Introduction

My research report is going to be about the Spanish medieval times in Spain. I will research the reigns and kingdoms and the kings and queens of in this time. period. I will bring you through the decades and eras of the dictators. [I think Franco was the only dictator, hence one dictator and one era.] I recently just came back from a semester in Spain. While I was over there I was in a History of Spain class that was very interesting. I would love to share this research and information. with you. [If something can be said with fewer words, it almost certainly will sound more direct, and better. See Strunk on this point, rule 13.]

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Questions

• 1.)I want everyone to get a feeling about the Spanish history.
• a.) The first colonization of Spain from Northern Africa. [Is "colonization the right word?]
• b.) When did the Romanization occur?
• c.) Who were the Visogoths?
• d.) The establishment of the Muslims in the southern penisula. [The Muslims pushed the Visigoths all the way up to the Pyrenees, and then invaded Francia too.]
• 2.)What were the five kingdoms in Spain in the 14th and 15th centuries?
• a.) The Kingdom of Navarra
• b.) The Kingdom of Portugal
• c.) The Crown of Aragon
• d.) The Castilian-Leon Kingdom
• e.) The Kingdom of Granada
• 3.)Who were some of the Kings and Queens that were in power control of the Kingdoms?

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Links

• The Labyrinth - a vast collection of medieval materials at Georgetown U.
• Medieval Sourcebook - just that ... a growing collection of sources at Fordham.
• Strunk - an online free version of the famous writing style guide.
• History Resources about Spain - useful information on the early history of Spain.
• More Spanish Resources - more useful information on resources and graphics of early Spain.
• Granada Resources
• Map of Spain
• Spanish Medieval Info/Byzantine [All of these last ones need descriptions, and you might use the map as an appendix of some sort or even use it in the paper since it is not all that large.]
• Medieval Spanish Iberian Studies
• Islamic Spain
• Si Spain [This is the same as the fourth link in your list.]
• More Spain Information

The Historic Roots of Spain

Spain is located on the Iberian Penisula, where it ocupies [sp]a position that is very accesible [sp] from other countries and continents. Spain is situated between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and Spain is the most extreme southern country of Europe, which can be also known as Mediterranean Europe. Spain is separated from Africa by about the eight mile which formed the Strait of Gibraltar. Because of this close connection between the proximity of the two continents, many of the cities in Spain are of foreign descent [Awkward: rewrite the part about "descent."] For example, locations like Africa, Europe and the Orient. [The last is not a sentence ... it has no verb.]

One of the characteristic features of the early histoty of Spain is the succesive waves of different peoples who spread all over the Penisula. [Is there a reason to capitalize peninsula?] The first to appear were the Iberians, a Libyan people, who came from the south. Later came the Celts, a typically Aryan people (who came from the north), and from the merging of the two there a arose a new race, the Celtiberians.[Are you sure you want to say they were a new "race"?] , who, dDivided into several tribes (Cantabrians, Asturians, Lusitanians), they gave their name to their respective homelands. The next to arrive, attracted by mining wealth, were the Phoenicians, who founded a number of trading posts along the coast, the most important being that of Cadiz. After this Next came the Greeks, settlers, who founded several towns, including Malaga and Ampurias. The Phoenicians, in their struggle against the Greeks, called on the Carthaginians, who took possesion (sp) of most of Spain. It was at this time that Rome raised a border dispute in defense of the areas of Greek influence, and thus began in the Penisula the Second Punic War, which decided the fate of the world [The entire world?]at that time. At this time After their victory, the Romans began the conquest of Spain, which was to be under Roman rule for six centuries.⁽¹⁾ [The Second Punic War was of very great significance in Roman history, and they looked upon if forever after as "their finest hour." It certainly deserves more than the very short treatment you afford it here.]

The Romanization Period

The cultural Romanization of the Iberian Penisula proceed (sp) at approxiametly (sp) around the same time of the conquest. The Romanization entailed the integration of Hispania into the political, social, economic, cultural, and ideological structures world of the Roman Empire. Because of differing intervening causes and factors, the Romanization process did not proceed at a steady pace throughout the Penisula (sp). It proceeded more quickly in the more developed countries, [I do not think one can call them "countries." Regions perhaps, but not "countries."] such as Baetica, Levante and the Ebro River Valley [river valley requires no caps], but less so in the underdeveloped inland and northern regions which held in large measure retained [see rule 13] their traditional systems of organization all the way to the end of the Roman conquest.⁽²⁾

[All of these events of which you speak have years attached to them, and you should include them ... like the years of the Second Punic War to cite just one example.]

The religious practices of the native people of Spain were also became romanized. [Rome is a proper name and requires a capital, hence I think this verb "Romanize" might also require one.] Many natives in the Penisula (sp) kept to their longstanding religious traditions throughout the imperial domination. Eventually, Christianity a superseded all other religions there were. [Why do you italicize some of your words? Like "Christianity," for example?]

Spain benefited from the importation of the Roman influence in so many ways, For example, Spain benefited educationally, literary, and artistically. [You've mixed two adverbs with one adjective (literary) which is why this sentence is ungrammatical. The word must parallel the other two and be an adverb because adjectives modify nouns or pronouns, but not verbs. The verb in the sentence is "benefited." That's what adverbs are for.] Some of the greatest Roman writers, politicians, and other orators were born in this country. [Spain constituted several provinces of the Roman Empire, which you should name. It was not a "country." Much of the architecture in parts of Spain have Roman influence. Take a look at this Roman piece of architecture [This link (https://members.tripod.com/~cgilbert/romanbridge.gif) is inoperative] that [learn the difference between the uses of "that" and "which"] striked [no such word in English] me to be some of the great developers of the Roman era and influence were: the philospher Senecas (sp), the poets Lucan and Marcial; the orator Quintilan; [You are using semicolons incorrectly.]and the emperors Trajan and Hadrian. [That last is a very badly run on sentence and should be totally rewritten into two or perhaps three sentences.] Many works of art dating back from to the time of the Roman conquest are preserved in art museums all over Spain. These include displaying a variety of sculptures, mosaics, glassware, s and art work. ["Sculptures, mosaics, glassware" ARE "art work." So you are listing the same thing twice, which is redundant.]

[The reason the graphic does not work is that you say the address is file:///A|/aqueduct.gif, i.e., on your disk and I do not have your disk. When inserting images, you should give the complete online address, even if it is your own site. So that the URL would then be something like https://members.tripod.com/~cgilbert/aqueduct.gif -- assuming the image was at your site. Since that does not work either, I conclude that the image is just not there. If it is elsewhere, the URL would of course be somethng else.]Many cities (pueblos) in Spain trace their roots to Roman occupation: Barcelona (Barcino), Tarragona (Tarraco), Saragossa (Caesar Augusta), Seville (Hispalis), Merida (Emerita Augusta), Leon (Legio), Astorga (Asturica Augusta). [Spain was part of the Roman Empire, hence "occupation" is the wrong word. We would not say that many of Idaho's towns can be traced to American "occupation" after all.] These particular cities functioned as the religious, cultural administrative and commercial [missing two commas] center [requires plural ... for the plural subject of the sentence] for the cities population. Under the "Roman Truces" (pax Romana), the urban centers flourished from the trade of farm goods and handicrafts. The Roman architectural model was adopted for all public works and monuments. For example, temples, theaters, aqueducts, sports arenas, bathhouses, stadiums, many of which are still standing today.⁽³⁾ The museums that I visited when I ws (sp) studying over in Spain were; [semicolon?] The Prado Museum in Madrid and the Picasso Museum in Barcelona. [Why is the Prado capitalized but not the Picasso? The word "the" is very rarely capitalized in English, unless it is part of a proper name or if it begins a sentence. These are very basic rules of usage.] The Prado Museum has my favorite piece called "Las Meninas." ["https://members.tripod.com/~cgilbert/Lasmeninasfile.htm" is not a working link. The image is not at your site, or it is spelled wrongly, or both.]

The Establishment of the Muslims in the Iberian Penisula

The Muslims ["https://members.tripod.com/~cgilbert/map(muslim).gif" is an inoperative link/] invaded the Iberian Penisula (sp) in the VII century. [We do not use Roman numerals when we refer to centuries. We use adjectives like "seventh." Also, the year was 711, so it is not the seventh century at all.] They came from the northern sector of Africa heading through the Strait of Gibraltar. [The strait is made up of water. Do we "head through" water? Or do we travel over it?] The Muslims easily defeated the Visogoths and by 718 were masters of almost the entire penisula. Many Spanish Christians converted to Islam, ans (sp) Muslims of different Syrians, [Muslims of different Syrians??] Berbers-settled in Spain, although their numbers were never great. The rich lands of southern Spain, which they called al-Andalus, were especially attractive in comparison with to the deserts of North Africa. [The ref to this following image is just "spain7.gif" which would work if it were at your site, but it seems not to be there. Check it, and then supply the entire URL, as noted above. Also, image names are case sensitive, so check that too.]

A man by the name of Abd al-Rahman from Syria managed to take over Al-Andalus in the eighth century. He came from a family with power, who ruled the Arab empire. [It is far more complicated than that. Abd al-Rahman was one of the Umayyads. The Umayyads dominated the caliphate from 661 until 750 until they were ousted by their rivals, the Abbasids. The Umayyads were Syrians hence the capital was at Damascus. The Abbasids (who ruled until the thirteenth century) were from al-Iraq, so the capital was moved to Bagdad. Abd al-Rahman was one of the few Umayyads to escape and he fled to al-Andalus. You might want to take a look at Philip Hitti's History of the Arabs, in particular the chapter on the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba.] He reunited Moorish Spain (Moorish is a word the spanish (sp) call for Muslim) ["call for Muslim"? Do you mean that Moorish is what the Christians called the Muslims?] and declared himself caliph of Cordoba. Cordoba is located in the Andalusian region of Spain. Most of the architecture in Cordoba is based on the Moorish religion for this reason. Cordoda (sp) is a beautiful city with one of the most highest influences ["one of the most highest influences" is awkward and ungrammatical. Rewrite completely.] from Muslims. Abd al-Rahman's reign from (929-961) marks the apogee of Muslim Spain, a time of economic and cultural splendor. [You are confusing names here. Just as England had more than one king named Henry, so Cordoba had more that one amir named Abd al-Rahman. When that happens, a monarch gets a number -- like Elizabeth II. It is the same in Islam.] Besides Granada (where I lived), Cordoba was my other favorite city in Spain. With its small cobble-stone "calles" and white architecture to its most extravagant mosques. [The preceding is not a sentence. Sentences require verbs. Also, the common English usage is "from ... to" not "with ...to" Rewrite.]Al-Andalus was a region of prosperous cities and intense trade. [The preceding sentence is repetitious. Also, can trade be "intense"? I think you may mean something else entirely.] The Muslim rulers generally tolerated Christians ans (sp) Jews and encouraged cultural diversity.⁽⁴⁾

After the death of Rahman, many different occasions started to develop. Al-Andalus began dividing into states or "taifas". There developed two dynasties of Islamic ruling that wanted to enhance more directly the Islam religion. The first group were called the Almoravids (1086-1147). These "rugged Berber nomads" derived from the continent of Africa. . They originated a religiously-political Islamic movement toward the "native Moors." ["https://members.tripod.com/~cgilbert/hiofmoosp1139-1331.jpg" is inoperative. It is almost certain that there can be no jpg called "hiofmoosp1139-1331.jpg."] When the Almoravids arrived in the Iberian Penisula, they destroyed (defeated) Alfonso VI. ⁽⁵⁾ ["https://members.tripod.com/~cgilbert/alfonso VI.htm" is inoperative. Besides, file names cannot have spaces in them.]They ruled North Africa and Spain 1056-1147. Marrakesh in Morocco became their Islamic capital in 1070. In 1086 the Almoravids crossed the Strait of Gibraltar into Spain and defeated the Christian army of reconquest, and annexed the territories of Muslim Spain. The Almoravids were conquered by the refined civilization of Spain and were unable to defend their empire against the Almohads. The Almohads were an Arabic people who had gained control over the Almoravids, [No, they were not an Arabic people. Arabic people are people who come from Arabia. These people came from Morocco. The "generic" term for Islamic people from North Africa (except for Egyptians) is "Berber." The name "Almohade" is a Spanish corruption of the Arabic "al-Muwahhidun" which means "unitarians" in that language. The sect was founded by Muhammad ibn-Tumart (about 1178 to 1130) of the Masmudah tribe. He proclaimed himself "al-Mahdi" (the prophet) sent by Allah to restore Islam to its original purity and orthodoxy. Hitti tells us that he was "small, ugly, and misshapen, this son of a mosque lamplighter lived the life of an ascetic, and opposed music, drinking, and other manifestations of laxity. When a young man, his zeal led him to assault in the streets of Fas (Fez) a sister of the reigning Murabit Ali ibn-Yusuf because she went unveiled." The story is told by the very famous medieval Arab historian, Ibn Khaldun. Finally, just about every one of these Spanish names, like Almohades, is a corruption of the original Arabic word.] their traditional enemy in Northern Africa. The Almohads invaded the Iberian Penisula and reconstructed for the second time the unity of Al-Andalus, making it independent from Morocco in 1170. [This is just not correct. In 1170, the capital was transferred from Marrakesh to Seville but the emirate remained intact and included Algeria and Tunisia too. They remained in Spain until 1212.] The Almohads were also successful in their attempts to keep the Christians' advance from going anywhere.⁽⁶⁾ The Almohads were another Islamic dynasty. They came into Spain and ruled from 1130-1269. This Berber group lead by Abd al Mumin demolished the Almoravids and took over the Almoravids capital (Marrakesh). At the same time, all the Muslim territory in Spain was occupied. [The text that I have highlighted in yellow appears to repeat things that you have already said, thoght the years cited are different.] Seville became the capital of the Western (no cap for "western") Islamic world. Since the Almohads [the word is Almohade] dynasty was so large in size, social divisions and religious conservatism the empire fell to pieces. ["social divisions and religious conservatism the empire fell to pieces" makes no sense.] The Almohads were confronted by the Christian "Reconquista" which included Castile, Navarre and Aragon. They joined together to form a common front against the Almohads. The Almohads were defeated at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 which resulted in their total withdrawl from Spain.⁽⁷⁾ [You are contradicting yourself. Just a few lines ago, you wrote that "They came into Spain and ruled from 1130-1269."] The Reconquest was just about completed in about the middle of the 13th century. The only two cities that the Muslims retained and had influence on was Granada ["two cities was" should be "two cities were" ... subject and verb must agree, which is grade school English.] (in the most southern part of Spain and Castille in the north. It was in the 11th century, when Moorish unity broke down, and the an anti-Muslim spirit took hold in the Christian kingdoms of northern Spain began to be affected by an anti-Muslim spirit making the Reconquest began to excel [wrong word. Do you mean accelerate?] rather rapidly.

In 1224, the Kingdom of Granada, which is also known as the Third Taifa Kingdom [why the italics?] was known as the last area of Muslim Spain influence because of the successive conquests made by Castile and Aragon. As a state of Castile, the Nasrid dynasty of Granada managed to hold the kingdom together for two and a half centuries. [This is very confusing. Are you suggesting that Grenada was a part of Castile? Castile and Laon are in the north, on either side of the Douro river. Look at this map.] Although the political importance of the Kingdom of Granada did not have high standards, [Rewrite. How can "political importance" have "high standards."] its commerce and the arts of the Kingdom did attain won great acclaim. prestige. In 1492, the Catholic kings headed toward the city of Granada, the Roman conquest of which proved the last stage of the Reconquest of Spain ["the Roman conquest of which proved the last stage of the Reconquest of Spain" makes no sense to me.] and the end of the Muslim rule in the Iberian penisula.⁽⁸⁾ Penisula.

The Catholic Monarchs

This era of time marks [past tense, please] the ["the" should be "a"] step forward for Catholicism, when the country of Spain is finally coming came back together. [The trouble with your assertion is that you are assuming that Spain had at some time been "together" which is not really true. It had been two Roman provinces. Then it was invaded by the Vandals and the Visigoths. Even during the shortlived Visigothic kingdom of Spain, the Vandals held the south. Then the Muslims defeated the Vandals and the Visigoths, and except for a little pocket of Christians way up in the north, that was the first time the peninsula was united, only to have the unity unravel precisely because of the reconquista, something which Spanish historians have argued shaped Spanish character forever. You should read the history of Claudio Sanchez Albornoz, for example.] Starting out with the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469. [The preceding is not a sentence even with the "Starting out." Rewrite.] This Their marriage united the two kingdoms, united the entire country together as one and started a widespread growth for Spain. At the same time of the two Monarchs During their reign the city of Granada witnessed the end of which was under Moorish rule when it was conquered and taken over ["conquered and taken over" says the same thing twice. Conquest means rule.]by Isabel I and Fernando II. This ended the reconquest. to its fullest.⁽⁹⁾ The Catholic Monarchs were of great importance in the early midst [the "early midst"? when might that have been?] of Spanish mediveil [please!]times. The most amazing Alhambra lies on the foothills of Granada. The Alhambra is the fortress where all the kings lived. It was an age of transition. [What does this sentence have to do with the one before it? Anything at all?] During the second half of the 15th century, the states of Europe had transformed into authoritarian monarchies where the king held unlawfully [Who says they were held unlawfully? Which "states of Europe" are you talking about?] the distintive (sp) powers. The powers that the king held were by the clergy, nobles and representives of the cities. In the Iberian Penisula the same system followed. [Systems do not "follow."] This process culimated the reign of the Catholic Monarchs. In 1474 Isabel was crowned Queen of Castilie.

Footnotes

[The site that you call "Internet Yahoo" is in fact Roman Spain, part of a larger tourist information site. yahoo is just a search engine. Also, footnotes end with periods and actual books require publication information. See Turabian. As for the site lists here, it seems to be that they are commonly being enclosed with parenteses, as in (http://www.hotmail.com).]

1.)Internet Si Spain: http://www.DocuWeb.ca/SiSpain/english/history/hisintro.html

2.) Internet Yahoo: http://www.camelotintl.com/heritage/roman4.html

3.) Internet Yahoo: http://www.camelotintl.com/heritage/roman5.html

4.) Academic American Encyclopedia #1 pg. 306-7 [Italicize book titles.]

5.) Academic American Encyclopedia #1 pg. 279 [Italicize book titles.]

6.) Internet Yahoo: http://www.camelotintl.com/heritage/mus4.html

7.) Academic American Encyclopedia #1 pgs. 306-7 [Italicize book titles.]

8.) Internet Yahoo: http://www.camelotintl.com/heritage/mus4.html [Fix link.]

9.)Internet Si Spain: http://www.DocuWeb.ca/SiSpain/english/history/hisintro.html [Fix link.]

Bibliography

Traditional format for books (as in Turabian) and some agreed upon form for Net citations. I will find a suitable guide for you.

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