and the poor got poorer, all under the guise of liberal modernism.
Diaz enjoyed a great deal of popular support at the beginning of his reign, but by the early 1900's there was widespread opposition. He pretended to hold free elections in 1911, but engaged in such flagrant voter fraud that it incited his enemies to arms, and Diaz was forced to flee to France. This was the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. In the following years, leadership of Mexico changed hands many times, through both coups and elections, but eventually the government fell into the hands of Venustiano Carranza.
From the beginning the Revolutionary side of the war was made up of many who opposed the Federal government of Diaz, but had conflicting ideas of the type of government that should replace it. Some of the most famous Revolutionary generals, such as Pancho Villa, and Emiliano Zapata, were radicals. Carranza (by revolutionary standards) was moderate, but the Constitution he proposed in 1917, was very strongly anti-clerical. The purpose of taking such a strong stand against the Catholic Church, of course, was to provide a basis for the wholesale confiscation of Church property by the new government. The Anti-Catholic provisions were so unpopular that yet another Civil War broke out a few years later. After five more years of fighting it was resolved that the government would not enforce all of its anti-Catholic laws.
From the late 1920's until the mid 1980's, Mexico was run as a single party system. The PRI was corrupt and engaged in blatant voter fraud, but at least it avoided civil war. Only in the last two decades has Mexico developed a genuine multiple-party system.
The conquest of Peru is often told simply as the story of the battle of Caxamalca, during which Francisco Pizarro and his men massacred a group of unarmed Incas, and captured their leader, Atahualpa. It was a shameless deed, and Pizarro is deserving of his poor reputation, but the conquest of the Incas was far from a single-battle event. Pizarro had spent eight difficult years exploring the region and trading with the natives on his own initiative. It was only after he survived a series of perilous expeditions and returned to Spain with samples of gold and silver, that he was given the men and resources he required to complete the conquest.
Even with government support however, the obstacles to conquest were almost insurmountable. The climate and terrain were very difficult, and to even reach the coast of Peru one had to march through a trackless jungle, embark on a small boat, and sail through treacherous waters, only to find oneself at the base of an enormous mountain range. The Incan capital was dozens of miles inland, at a high altitude and the entire region was populated with tens of thousands of Inca warriors. In addition, there were severe conflicts and jealousies among the Spaniards, and Pizarro had many enemies. In the end however, he rose (or rather sunk) to the occasion, and using a combination of brutality, superstition, terror and treachery, managed to get the Inca into his control, and ward off challenges from his Spanish rivals. He was granted governorship of the new province, which proved to be the richest in Spanish possession, but was soon murdered by partisans of a man he had betrayed.
With its immense wealth in silver and gold, Peru quickly became the focal point of Spanish interest in South America. The city of Lima was created, and it became the center of Spanish trade and government. During the viceroyalty period, the province of Peru referred to the entire west half of South America, encompassing everything but Portugal's Brazil. By the 18th century, the viceroyalty in South America had broken into three portions. New Granada consisted of modern day Columbia, Venezuela, and Panama; Rio de la Plata consisted of Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay; and Peru consisted of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Ecuador. These divisions are important for understanding how the Independence of South America came about.
The most famous early advocate of South American Independence was a revolutionary by the name of Miranda.
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