Late Middle Ages Institutional complexity o Custom o Complex property Rural and agrarian o Local production o Taboo against trade o Eastern trade Venice o Powerful nobility Struggles of the crown o Against nobility o Against church Visions of unity o Social tree/body o 7 sacraments Eucharist Corpus Christi Reconciliation Penance Pilgrimage: go to a holy place to show your reverence place of relic of a saint o Main way people saw the world beyond their home Crusading: armed pilgrimage o First crusade 1095 to Jerusalem o Late Middle Ages, crusades were prominent 1066 invasion of Normandy Livery companies guilds Church stated that trade was bad because you re making profit o Trading items for money getting more money that what it s worth o Merchants are not honorable Venice controlled trade between the east and west Improved infantry and weaponry o Challenge the dominance of knights o Knights high calling of the nobility in the MA Kings had little power due to poor communication o The statesmen and church had more power over their lands o Struggle for control between the dukes and kings o Crenellation 1
2 House of Aviz: 1385 1580 o Begins as a crusading order o Commerce and colonization o English alliance o John II, 1481 1495 Crackdown of nobility Council of scholars o Conversion order, Inquisition Spanish takeover, 1580 o Dispersal and resistance Restoration under Braganza, 1640 o Jesuit influence o Decline o Lisbon earthquake, 1755 Pombal and reforms Reconquista o Gradual process by which kingdoms from the north invaded Iberia and brought upon Christianity o Small Christian states of the reconquered lands o They unite Castile, surrounded by Aragon, Navarre, Portugal Ferdinand and Isabella, 1469 o Isabella s position is succeeded after the marriage; she becomes ruler of Castile o Ferdinand becomes king of Aragon o The kingdoms are not united two are given the name Spain o Centralizing power Royal Police force: take power away from local nobles Some nobles protected bandits Prosecute bandits and nobles Make alliance with small towns that were centers of trade and commerce o Converso subjects Isabella was not a fan of the conversos because they might be sympathetic to Islamic rulers She set up an inquisition with her confessor Partnership of the church and crown trying to suppress heresy Inquisition meant to rid the nation of heresy o Only over baptized Christian not anyone of any other religion o 1483: holy offices around Spain o Reports from clergy and ordinary subjects: imprison, gather evidence, render a judgment o Not main goal of the inquisition --- getting a confession from the heretics was the purpose Assign a penance reconciliation o Minor in relation to other inquisitions Innovative about how it was done first time you could set up a private institution that controlled the people. It was highly systematic, meticulous written records, you could track all the defendants (what they were doing, thinking, where new ideas were coming up) the whole purpose was to suppress unacceptable customs and create uniform loyalty. o Isabella feared reinvasion of Spain controllable loyal population with uniform beliefs and customs
o Fall of Granada, 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella take over Granada 10-year affair All of Iberia is under Christian rule, finished the Reconquista Conversion decree: all Jews must convert to the Christian church As long as there were Jews around, they were a temptation to the conversos Half converted, half left Iberia o Hapsburg Dynasty Grandchild of Isabella and Ferdinand marries a Hapsburg Spain becomes the major power on the continent and in the colonies Overseas empire does not benefit Spain that much Philip II rules for 42 years Tries to centralize power in the kingdom Tried to revoke the power of the nobles o Lots of resistance Symbolic head of the kingdom than actually being able to control the kingdom 1580 who is to succeed Portugal o Ruler of Castile, Aragon, and Portugal o Can t control Portugal that much Failure of the Spanish Armada, 1588 o Spain enters into a decline as they try to manage a large empire o Local nobles within Spain start to reassert themselves The crown starts to lose power, lose control over Portugal and the Netherlands Originally German The first Hapsburg of Spain had two parts: Spain+Netherlands, and Germany Leaders of Netherlands are Protestant and try to break apart from Philip 80 Years War o Spain was the first kingdom where you were clearly able to identify the ruler: taxes collected, church doctrine o Portugal is the product of the Reconquista Many kingdoms merged into one By the late middle ages, people speak Portuguese It is a result of the crusades o Elect someone from the House of Aviz to be the ruler in 1385 Commerce, trade, colonization led by explorers as a crusade against Islam Creates an alliance with England o Henry the Navigator: raised by Philippa of Lancaster o John II: king of the House of Aviz Aggressive but effective ruler Revokes the nobility s rights: lots of opposition from the nobility Council of Scholars: adjudicating disputes, collecting debts, taxes By Europe s standards, Portugal is small and isolated Easier to control Coastal sea power and easy trade o Conversion decree: most Jews are from Spain Portugal converts everyone to Christianity Less punitive than the Spanish Inquisition o Succession crisis in 1580 Phillip II takes over, starts shifting officials and ambassadors 3
Portugal puts up a resistance o Restoration of Braganza in 1640 Face the same challenges as the Hapsburg rulers in Spain Bring back some power of the nobility Adopt new institutions: Jesuit order The unofficial rulers of the kingdom Benefit from the alliance with England o Earthquake near Lisbon in 1755 Destroys Portugal, part of Spain and Morocco 1453: fall of Constantinople 4
Portugal o 1415 conquer Ceuta in Morocco To continue the crusades Important for gold trade hope to take control of it o John I marries Philippa of Lancaster Prince Henry the Navigator 3 rd son Becomes main voice in the Portuguese court, sponsoring seagoing voyages Participates in the capture of Ceuta Launching voyages improving ports and move to southern Africa o Sources of African goods to trade directly by sea as opposed to using Muslim merchants o Might be able to get all around Africa to get to the Indian Ocean and make profit to fund crusades; circumvent the Islamic world o Wanted to find Prester John legendary Christian king that ruled a powerful Christian kingdom in the east past Jerusalem Potential ally that would launch a crusade on both sides of Jerusalem and recapture it o Development in seafaring technology Caravel improved sailing Studied the oceanic currents and winds Fall of Constantinople in 1453 o Main point of contact between Europe and Asia o Controlled by Turks o Raised tariffs for Europeans Portugal discovered island chains in the Atlantic o Beginning of colonization o Wine and sugar farms 1498: Vasco Da Gama leads a voyage that goes around Africa that goes up to India o Opens up diplomacy and trade with India o Set up a network of trades along Africa and Middle East, taking control of the Muslim merchants and displacing them o Start making movements into the Pacific and East Asia o By 1550 there is a sophisticated network of outposts, not too isolated and well-protected Began as a crusading quest o Support Catholic missionaries Christianity in east Africa, India, China o Francis Xavier from Navarre, joins the Jesuit order and is dispatched to spread Christianity in Asia (Malacca, Japan (Nagasaki), China) 1500 accidentally discover Brazil o Set up fortified outposts Mainly trade for dye wood Begin setting up sugar plantations Spain o Reconquest did not end like it did in Portugal o 1492 fall of Granada and expulsion order of the Jews, and Columbus o Columbus mariner from Genoa Most experience is Portuguese Been on voyages going along the European coasts 4 voyages to the Americas 5
6 Start setting up outposts along the Caribbean o Castilians begin to see the settling in the Americas as crusades o Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494 The pope divides the new lands between Portugal and Spain o Hispaniola Main base in the Caribbean for exploration of the Americas Private companies start sending out voyages Conquistadores knights, minor nobility o Spanish advantages: Horses and steel Strategic alliances Disease o Labor mandates: encomienda Demand labor from indigenous people Mainly mining gold and silver Dispute over right of conquest or rule Laws of Burgos: 1512 attempted to demand less harsh labor from the encomienda New Laws 1542 extend the Laws of Burgos Sunset on the encomienda system Revolts Becomes apparent to Spain that the conquests are just as problematic on the new lands as the conflicts back home o Debate of Valladolid, 1550 Arguments between whether or not Spain has the right of conquest over the new lands Are certain people naturally suited for labor? Main point in argument that the natives need to be ruled over by civilized Christians Las Casas: the indigenous people have sophisticated laws, courts, and religion o Should missionize and convert the people to Christianity and win them over without coercion Church or people of Spain? o Silver mining: Potosi and Zacatecas