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190-647: In 1492, the voyage of Christopher Columbus and the discovery of the Americas were major events in the history of Castile. The West Indies , Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea were also a part of the Crown of Castile when transformed from lordships to kingdoms of the heirs of Castile in 1506, with the Treaty of Villafáfila , and upon the death of Ferdinand the Catholic. The discovery of

380-516: A Genoese dialect ( Ligurian ) as his first language, though Columbus probably never wrote in it. His name in 15th-century Genoese was Cristoffa Corombo , in Italian, Cristoforo Colombo , and in Spanish Cristóbal Colón . In one of his writings, he says he went to sea at 14. In 1470, the family moved to Savona , where Domenico took over a tavern. Some modern authors have argued that he

570-460: A Papal dispensation . Consequently, Ferdinand's father forged a papal dispensation for the two to marry. Isabella believed that the dispensation was authentic and the marriage went ahead. A genuine papal dispensation arrived afterwards. Later Pope Alexander VI bestowed upon them the title of 'los Reyes Católicos' ('the Catholic Monarchs'). Henry IV , half brother of Isabella, considered

760-421: A bishop sub regula as the highest authority of the community. Other monasteries used different, sometimes antagonistic rules. The Benedictine and Augustine rules were uncommon until the 11th century. As in most of Europe, the chartulary and chronicle proceedings of monasteries and bishoprics are the most important sources for the study of local history. By the 12th century the only known bourgeois were

950-554: A degree of longitude along the equator) spanned 56.67 Arabic miles (equivalent to 66.2 nautical miles, 122.6 kilometers or 76.2 mi), but he did not realize that this was expressed in the Arabic mile (about 1,830 meters or 1.14 mi) rather than the shorter Roman mile (about 1,480 m) with which he was familiar. Columbus therefore estimated the size of the Earth to be about 75% of Eratosthenes's calculation. Third, most scholars of

1140-532: A five-week voyage across the ocean. On 7 October, the crew spotted "[i]mmense flocks of birds". On 11 October, Columbus changed the fleet's course to due west, and sailed through the night, believing land was soon to be found. At around 02:00 the following morning, a lookout on the Pinta , Rodrigo de Triana , spotted land. The captain of the Pinta , Martín Alonso Pinzón , verified the sight of land and alerted Columbus. Columbus later maintained that he had already seen

1330-651: A holy and atoning sacrifice, by your hands I offer to God eternal." King Reccared , Acts of the Third Council of Toledo . In 585, Liuvigild , the Visigothic king of Hispania and Septimania , annexed the Kingdom of Galicia, after defeating King Audeca , and later the pretender to the throne, Malaric . Thus the kingdom of the Suebi, which incorporated large territories of the ancient Roman provinces of Gallaecia and Lusitania, became

1520-560: A journey west. Columbus left Castile in August 1492 with three ships and made landfall in the Americas on 12 October, ending the period of human habitation in the Americas now referred to as the pre-Columbian era . His landing place was an island in the Bahamas , known by its native inhabitants as Guanahani . He then visited the islands now known as Cuba and Hispaniola , establishing a colony in what

1710-563: A large Suebi community, to the level of Metropolitan Bishop along with Braga. Theodemar's son and successor, King Miro , called for the Second Council of Braga , which was attended by all the bishops of the kingdom, from the Briton bishopric of Britonia in the Bay of Biscay , to Astorga in the east, and Coimbra and Idanha in the south. Five of the attendant bishops used Germanic names, showing

1900-841: A light on the land a few hours earlier, thereby claiming for himself the lifetime pension promised by Ferdinand and Isabella to the first person to sight land. Columbus called this island (in what is now the Bahamas) San Salvador (meaning "Holy Savior"); the natives called it Guanahani . Christopher Columbus's journal entry of 12 October 1492 states: I saw some who had marks of wounds on their bodies and I made signs to them asking what they were; and they showed me how people from other islands nearby came there and tried to take them, and how they defended themselves; and I believed and believe that they come here from tierra firme to take them captive. They should be good and intelligent servants, for I see that they say very quickly everything that

2090-542: A military Norman mark, as well as due to the wealth that the pilgrimages and royal grants brought to their lands. Each bishopric was divided into a number of territories or counties, named terras, condados, mandationes, commissos , or territorios in local charters, which in the north were true continuations of the Suebic dioceses which frequently preserved old tribal divisions and denominations, such as Lemabos, Celticos, Postamarcos, Bregantinos, and Cavarcos . Rights to

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2280-566: A mistress in 1487, a 20-year-old orphan named Beatriz Enríquez de Arana . It is likely that Beatriz met Columbus when he was in Córdoba , a gathering place for Genoese merchants and where the court of the Catholic Monarchs was located at intervals. Beatriz, unmarried at the time, gave birth to Columbus's second son, Fernando Columbus , in July 1488, named for the monarch of Aragon. Columbus recognized

2470-473: A nearby smaller island, which he named Mariagalante , now a part of Guadeloupe and called Marie-Galante . Other islands named by Columbus on this voyage were Montserrat , Antigua , Saint Martin , the Virgin Islands , as well as many others. On 17 November, Columbus first sighted the eastern coast of the island of Puerto Rico , known to its native Taino people as Borikén . His fleet sailed along

2660-405: A range of continental innovations and trends, from shipbuilding , to new architectural styles such as Romanesque art . The elites were composed of counts, dukes , senatores , and other high noblemen, who were frequently related by marriage with the monarch, and who usually claimed the most powerful positions in society, either as governors, bishops, or as palatine officials or companions of

2850-510: A sharp reduction in monetary circulation, largely as a result of the Muslim occupations in the early 8th century in the south Mediterranean. The Gallaecia were also affected, and Fructuosus of Braga denounced the general cultural decline and loss of the momentum from previous periods, causing some discontent in the Galician high clergy. At the tenth Council of Toledo in 656, Fructuosus was appointed to

3040-572: A single surname, although noblemen frequently also used a patronymic . Muslim names and patronymics were rare amongst Galicians, as even serfs were frequently given a Germanic or Roman name, which is in contrast with the relative popularity of Muslim names amongst the Leonese. "When Fruela , king of Galicia, died (...) the Christians made king his brother Alfonso , who then found the throne disputed by his elder brother Sancho , who entered León, capital of

3230-508: A son, Ferdinand . Largely self-educated, Columbus was knowledgeable in geography, astronomy, and history. He developed a plan to seek a western sea passage to the East Indies , hoping to profit from the lucrative spice trade . After the Granada War , and Columbus's persistent lobbying in multiple kingdoms, the Catholic Monarchs, Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II , agreed to sponsor

3420-470: A temporary peace. The Suebi maintained their independence until 585, when Leovigild, on the pretext of conflict over the succession, invaded the Suebic kingdom and finally defeated it. Audeca , the last king of the Suebi, who had deposed his brother-in-law Eboric , held out for a year before being captured in 585. This same year a nobleman named Malaric rebelled against the Goths, but he was defeated. As with

3610-507: A variety of ways. Columbus often wrote about seeking gold in the log books of his voyages and writes about acquiring it "in such quantity that the sovereigns... will undertake and prepare to go conquer the Holy Sepulcher " in a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy . Columbus often wrote about converting all races to Christianity. Abbas Hamandi argues that Columbus was motivated by the hope of "[delivering] Jerusalem from Muslim hands" by "using

3800-507: A wool weaver who worked in Genoa and Savona , and owned a cheese stand at which young Christopher worked. His mother was Susanna Fontanarossa . He had three brothers— Bartholomew , Giovanni Pellegrino, and Giacomo (also called Diego) —as well as a sister, Bianchinetta. Bartholomew ran a cartography workshop in Lisbon for at least part of his adulthood. His native language is presumed to have been

3990-429: A written pact with him. Fructuosus was later consecrated as abbot-bishop of Dumio , the most important monastery of Gallaecia—founded by Martin of Braga in the 6th century—under Suebi rule. In 656 he was appointed bishop of Braga and metropolitan of Galicia, ostensibly against his own will. During his later years the Visigothic monarchy suffered a pronounced decline, due in large part to a decrease in trade and therefore

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4180-458: A year later initiated a period of chaos, with several claimants to the crown. Fruela's son, Alfonso Fróilaz , received support from Asturias, but was captured and blinded by Sancho , Alfonso IV , and Ramiro II , sons of Ordoño, with the aid of the Basque troops of Jimeno Garcés of Pamplona . Vague and conflicting historical records make it uncertain whether Alfonso Fróilaz reigned briefly as king of

4370-603: Is known that in the autumn of 1477, he sailed on a Portuguese ship from Galway to Lisbon, where he found his brother Bartholomew, and they continued trading for the Centurione family. Columbus based himself in Lisbon from 1477 to 1485. In 1478, the Centuriones sent Columbus on a sugar-buying trip to Madeira. He married Felipa Perestrello e Moniz , daughter of Bartolomeu Perestrello , a Portuguese nobleman of Lombard origin, who had been

4560-487: Is now Haiti . Columbus returned to Castile in early 1493, with captured natives. Word of his voyage soon spread throughout Europe. Columbus made three further voyages to the Americas, exploring the Lesser Antilles in 1493, Trinidad and the northern coast of South America in 1498, and the east coast of Central America in 1502. Many names he gave to geographical features, particularly islands, are still in use. He gave

4750-536: Is said to them; and I believe they would become Christians very easily, for it seemed to me that they had no religion. Our Lord pleasing, at the time of my departure I will take six of them from here to Your Highnesses in order that they may learn to speak. Columbus called the inhabitants of the lands that he visited Los Indios (Spanish for "Indians"). He initially encountered the Lucayan , Taíno , and Arawak peoples. Noting their gold ear ornaments, Columbus took some of

4940-558: Is the anglicization of the Latin Christophorus Columbus . Growing up on the coast of Liguria , he went to sea at a young age and traveled widely, as far north as the British Isles and as far south as what is now Ghana . He married Portuguese noblewoman Filipa Moniz Perestrelo , who bore a son, Diego , and was based in Lisbon for several years. He later took a Castilian mistress, Beatriz Enríquez de Arana , who bore

5130-720: The Reconquista , an expensive war against the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula , were eager to obtain a competitive edge over other European countries in the quest for trade with the Indies. Columbus's project, though far-fetched, held the promise of such an advantage. Though Columbus was wrong about the number of degrees of longitude that separated Europe from the Far East and about the distance that each degree represented, he did take advantage of

5320-568: The Americas came through Castile which was one of the more dynamic, rich, and advanced territories in Europe in the 16th century. It started to realise that it could become immersed within an empire. This, added to the broken promise of Charles, only increased hostility towards the king. In 1520 in Toledo Parliament rejected a further subsidy for the king. Parliament in Santiago de Compostela reached

5510-707: The Americas in the 16th century by the conquistadors . Because of Castilian's importance in the land ruled by the Spanish Crown , the language is also known as Spanish. Furthermore, in the 13th century many universities were founded where instruction was in Castilian, such as the Leonese University of Salamanca , the Castilian Estudio General of Palencia and the University of Valladolid , which were among

5700-794: The Americas , each voyage being sponsored by the Crown of Castile . On his first voyage he reached the Americas, initiating the European exploration and colonization of the continent , as well as the Columbian exchange . His role in history is thus important to the Age of Discovery , Western history , and human history writ large. In Columbus's letter on the first voyage , published following his first return to Spain, he claimed that he had reached Asia, as previously described by Marco Polo and other Europeans. Over his subsequent voyages, Columbus refused to acknowledge that

5890-571: The Cape Route around Africa to Asia. Columbus had to wait until 1492 for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to support his voyage across the Atlantic to find gold, spices, a safer route to the East, and converts to Christianity. Carol Delaney and other commentators have argued that Columbus was a Christian millennialist and apocalypticist and that these beliefs motivated his quest for Asia in

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6080-628: The Cape of Good Hope ). Columbus sought an audience with the monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile , who had united several kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula by marrying and now ruled together. On 1 May 1486, permission having been granted, Columbus presented his plans to Queen Isabella, who, in turn, referred it to a committee. The learned men of Spain, like their counterparts in Portugal, replied that Columbus had grossly underestimated

6270-503: The Ciguayos , the only natives who offered violent resistance during this voyage. The Ciguayos refused to trade the amount of bows and arrows that Columbus desired; in the ensuing clash one Ciguayo was stabbed in the buttocks and another wounded with an arrow in his chest. Because of these events, Columbus called the inlet the Golfo de Las Flechas ( Bay of Arrows ). Columbus headed for Spain on

6460-522: The Columbian exchange , named after him. These events and the effects which persist to the present are often cited as the beginning of the modern era . Columbus was widely celebrated in the centuries after his death, but public perception fractured in the 21st century due to greater attention to the harms committed under his governance, particularly the beginning of the depopulation of Hispaniola's indigenous Taíno people, caused by Old World diseases and mistreatment, including slavery . Many places in

6650-552: The Compromise of Caspe in 1412, Ferdinand left Castile to become King of Aragon . Upon the death of his mother, John II at the age of 14, took to the throne and married his cousin Maria of Aragon . The young king entrusted his government to regent Álvaro de Luna , the most influential person in court and allied with the lesser nobility, the cities, the clergy, and the Jews. This brought together

6840-516: The Concordia de Villafáfila of 1506, Ferdinand returned to Aragon and Phillip was recognized as King of Castile, with Joanna a co-monarch. In the Treaty of Villafáfila in 1506 King Ferdinand the Catholic renounced not only the government of Castile in favour of his son-in-law Philip I of Castile but also the lordship of the Indies, withholding a half of the income of the kingdoms of the Indies. Joanna of Castile and Philip immediately added to their titles

7030-655: The Cortes of both kingdoms were held jointly. The Cortes of 1258 in Valladolid comprised representatives of Castile, Extremadura and León (" de Castiella e de Estremadura e de tierra de León ") and those of Seville in 1261 of Castile, León and all other kingdoms (" de Castiella e de León e de todos los otros nuestros Regnos "). Subsequent Cortes were celebrated separately, for example in 1301 that of Castile in Burgos and that of León in Zamora, but

7220-658: The Count-Duke of Olivares , the king's favourite (valido) from 1621 to 1643, tried to introduce a series of reforms. Among these was the Unión de Armas , the creation of a new army of 140,000 reservists. Every territory within the kingdom contributed citizens proportionally in order to maintain the force. His aims of union did not work and the Spanish Crown continued as a confederation of kingdoms. Luis Méndez de Haro took over from Olivares as favourite Philip IV between 1659 and 1665. This

7410-548: The Eastern Roman Empire . Under King Ariamir , who called for the First Council of Braga , the conversion of the Suebi to Nicene Christianity was apparent; while this same council condemned Priscillianism , it made no similar statement on Arianism. Later, King Theodemar ordered an administrative and ecclesiastical division of his kingdom, with the creation of new bishoprics and the promotion of Lugo, which possessed

7600-456: The House of Trastámara 's position and created peace between England and Castile. During the reign of Henry III royal power was restored, overshadowing the much powerful Castilian nobility. In his later years Henry delegated some of his power to his brother Ferdinand I of Antequera , who would be regent, along with his wife Catherine of Lancaster , during the childhood of his son John II . After

7790-480: The Kingdom of Asturias . The Kingdom of Castile appeared initially as a county of the Kingdom of León. From the second half of the 10th century to the first half of the 11th century it changed hands between León and the Kingdom of Navarre. In the 11th century, it became a kingdom in its own right. The two kingdoms had been united twice previously: From 1199 to 1201 under Alfonso VIII the Castilian king's armies invaded

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7980-475: The Kingdom of Navarre , annexing thereafter Álava , Durangaldea and Gipuzkoa , including San Sebastián and Vitoria (Gasteiz) . However, these western Basque territories saw their Navarrese charters confirmed under Castilian rule. Ferdinand III received the Kingdom of Castile from his mother, Queen Berengaria of Castile granddaughter of Sancho III in 1217, and the Kingdom of León from his father Alfonso IX of León son of Ferdinand II in 1230. From then on

8170-589: The Morisco Revolt (1568–1571), which was put down by John of Austria . Castile entered a phase of recession in 1575; Spain as a whole followed, which provoked the suspension of wages (the third of his reign). In 1590 the Cortes approved the millones ; a new tax on food. This exhausted Castilian cities and hindered the economy. In 1596, pay was once again suspended. In the previous kingdoms, positions in national institutions were filled by educated gentlemen. Philip II's administrators would normally come from either

8360-572: The Niña , but a storm separated him from the Pinta, and forced the Niña to stop at the island of Santa Maria in the Azores. Half of his crew went ashore to say prayers of thanksgiving in a chapel for having survived the storm. But while praying, they were imprisoned by the governor of the island, ostensibly on suspicion of being pirates. After a two-day standoff, the prisoners were released, and Columbus again set sail for Spain. Another storm forced Columbus into

8550-635: The Ordenamiento de Alcalá (1348) and the Leyes de Toro (1505). These laws continued to be in force until 1889, when a new Spanish civil code, the Código Civil Español, was enacted. In the 13th century there were many languages spoken in the Kingdoms of León and Castile among them Castilian , Leonese , Basque and Galician-Portuguese . But, as the century progressed, Castilian gained increasing prominence as

8740-855: The Pacific Ocean , the conquest of the Aztec Empire , the conquest of the Inca Empire , the Spanish conquest of New Granada as well as the conquest of the Philippines all helped shape the Crown of Castile into a global empire in the 16th Century. The title of "King of Castile" remained in use by the Habsburg rulers during the 16th and 17th centuries. Charles I was King of Aragon, Majorca , Valencia , and Sicily , and Count of Barcelona , Roussillon and Cerdagne , as well as King of Castile and León, 1516–1556. In

8930-542: The University of Alcalá or the University of Salamanca . After Philip III the nobility once again asserted their right to govern the country. In order to show that there was a new order ruling there was a cleansing of the blood of Spain . Religious persecution led Philip to declare the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609. Faced with the collapse of the Exchequer, in order to maintain the hegemony of Philip IV's Spanish Empire,

9120-484: The War of the Castilian Succession broke out over who would ascend to the throne. It lasted until 1479 when Isabella and her supporters came out victorious. After Isabella's victory in the civil war and Ferdinand's ascension to the Aragonese throne the two crowns were united under the same monarchs. However, this was a personal union and both kingdoms remained administratively separate to some extent, each maintaining largely its own laws; both parliaments remained separate,

9310-415: The War of the Spanish Succession . After the war, all the territories were unified as a single country under the Crown of Spain . North – Septentrional South – Meridional In the viceroyalties the viceroy, whose term etymologically means "in the place of the king", concentrated all public power. They were freely appointed and removed by the Monarch, when the sovereign wanted he/she could remove

9500-424: The chartulary of Celanova , year 929. "There king Don Sancho said (...) 'Don Alfonso , our father because of our sins left the land poorly divided, and he gave to Don Garcia most of the realm, and thou were left the most disinherited and with less lands; and that's why I propose to take from king Don Garcia the land our father gave to him.'" Primera Crónica General de España , 817. When Alfonso III of León

9690-469: The donatary captain of Porto Santo . In 1479 or 1480, Columbus's son Diego was born. Between 1482 and 1485, Columbus traded along the coasts of West Africa , reaching the Portuguese trading post of Elmina at the Guinea coast in present-day Ghana . Before 1484, Columbus returned to Porto Santo to find that his wife had died. He returned to Portugal to settle her estate and take Diego with him. He left Portugal for Castile in 1485, where he took

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9880-414: The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, the Silk Road was closed to Christian traders. In 1474, the Florentine astronomer Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli suggested to King Afonso V of Portugal that sailing west across the Atlantic would be a quicker way to reach the Maluku (Spice) Islands, China , Japan and India than the route around Africa, but Afonso rejected his proposal. In

10070-407: The multinational inhabitants of Compostela, by this stage a fortified and strong city. Meanwhile, the City Council of Santiago for centuries had struggled against their bishops for the recognition of a number of liberties. In the country, most people were freemen , peasants, artisans, or infantrymen , who could freely choose a patron, or buy and sell properties, although they frequently fell prey to

10260-439: The trade winds , which would prove to be the key to his successful navigation of the Atlantic Ocean. He planned to first sail to the Canary Islands before continuing west with the northeast trade wind. Part of the return to Spain would require traveling against the wind using an arduous sailing technique called beating , during which progress is made very slowly. To effectively make the return voyage, Columbus would need to follow

10450-401: The 1480s, Columbus and his brother proposed a plan to reach the East Indies by sailing west. Columbus supposedly wrote to Toscanelli in 1481 and received encouragement, along with a copy of a map the astronomer had sent Afonso implying that a westward route to Asia was possible. Columbus's plans were complicated by Bartolomeu Dias 's rounding of the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, which suggested

10640-400: The 14th century, as well as by many European Christian contemporaries. During the Iron Age , and later during Roman and Germanic rule, Southern Gallaecia—today north Portugal and south Galicia—was the more dynamic, urbanized, and richest area of Gallaecia. This role was assumed by the rural north during the Early and High Middle Ages, as a consequence not only of the Islamic invasion, but as

10830-441: The 9th, 10th, and 11th centuries most of these bishoprics were re-established in their historical sees, but at this time the bishops of Lugo, Mondoñedo, and Iria became major political players—not just as religious figures, but also as wealthy, and sometimes mighty, secular powers. In particular, the bishops of Iria and Compostela were notorious warlords , due to the many fortresses and military resources they controlled as heads of

11020-420: The Americas. He sailed with nearly 1,500 men, including sailors, soldiers, priests, carpenters, stonemasons, metalworkers, and farmers. Among the expedition members were Alvarez Chanca , a physician who wrote a detailed account of the second voyage; Juan Ponce de León, the first governor of Puerto Rico and Florida; the father of Bartolomé de las Casas; Juan de la Cosa , a cartographer who is credited with making

11210-428: The April 1492 " Capitulations of Santa Fe ", King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella promised Columbus that if he succeeded he would be given the rank of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and appointed Viceroy and Governor of all the new lands he might claim for Spain. He had the right to nominate three persons, from whom the sovereigns would choose one, for any office in the new lands. He would be entitled to 10% ( diezmo ) of all

11400-425: The Arawaks prisoner and insisted that they guide him to the source of the gold. Columbus did not believe he needed to create a fortified outpost, writing, "the people here are simple in war-like matters ... I could conquer the whole of them with fifty men, and govern them as I pleased." The Taínos told Columbus that another indigenous tribe, the Caribs , were fierce warriors and cannibals , who made frequent raids on

11590-457: The Canary Islands west to Japan; the actual distance is 10,600 nmi (19,600 km; 12,200 mi). No ship in the 15th century could have carried enough food and fresh water for such a long voyage, and the dangers involved in navigating through the uncharted ocean would have been formidable. Most European navigators reasonably concluded that a westward voyage from Europe to Asia was unfeasible. The Catholic Monarchs, however, having completed

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11780-518: The Castilian crown, known as the pleitos colombinos , alleging that the Crown had illegally reneged on its contractual obligations to Columbus and his heirs. The Columbus family had some success in their first litigation, as a judgment of 1511 confirmed Diego's position as viceroy but reduced his powers. Diego resumed litigation in 1512, which lasted until 1536, and further disputes initiated by heirs continued until 1790. Between 1492 and 1504, Columbus completed four round-trip voyages between Spain and

11970-444: The Catholic Monarchs of Spain. They were replaced by the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494. The two earliest published copies of Columbus's letter on the first voyage aboard the Niña were donated in 2017 by the Jay I. Kislak Foundation to the University of Miami library in Coral Gables, Florida , where they are housed. On 24 September 1493, Columbus sailed from Cádiz with 17 ships, and supplies to establish permanent colonies in

12160-424: The Cordoban Caliphate, reconquering Coimbra or Viseu , and even raiding Santiago de Compostela. In the 1030s, Galicia became the sole holdout to the Leonese conquests of Sancho III of Pamplona . When the Count of Castile —nominally a Leonese vassal , but de facto independent—was assassinated in León in 1029, Sancho claimed the right to name the successor, giving it to his own son Ferdinand . Taking advantage of

12350-401: The Earth; and the number of miles or leagues in a degree of longitude , which was possible to deduce from the theory of the relationship between the size of the surfaces of water and the land as held by the followers of Aristotle in medieval times. From Pierre d'Ailly 's Imago Mundi (1410), Columbus learned of Alfraganus 's estimate that a degree of latitude (equal to approximately

12540-429: The Galician nobility through kinship, marriage and patronage, and he and his son, Ordoño III , whose mother was Galician, reigned with their support. This was not the case when Ordoño was succeeded by his half-brother Sancho I of León in 956. Sancho proved unpopular and ineffectual and the Galician nobles grew fractious, forming a coalition with Fernán González of Castile to overthrow Sancho in favor of Ordoño IV , who

12730-441: The Indies implausible. Columbus had left for France when Ferdinand intervened, first sending Talavera and Bishop Diego Deza to appeal to the queen. Isabella was finally convinced by the king's clerk Luis de Santángel , who argued that Columbus would take his ideas elsewhere, and offered to help arrange the funding. Isabella then sent a royal guard to fetch Columbus, who had traveled 2 leagues (over 10 km) toward Córdoba. In

12920-422: The Kingdom of the Galicians, as an opponent (...) Until they decided to depose Sancho and to throw him from Leon, joining under the king Alfonso. Sancho then fled to the extreme of Galicia, where he was received and enthroned by the locals." Ibn Hayyan, Muqtabis , V, c. 1050. "I Answar, to you, our lord and most serene king Don Sancho , prince of all Galicia, and to our lady, your wife, queen Goto." Document from

13110-442: The Kingdom of the Suevi from Tui , which is recorded as his capital. The possibility has also been raised that the 13th-century chronicler, Lucas of Tuy , when he records that Wittiza relieved the oppression of the Jews (a fact unknown from his reign at Toledo after his father), may in fact refer to his reign at Lucas' hometown of Tui, where an oral tradition may have been preserved of the events of his Galician reign. In 702, with

13300-471: The Leonese and Asturian realms through dynastic connections. Later, Ordoño II would integrate Galicia into the Kingdom of León when he inherited the latter. Though the Kingdom of Galicia had moments of semi-independence, it was typically seen as part of the Kingdom of León. Compostela became the capital of Galicia in the 11th century, while the independence of Portugal (1128) determined its southern boundary. The accession of Castilian King Ferdinand III to

13490-422: The Leonese kingdom in 1230 brought Galicia under the control of the Crown of Castile . Galicia resisted central control and supported a series of alternative claimants, including John of León, Galicia and Seville (1296), Ferdinand I of Portugal (1369) and John of Gaunt (1386) and was not brought firmly into submission until the Catholic Monarchs imposed the Santa Hermandad in Galicia. The Kingdom of Galicia

13680-602: The Lusitanian dioceses annexed by the Suevi to Galicia (Coimbra, Idanha, Lamego, Viseu, and parts of Salamanca ) were restored to Lusitania. This same reform reduced the number of mints in Galicia from a few dozen to just three, those in the cities of Lugo, Braga, and Tui. The most notable person of 7th century Galicia was Saint Fructuosus of Braga . Fructuosus was the son of a provincial Visigoth dux (military provincial governor), and

13870-714: The Metropolitan seat of Potamio after the renunciation of its previous occupier. At the same time the Will of the Bishop of Dume Recimiro was declared void after he donated the wealth of the diocese convent to the poor. The crisis at the end of the Visigoth era dates to the reign of Egica . The monarch appointed his son Wittiza as his heir, and despite the fact that the Visigothic monarchy had been traditionally elective rather than hereditary Egica associated Wittiza during his lifetime to

14060-617: The Pyrenees was annexed to Castile. Charles I received the Crown of Castile, the Crown of Aragon and the empire through a combination of dynastic marriages and premature deaths: Charles I was not well received in Castile. This was partly because he was a foreign-born king (born in Ghent ), and even before his arrival in Castile he had granted important positions to Flemish citizens and had used Castilian money to fund his court. The Castilian nobility and

14250-503: The Spanish crown sent him 20,000 maravedis to buy new clothes and instructions to return to the Spanish court for renewed discussions. Columbus waited at King Ferdinand's camp until Ferdinand and Isabella conquered Granada , the last Muslim stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula, in January 1492. A council led by Isabella's confessor, Hernando de Talavera , found Columbus's proposal to reach

14440-465: The Suebi in cities such as Lugo, Porto, Tui, and Viseu, alongside the cities' Catholic bishops. These Arian bishops returned to Catholicism in 589, when King Reccared himself converted to Catholicism, along with the Goths and Suebi, at the Third Council of Toledo . The territorial and administrative organization inherited from the Suevi was incorporated into the new Provincial status, although Lugo

14630-521: The Suebi and all of Galicia under the power of the Goths." Chronicle of Fredegar , III. p 116. "Not only the conversion of the Goths is found among the favors that we have received, but also the infinite multitude of the Sueves, whom with divine assistance we have subjected to our realm. Although led into heresy by others fault, with our diligence we have brought them to the origins of truth. Therefore, most holy fathers, these most noble nations gained by us, as

14820-677: The Suebi) but later as Regnum Galliciense (Kingdom of Galicia). A century later, the differences between Gallaeci and Suebi people had faded, which led to the systematic use of terms like Galliciense Regnum (Galician Kingdom), Regem Galliciae (King of Galicia), Rege Suevorum (King of Suebi), and Galleciae totius provinciae rex (king of all Galician provinces), while bishops, such as Martin of Braga , were recognized as episcopi Gallaecia (Bishop of Galicia). The independent Suebic kingdom of Galicia lasted from 409 to 585, having remained relatively stable for most of that time. In 409 Gallaecia

15010-504: The Taínos, often capturing their women, although this may have been a belief perpetuated by the Spaniards to justify enslaving them. Columbus also explored the northeast coast of Cuba, where he landed on 28 October. On the night of 26 November, Martín Alonso Pinzón took the Pinta on an unauthorized expedition in search of an island called "Babeque" or "Baneque", which the natives had told him

15200-780: The Vandal king Gunderic and the Suebi's Hermeric . After a blockade alongside the Nervasian Mountains, the Suebi obtained Roman help, forcing the Vandals to flee into the Baetica . In the absence of competitors, the Suebi began a period of expansion, first inside Gallaecia, and later into other Roman provinces. In 438 Hermeric ratified a peace treaty with the Gallaeci , the native and partially Romanized people. Illness led Hermeric to abdicate in favor of his son, Rechila , who moved his troops to

15390-409: The Visigothic language, there are only traces of the Suebi tongue remaining, as they quickly adopted the local vulgar Latin . Some words of plausible Suebi origin are the modern Galician and Portuguese words laverca ( lark ), meixengra or mejengra ( titmouse ), lobio (vine), escá (a measure, formerly "cup"), groba (ravine), and others. Much more significant was their contribution to names of

15580-778: The Western Hemisphere bear his name , including the South American country of Colombia , the Canadian province of British Columbia , the American city Columbus, Ohio , and the United States capital, the District of Columbia . Columbus's early life is obscure, but scholars believe he was born in the Republic of Genoa between 25 August and 31 October 1451. His father was Domenico Colombo ,

15770-602: The above-mentioned Henry, who disputed Peter's right to the throne once the latter became king. In the resulting struggle, in which both brothers claimed to be king, Pedro allied himself with Edward, Prince of Wales , "the Black Prince". In 1367, the Black Prince defeated Henry II's allies at the Battle of Nájera , restoring Pedro's control of the kingdom. The Black Prince, seeing that the king would not reimburse his expenses, left Castile. Henry, who had fled to France, took advantage of

15960-400: The army of Ramiro in the battle of Portela de Areas and eventually made himself undisputed ruler of the Leonese kingdom. Once in control, Bermudo lost many of his Galician and Portuguese supporters by repudiating his Galician wife in favor of a new marriage alliance with Castile. His later reign was marked by the ascension of a strong military leader, Almanzor , who led a brief resurgence of

16150-572: The boy as his offspring. Columbus entrusted his older, legitimate son Diego to take care of Beatriz and pay the pension set aside for her following his death, but Diego was negligent in his duties. Columbus learned Latin , Portuguese, and Castilian. He read widely about astronomy, geography, and history, including the works of Ptolemy , Pierre d'Ailly 's Imago Mundi , the travels of Marco Polo and Sir John Mandeville , Pliny 's Natural History , and Pope Pius II 's Historia rerum ubique gestarum . According to historian Edmund Morgan , Columbus

16340-457: The case that Joanna "didn't want to or couldn't fulfil her duties". In the 'Salamanca Agreement' of 1505, it was decided that the government would be shared by Philip I, Ferdinand V and Joanna. However, poor relations between Phillip, who was supported by the Castilian nobility, and Ferdinand resulted in Ferdinand renouncing his regent's powers in Castile in order to avoid an armed conflict. Through

16530-566: The cities were on the verge of an uprising to defend their rights. Many Castilians favoured the king's younger brother Ferdinand , who grew up in Castile, and in fact the Council of Castile opposed the idea of Charles as King of Castile. In 1518 the Castilian parliament in Valladolid named the Wallonian Jean de Sauvage as its president. This caused angry protests in the parliament, which rejected

16720-438: The city of Lugo in Galicia, and there he reunited the army of the whole province. After a while he burst into Asturias. He was met by Nepotianus, who has reunited a group of Asturians and Basques, at the bridge over the river Narcea . Nepotianus was immediately left stranded by his own people, being captured when fleeing by two counts, Sonna and Scipio." Chronicle of Alfonso III , ad Sebastianum , 21. For several centuries after

16910-478: The city. He then moved on to occupy Santiago de Compostela , Pontevedra and Vigo . He asked John I , Henry II's son, to give up the throne in favor of Constance. John declined but proposed that his son, the Infante Henry , marry John of Gaunt's daughter Catherine . The proposal was accepted, and the title Prince of Asturias was created for Henry and Catherine. This ended the dynastic conflict, strengthened

17100-689: The completion and end of the Reconquista . Also in 1492, the Christopher Columbus maritime expedition claimed the newly found lands in the Americas for the Crown of Castile and began the New World conquests. In 1497 Castile conquered Melilla on the north coast of North Africa. After Castile's conquest of the Kingdom of Granada, its politics turned towards the Mediterranean, and Castile militarily helped Aragon in its problems with France, culminating in

17290-506: The cost quadrupled. During his reign, as well as increasing existing taxes he created some new ones, among them the excusado in 1567. That same year Philip ordered the proclamation of the La Pragmática ; an act whereby all Moriscos had to abandon all Moorish traditions and become true Catholics. This edict limited religious, linguistic and cultural freedom of the Morisco population and provoked

17480-556: The curving trade winds northeastward to the middle latitudes of the North Atlantic, where he would be able to catch the " westerlies " that blow eastward to the coast of Western Europe. The navigational technique for travel in the Atlantic appears to have been exploited first by the Portuguese, who referred to it as the volta do mar ('turn of the sea'). Through his marriage to his first wife, Felipa Perestrello, Columbus had access to

17670-612: The death of Alfonso XI a dynastic conflict started between his sons, the Infantes Peter (Pedro) and Henry , Count of Trastámara, which became entangled in the Hundred Years' War (between England and France). Alfonso XI had married Maria of Portugal with whom he had his heir, the Infante Peter. However, the King also had many illegitimate children with Eleanor of Guzman , among them

17860-496: The death of Egica, Wittiza as sole king moved his capital to Toledo . In 710, part of the Visigothic aristocracy violently raised Roderic to the throne, triggering a civil war with the supporters of Wittiza and his sons. In 711, the enemies of Roderic got a Muslim army to cross the Straits of Gibraltar and face him at the Battle of Guadalete . The defeat was the end of Roderic and of the Visigothic rule, with profound consequences for

18050-432: The defeat of the Goths, Galicia was united with other neighboring regions under the same monarchs, with only brief periods of separation under different kings. Along with the rest of the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it was free of Arab presence from the mid-8th century, being gradually incorporated into a growing Christian state. This is usually called the Kingdom of Asturias in traditional and modern sources, although

18240-485: The descendants of the 9th century's conquerors. In the Terra de Santiago (Land of Saint James, the fief of the bishops of Iria-Compostela) each territory was administered by a bishop's vicar, while justice was administered by a council composed of representatives of the local churchmen, knights, and peasants. Each territory or county could be further divided into mandationes and decanias . The basic territorial division

18430-408: The distance to Asia. They pronounced the idea impractical and advised the Catholic Monarchs to pass on the proposed venture. To keep Columbus from taking his ideas elsewhere, and perhaps to keep their options open, the sovereigns gave him an allowance, totaling about 14,000 maravedis for the year, or about the annual salary of a sailor. In May 1489, the queen sent him another 10,000 maravedis , and

18620-575: The dominating partner in the union. As a result of the Reconquista (Reconquest) the Castilian aristocracy had become very powerful. The monarchs needed to assert their authority over the nobility and the clergy. With this end in mind they founded a law enforcement body, the Consejo de la Hermandad , more commonly known as the Santa Hermandad (the Holy Brotherhood), which was staffed and funded by

18810-636: The early 18th century, Philip of Bourbon won the War of the Spanish Succession and imposed unification policies over the Crown of Aragon , supporters of their enemies. This unified the Crown of Aragon and the Crown of Castile into the kingdom of Spain. Even though the Nueva Planta decrees did not formally abolish the Crown of Castile, the country (of Castile and Aragon) was called "Spain" by both contemporaries and historians. The Kingdom of León arose out of

19000-505: The east than Japan, including the mythical Antillia , which he thought might lie not much farther to the west than the Azores , and the distance westward from the Canary Islands to the Indies as only 68 degrees, equivalent to 3,080 nmi (5,700 km; 3,540 mi) (a 58% error). Based on his sources, Columbus estimated a distance of 2,400 nmi (4,400 km; 2,800 mi) from

19190-546: The east, marauding through the Provincia Tarraconensis , which was still held by Rome. The Roman emperor Avitus sent a large army of foederates , under the direction of the Visigoth Theoderic II , who defeated the Suebi army by the river Órbigo , near modern-day Astorga . Rechiar fled, but he was pursued and captured, then executed in 457. In the aftermath of Rechiar's death, multiple candidates for

19380-446: The entire kingdom, but to briefly become overlord of Ferdinand's Castile. However, in 1037, the Castilian count killed Bermudo in battle, and Galicia passed with the Kingdom of León into the hands of Ferdinand, who then had himself crowned king. Ferdinand's death in 1065 led to another short-lived Galician state. In 1063 he had opted to partition his realm, giving the eastern Kingdom of Castile to his eldest son, Sancho II , along with

19570-467: The entire kingdom, or simply held a remote part of Asturias. In Galicia, Sancho succeeded, being crowned in Santiago de Compostela and marrying a Galician noblewoman. After reigning for just three years he died childless. Alfonso IV then took control of an again-reunited Kingdom of León in 929; however, he was forced into a monastery by their youngest brother, Ramiro, two years later. Ramiro II had ties with

19760-580: The final result of a continent-wide urban crisis. The old bishoprics of Braga, Ourense, Tui, Lamego, and others, were either discontinued, or re-established in the north, under the protection of Lugo—which was now a stronghold due to its Roman walls—and Iria Flavia . Dumio was re-established by the Bay of Biscay in Mondoñedo , Lugo assumed the role of Braga, and the bishops of Lamego and Tui sought refuge in Iria, where they received generous territorial grants. During

19950-603: The first world map depicting the New World ; and Columbus's youngest brother Diego. The fleet stopped at the Canary Islands to take on more supplies, and set sail again on 7 October, deliberately taking a more southerly course than on the first voyage. On 3 November, they arrived in the Windward Islands ; the first island they encountered was named Dominica by Columbus, but not finding a good harbor there, they anchored off

20140-419: The first universities in Europe. In the 13th century, emerging groups of local grazers coalesced into the powerful Mesta , the headpin for wool trade over the following three centuries. In time, Castile would become a leading export market for wool in the late middle ages. The Castilian Civil War pitting supporters of Henry of Trastámara against Peter I entailed a struggle of competing factions, with

20330-526: The first voyage , probably dispatched to the Spanish court upon arrival in Lisbon, was instrumental in spreading the news throughout Europe about his voyage. Almost immediately after his arrival in Spain, printed versions began to appear, and word of his voyage spread rapidly. Most people initially believed that he had reached Asia. The Bulls of Donation , three papal bulls of Pope Alexander VI delivered in 1493, purported to grant overseas territories to Portugal and

20520-517: The first voyage. Columbus found the fort in ruins. He learned from Guacanagaríx , the local tribe leader, that his men had quarreled over gold and taken women from the tribe, and that after some left for the territory of Caonabo , Caonabo came and burned the fort and killed the rest of the men there. Kingdom of Galicia The Kingdom of Galicia ( Galician : Reino de Galicia , or Galiza ; Spanish : Reino de Galicia ; Portuguese : Reino da Galiza ; Latin : Galliciense Regnum )

20710-539: The former party being favoured by the Castilian nobility (and, to a lesser extent, the Clergy), whereas the latter party lied on the side of Jews', conversos ' and town councils' interests. A substantial transfer from the royal patrimony to the nobles ensued upon the prevail of the Trastámaras in the conflict. Likewise, the resulting dynastic change ran parallel to a radicalization of the antisemitic sentiment in Castile. On

20900-483: The greed of the big owners, leading many of them to a life of servitude . Finally, servos , libertos , and pueros (servants, freedmen, and children), either obtained in war with the Moors or through trial, constituted a visible part of the society; they were employed as household workers ( domésticos and scancianes ), shepherds , and farmhands . Local charters also show that, in time, they were freed. In terms of religion, most were Roman Catholics, although

21090-405: The grounds that Columbus's estimate for a voyage of 2,400 nmi was only a quarter of what it should have been. In 1488, Columbus again appealed to the court of Portugal, and John II again granted him an audience. That meeting also proved unsuccessful, in part because not long afterwards Bartolomeu Dias returned to Portugal with news of his successful rounding of the southern tip of Africa (near

21280-535: The head—was in use in Galicia up to 681, when it was forbidden at a council in Toledo. There were no known Muslim communities in Galicia and northern Portugal, other than Moor serfs. Records of Hebrew people are also uncommon in local charters until the 12th century, except as travelers and merchants. Personal names in Galicia and northern Portugal were chiefly of Germanic origin, although Christian, Roman, and Greek names were also common. Names were usually composed just of

21470-508: The history of this area, or in fact Western Europe in general, the Suebi Kingdom reappears in European politics and history during the second half of the 6th century. This is following the arrival of Saint Martin of Braga , a Pannonian monk dedicated to converting the Suebi to Nicene Christianity and consequently into allegiance with the other Nicene Christian regional powers, the Franks and

21660-528: The integration of the different communities of the country. King Miro also promoted contention with the Arian Visigoths, who under the leadership of King Leovigild were rebuilding their fragmented kingdom which had been ruled mostly by Ostrogoths since the beginning of the 6th century, following the defeat and expulsion of Aquitania by the Franks. After clashing in frontier lands, Miro and Leovigild agreed upon

21850-458: The interpreter Luis de Torres , and founded the settlement of La Navidad , in present-day Haiti . Columbus took more natives prisoner and continued his exploration. He kept sailing along the northern coast of Hispaniola with a single ship until he encountered Pinzón and the Pinta on 6 January. On 13 January 1493, Columbus made his last stop of this voyage in the Americas, in the Bay of Rincón in northeast Hispaniola. There he encountered

22040-580: The island's southern coast for a whole day, before making landfall on its northwestern coast at the Bay of Añasco , early on 19 November. Upon landing, Columbus christened the island San Juan Bautista after John the Baptist , and remained anchored there for two days from 20 to 21 November, filling the water casks of the ships in his fleet. On 22 November, Columbus returned to Hispaniola to visit La Navidad in modern-day Haiti , where 39 Spaniards had been left during

22230-449: The king or queen. The Galician nobility, however, were also frequently found as rebels, either as supporters of a different candidate to the throne, or aspiring to it themselves, or simply as disobedient to the king's orders and will. At the service of the noblemen were miles ( knights ) and infanzones ; they were often found marching to war with their subalterns on behalf of a patron, or as vicars and administrators. A sizable section of

22420-529: The kingdom lies in the 5th century, when the Suebi settled permanently in the former Roman province of Gallaecia . Their king, Hermeric , probably signed a foedus , or pact, with the Roman Emperor Honorius , which conceded them lands in Galicia. The Suebi set their capital in the former Bracara Augusta and set the foundations of a kingdom, which was first acknowledged as Regnum Suevorum (Kingdom of

22610-520: The kingdom through either military force or by matrimonial alliance with the royal family. To the east, this southern expansion led the capital of the Christian kingdom to be moved to the city of León , from which time the state is usually called the Kingdom of León . This same kingdom was frequently known as either Gallaecia or Galicia ( Yillīqiya and Galīsiya ) in Al-Andalus Muslim sources up to

22800-473: The kingdoms of Indies, Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea. Phillip died and Ferdinand returned in 1507 once again to be regent for Joanna. Her isolated confinement-imprisonment in the Santa Clara Convent at Tordesillas , to last over forty years until death, began with her father's orders in 1510. In 1512 a joint Castilian-Aragonese force invaded Navarre and most of the Kingdom of Navarre south of

22990-480: The lands he visited and claimed for Spain were not part of Asia, in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary. This might explain, in part, why the American continent was named after the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci —who received credit for recognizing it as a " New World "—and not after Columbus. On the evening of 3 August 1492, Columbus departed from Palos de la Frontera with three ships. The largest

23180-745: The language of culture and communication – one example of this is the Cantar de Mio Cid . In the last years of the reign of Ferdinand III , Castilian began to be used for some important documents, such as the Visigothic Code , the basis of the legal code for Christians living in Muslim Cordova , but it was during the reign of Alfonso X that it became the official language. Henceforth all public documents were written in Castilian, likewise all translations of Arabic legal and government documents were made into Castilian instead of Latin. Some scholars think that

23370-570: The line of succession. After the death of Alfonso in an accident, Henry IV signed the Treaty of the Bulls of Guisando with his half-sister Isabella I in which he named her heiress in return for her marrying a prince chosen by him. In October 1469 Isabella I and Ferdinand II , heir to the throne of Aragon , married in secret in the Palacio de los Vivero in Castilian Valladolid . The consequence

23560-414: The local toponymy and onomastics . The historiography of the Suebi, and of Galicia in general, was long marginalized in Spanish culture, with the first connected history of the Suebi in Galicia being written by a German scholar. "After the death of Miro king of Galicia, and while his son Eboric and his son-in-law Audeca were fighting each other for the control of the kingdom, Leovigild subjugated

23750-522: The local rites—known today as Mozarabic rites —were notably different from those used in most of Western Europe. No Arian, Priscillianist , or Pagan organizations are known to have survived during the High Middle Ages. However, there were still pagans and pagan shrines in the Bierzo region during the 7th century, whilst Arian or Priscillianist tonsure —seen as long hair, with only a partial tonsure atop

23940-402: The marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella as breaking the Treaty of the Bulls of Guisando , under which Isabella would ascend to the Castilian throne on his death only if her suitor was approved by him. Henry wanted to ally Castile with Portugal or France rather than Aragon. He therefore decided to name his daughter Infanta Joanna as heiress to the throne rather than Isabella I. When he died in 1474

24130-416: The monarchs decided that those who would not convert would be expelled. It is estimated that between 50,000 and 70,000 people were expelled from Castile. From 1502 onwards, they began to convert the Muslim population. Between 1478 and 1497 the monarchs' forces conquered the three Canary Islands of Gran Canaria , La Palma and Tenerife . On 2 January 1492 the monarchs entered Granada 's Alhambra marking

24320-517: The municipalities. They also took further measures against the nobility, destroying feudal castles, prohibiting private wars and reducing the power of the Adelantados (a governor-like military office in regions recently conquered). The monarchy incorporated military orders under the Consejo de las Órdenes in 1495, reinforced royal judicial power over the feudal one and transformed the Audiencias into

24510-521: The mutual dislikes of the king shared by the greater Castilian nobility and the Aragonese Infantes , sons of Ferdinand I of Antequera , who sought to control the Castilian crown. This eventually led to war in 1429 and 1430 between the two kingdoms. Álvaro de Luna won the war and expelled the Aragonese Infantes from Castile. Henry IV unsuccessfully tried to re-establish the peace with

24700-610: The name indios ("Indians") to the indigenous peoples he encountered. The extent to which he was aware the Americas were a wholly separate landmass is uncertain; he never clearly renounced his belief he had reached the Far East. As a colonial governor, Columbus was accused by some of his contemporaries of significant brutality and removed from the post. Columbus's strained relationship with the Crown of Castile and its colonial administrators in America led to his arrest and removal from Hispaniola in 1500, and later to protracted litigation over

24890-463: The nautical charts and logs that had belonged to her deceased father, Bartolomeu Perestrello , who had served as a captain in the Portuguese navy under Prince Henry the Navigator . In the mapmaking shop where he worked with his brother Bartholomew, Columbus also had ample opportunity to hear the stories of old seamen about their voyages to the western seas, but his knowledge of the Atlantic wind patterns

25080-478: The nobility that his father, John II, had shattered. When his second wife, Joan of Portugal , gave birth to Infanta Joanna , it was claimed that she was the result of an affair of the Queen with Beltrán de la Cueva , one of the King's chief ministers. The King, besieged by riots and the demands of the nobles, had to sign a treaty in which he named as his successor his half-brother Alfonso , leaving Infanta Joanna out of

25270-435: The number of cities represented in the Cortes varied over the next century, until John I permanently set those that would be allowed to send representatives ( procuradores ): Burgos , Toledo , León, Sevilla, Córdoba, Murcia, Jaén, Zamora , Segovia , Ávila , Salamanca , Cuenca , Toro , Valladolid , Soria , Madrid and Guadalajara (with Granada added after its conquest in 1492). Under Alfonso X , most sessions of

25460-534: The only common institution would be the Inquisition . Despite their titles of "Monarchs of Castile, Leon, Aragon and Sicily" Ferdinand and Isabella reigned over their respective territories, although they also took decisions together. Its central position, larger territorial area (three times greater than that of Aragon) and larger population (4.3 million as opposed to the 1 million in Aragon) led to Castile becoming

25650-519: The only monarch of Spain. Philip II continued the politics of Charles I, but unlike his father he made Castile the core of the Spanish Empire , centralising all administration in Madrid . The other Spanish regions maintained certain degree of autonomy, being governed by a Viceroy . In fact, since the reign of Charles I the financial burden of the empire had fallen mainly on Castile, but under Philip II

25840-436: The opportunity and recommenced the fight. Henry finally was victorious in 1369 in the Battle of Montiel , in which he had Peter killed. In 1371 the brother of the Black Prince, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster , married Constance , Peter's daughter. In 1386, he claimed the Crown of Castile in the name of his wife, the legitimate heir according to the Cortes de Seville of 1361. He arrived in A Coruña with an army and took

26030-408: The persistence of Galicia as a differentiated province within the realm, as indicated by the acts of several Councils of Toledo , chronicles such as that of John of Biclar , and in military laws such as the one extolled by Wamba which was incorporated into the Liber Iudicum , the Visigothic legal code. It was not until the administrative reformation produced during the reign of Recceswinth that

26220-531: The port at Lisbon. From there he went to Vale do Paraíso north of Lisbon to meet King John II of Portugal, who told Columbus that he believed the voyage to be in violation of the 1479 Treaty of Alcáçovas . After spending more than a week in Portugal, Columbus set sail for Spain. Returning to Palos on 15 March 1493, he was given a hero's welcome and soon afterward received by Isabella and Ferdinand in Barcelona. To them he presented kidnapped Taínos and various plants and items he had collected. Columbus's letter on

26410-507: The precise historical details of these events have been obscured by the national myths leading to the construction of modern Spanish identity. The 9th century saw this state expand southward, with Castilian and Asturian noblemen acquiring most of the northern Meseta , while in Galicia, a similar impulse led to the conquest and re-population of the regions of Astorga, southern Galicia, and northern Portugal down to Coimbra , by noblemen mostly proceeding from northern Galicia. Also significant

26600-534: The presence of foreigners in its deliberations. Despite threats, the parliament led by Juan de Zumel representing Burgos , resisted and forced the king to respect the laws of Castile, remove all foreigners from important governmental posts, and learn to speak Castilian . After taking his oath, Charles received a subsidy of 600,000 ducats. Charles was conscious of the fact that he had options to become emperor and needed to impose his authority over Castile to gain access to its riches for his imperial goals. The riches from

26790-447: The privileges he and his heirs claimed were owed to them by the crown. Columbus's expeditions inaugurated a period of exploration, conquest, and colonization that lasted for centuries, thus bringing the Americas into the European sphere of influence. The transfer of plants, animals, precious metals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Old World and New World that followed his first voyage are known as

26980-438: The reconquest of Naples for the Crown of Aragon in 1504. Later that same year, Queen Isabella died, on November 26. Upon Queen Isabella I's death 1504, the crown passed to her daughter Joanna , who was married to Philip of Austria (nicknamed 'Philip the Handsome'). But Isabella knew of her daughter's possible mental health incapacities ( and so nicknamed 'Juana la Loca' or 'Joanna the Mad' ) and named Ferdinand as regent in

27170-442: The representatives demanded that the parliaments be reunited from then on. Although the individual kingdoms and cities initially retained their individual historical rights-including the Old Fuero of Castile (Viejo Fuero de Castilla) and the different fueros of the municipal councils of Castile, León, Extremadura and Andalucía-a unified legal code for the entire new kingdom was created in the Siete Partidas ( c.  1265 ),

27360-481: The resources of newly discovered lands". Despite a popular misconception to the contrary, nearly all educated Westerners of Columbus's time knew that the Earth is spherical , a concept that had been understood since antiquity . The techniques of celestial navigation , which uses the position of the Sun and the stars in the sky, had long been in use by astronomers and were beginning to be implemented by mariners. However Columbus made several errors in calculating

27550-399: The revenues from the new lands in perpetuity. He also would have the option of buying one-eighth interest in any commercial venture in the new lands, and receive one-eighth ( ochavo ) of the profits. In 1500, during his third voyage to the Americas, Columbus was arrested and dismissed from his posts. He and his sons, Diego and Fernando, then conducted a lengthy series of court cases against

27740-543: The revolts released Joanna, claiming to support her to be the sole monarch and encouraging her to agree the dethronement of Charles. While sympathetic to revolts, Joanna however refused to sign any documents to support them or depose her son. Los comuneros were defeated one year later (1521). After their defeat, Parliament was reduced to a merely consultative body. To prevent Joanna from being proposed to be an alternative monarch by opponents again, Charles continued her confinement until her death in 1555, after which Charles became

27930-466: The right to parias from the Taifas of Badajoz and Seville . As king, Garcia aimed to restore the old episcopal sees of Tui, Lamego, and Braga, which had been dissolved due to Arab and Viking assaults. The death of two of his most notable supporters, bishops Cresconius of Compostela and Uistrarius of Lugo, left the young king in a weaker position, and in 1071 the Count of Portugal , Nuno Mendes , rose in rebellion. García defeated and killed him in

28120-414: The right to the paria (tribute) from the Taifa of Zaragoza . His second son Alfonso VI was given the Kingdom of León , representing the central portion of the old realm, with the paria from Toledo . His youngest son, García II , who had been educated in Galicia under the tutelage of bishop Cresconius of Compostela, received the western half of Bermudo's old kingdom as King of Galicia, along with

28310-426: The same decision. Finally, when Parliament was held in A Coruña , many members were bribed and others denied entry, with the result that the subsidy was approved. Those members who voted in favour were attacked by the Castilian people and their houses were burned. Parliament was not the only opposition which Charles would come up against. When he left Castile in 1520, the Castilian War of the Communities broke out, and

28500-454: The same year at the Battle of Pedroso , and in recognition of his solidified control adopted the title King of Galicia and Portugal. However, his brothers, Alfonso and Sancho, immediately turned on the victor, forcing García to flee, first to central Portugal and later—after defeating him near Santarém —into exile in Seville in 1072. García's realm was divided, with Alfonso joining the county of Portugal to his Kingdom of León, while Sancho held

28690-449: The same year the monarchs furnished him with a letter ordering all cities and towns under their dominion to provide him food and lodging at no cost. Columbus also dispatched his brother Bartholomew to the court of Henry VII of England to inquire whether the English crown might sponsor his expedition, but he was captured by pirates en route, and only arrived in early 1491. By that time, Columbus had retreated to La Rábida Friary , where

28880-421: The sixth province of the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo . The government of the Visigoths in Galicia did not totally disrupt the society, and the Suevi Catholic dioceses of Bracara , Dumio , Portus Cale or Magneto , Tude , Iria , Britonia , Lucus , Auria , Asturica , Conimbria , Lameco , Viseu , and Egitania continued to operate normally. During the reign of Liuvigild, new Arian bishops were raised among

29070-539: The size of the Earth, the distance the continent extended to the east, and therefore the distance to the west to reach his goal. First, as far back as the 3rd century BC, Eratosthenes had correctly computed the circumference of the Earth by using simple geometry and studying the shadows cast by objects at two remote locations. In the 1st century BC, Posidonius confirmed Eratosthenes's results by comparing stellar observations at two separate locations. These measurements were widely known among scholars, but Ptolemy's use of

29260-406: The smaller, old-fashioned units of distance led Columbus to underestimate the size of the Earth by about a third. Second, three cosmographical parameters determined the bounds of Columbus's enterprise: the distance across the ocean between Europe and Asia, which depended on the extent of the oikumene , i.e., the Eurasian land-mass stretching east–west between Spain and China; the circumference of

29450-402: The society were churchmen — presbyters , deacons, clergymen, lectors , confessos , monks, and nuns—who frequently lived in religious communities , some of which were composed of both men and women living under vows of chastity and poverty . Most of these monasteries were directed by an abbot or abbess , ruled under a pactual tradition heavily influenced by Germanic legal traditions, with

29640-450: The south and the east, conquering Mérida and Seville , the capitals of the Roman provinces of Lusitania and Betica . In 448 Rechila died, leaving the expanding state to his son Rechiar , who in 449 became the first Germanic kings of post-Roman Europe to convert to Nicene Christianity . Rechiar married a Visigothic princess, and was also the first Germanic king to mint coins in ancient Roman territories. Rechiar led further expansions to

29830-404: The south expanded into Lisbon and Conimbriga , which were assaulted, and abandoned after their Roman inhabitants were banished. By 465 Remismund , who established a policy of friendship with the Goths and promoted the conversion of his own people into Arianism , was recognized by his people as the only king of the Suebi. After a period of obscurity, with very little remaining information on

30020-423: The statement in the apocryphal book 2 Esdras ( 6:42 ) that "six parts [of the globe] are habitable and the seventh is covered with water." He was also aware of Marco Polo's claim that Japan (which he called "Cipangu") was some 2,414 km (1,500 mi) to the east of China ("Cathay"), and closer to the equator than it is. He was influenced by Toscanelli's idea that there were inhabited islands even farther to

30210-424: The substitution of Castilian for Latin was due to the strength of the new language, whereas others consider that it was due to the influence of Hebrew-speaking intellectuals who were hostile towards Latin, the language of the Christian Church. In 1492, under the Catholic Monarchs , the first edition of the Grammar of the Castilian Language by Antonio de Nebrija was published. Castilian was eventually carried to

30400-425: The supreme judicial bodies. The crown also sought to better control the cities, and so in 1480 in the Cortes of Toledo it created the corregidores , representatives of the crown, which supervised the city councils. In religion, they reformed religious orders and sought unity of the various sections of the church. They pressured Jews to convert to Catholicism, in some cases persecuted by the Inquisition. Finally in 1492,

30590-448: The tax collection and government of each territory was granted by the titular ruler —usually the king—to a count , bishopric, or large monastery, although there existed some singularities. The bishopric of Lugo was divided into counties, each one under the government of an infanzon (a lesser nobleman) as a concession of the bishop, while in the south, large and mighty territories such as the Portucalense became hereditary, passed down to

30780-417: The throne (for example, Egica and Wittiza are known to have issued coinage with the confronted effigies of both monarchs). In 701 an outbreak of plague spread westward from Greece to Spain, reaching Toledo , the Visigothic capital, in the same year, and having such impact that the royal family, including Egica and Wittiza, fled. It has been suggested that this provided the occasion for sending Wittiza to rule

30970-400: The throne appeared, finally grouping into two allegiances. The division between the two groups was marked by the Minius River (now Minho River), probably as a consequence of the localities of the Quadi and Marcomanni tribes, who constituted the Suebi nation on the Iberian Peninsula . The Suebi in the north conquered Lugo, proceeding to use that city as their co-capital, while the Suebi in

31160-409: The throne has been titled Prince of Asturias since the 14th century. Almost immediately after the union of the two kingdoms under Ferdinand III, the parliaments of Castile and León were united. It was divided into three estates, which corresponded with the nobility, the church and the cities, and included representation from Castile , León , Galicia , Toledo , and the Basque Provinces . Initially

31350-489: The time accepted Ptolemy's estimate that Eurasia spanned 180° longitude, rather than the actual 130° (to the Chinese mainland) or 150° (to Japan at the latitude of Spain). Columbus believed an even higher estimate, leaving a smaller percentage for water. In d'Ailly's Imago Mundi , Columbus read Marinus of Tyre 's estimate that the longitudinal span of Eurasia was 225° at the latitude of Rhodes . Some historians, such as Samuel Eliot Morison , have suggested that he followed

31540-409: The towns of Braga ( Bracara Augusta ) and Porto , and later in Lugo ( Lucus Augusta ) and Astorga ( Asturica Augusta ). The valley of the Limia (or Lima) River is thought to have received the largest concentration of Germanic settlers, and Bracara Augusta—the modern city of Braga—became the capital of the Suebi, as it had previously been the capital of Gallaecia. In 419 a war broke out between

31730-558: The two kingdoms were united under the name of the Kingdom of León and Castile, or simply as the Crown of Castile. Ferdinand III later conquered the Guadalquivir Valley , while his son Alfonso X conquered the Kingdom of Murcia from Al-Andalus , further extending the area of the Crown of Castile. Given this, the kings of the Crown of Castile traditionally styled themselves "King of Castile , León , Toledo , Galicia , Murcia , Jaén , Córdoba , Seville , and Lord of Biscay and Molina ", among other possessions they later gained. The heir to

31920-432: The viceroy from the office. In New Spain and Peru they played the role of sovereign, but in reality they only obeyed the orders of the Monarch of the Crown of Castile. 40°25′03″N 03°42′54″W  /  40.41750°N 3.71500°W  / 40.41750; -3.71500 Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus ( / k ə ˈ l ʌ m b ə s / ; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506)

32110-435: The whole of the Iberian peninsula. "Alfonso king of Galicia and of Asturias, after having ravaged Lisbon, the last city of Spain, sent during the winter the insignias of his victory, breastplates, mules, and Moor prisoners, through his legates Froia and Basiliscus." Annales regni Francorum , c 798. "And so, as I've been told, when Adefonsus departed of this world, as Nepotianus usurped the kingdom of Ramiro , Ramiro went to

32300-432: The youth of Leonese king Bermudo III , Sancho seized disputed border regions, formalizing the arrangement by including the lands in the dowry of Bermudo's sister, who was married to Ferdinand in 1032. Two years later, in 1034, Sancho took Bermudo's capital, becoming de facto ruler of most of the kingdom, whilst leaving Bermudo to rule from his refuge in Galicia. Sancho's death the next year allowed Bermudo to regain not only

32490-437: Was subsistence , based mainly on the production of grain and beans, and notably in cattle breeding. Other valuable—though geographically restricted—products included fruits, salt, wine, honey, olive oil , horses, iron for the production of weapons and tools, and exotic oriental fabrics introduced from Spania . There were also specialized artisans who worked on demand, such as masons and goldsmiths . While local commerce

32680-407: Was a carrack , the Santa María , owned and captained by Juan de la Cosa , and under Columbus's direct command. The other two were smaller caravels , the Pinta and the Niña , piloted by the Pinzón brothers . Columbus first sailed to the Canary Islands. There he restocked provisions and made repairs then departed from San Sebastián de La Gomera on 6 September, for what turned out to be

32870-421: Was a dynastic union of the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon in 1479 when Ferdinand ascended to the Aragonese throne. This union however was not effective until the reign of his grandson Charles I (Holy Roman Emperor Charles V) . Ferdinand and Isabella were related and had married without papal approval. Although Isabella wanted to marry Ferdinand, she refused to proceed with the marriage until she received

33060-444: Was a political entity located in southwestern Europe , which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula . In the early 10th century, the Kingdom of Galicia was formed following the division of the Kingdom of Asturias after the death of Alfonso III in 910. His sons split the kingdom, with Ordoño II inheriting Galicia. While Galicia became a distinct political entity, it remained closely tied to

33250-408: Was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs , opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas . His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America. The name Christopher Columbus

33440-491: Was common, long range interchanges—generally maintained by Hebrew merchants—were rare and appreciated. Monetary circulation was scarce, composed mainly of old Suebi and Visigothic coinage known locally as solidos gallicianos . War and pillaging against the thriving Al-Andalus was also a very important source for the acquisition of riches, exotic items, and Muslim serfs. Later, pilgrimage of Christians from all over Europe to Santiago de Compostela brought not only riches, but also

33630-442: Was divided, ad habitandum , between two Germanic people , the Hasdingi Vandals , who settled the eastern lands, and the Suebi, who established themselves in the coastal areas. As with most Germanic invasions, the number of the original Suebi is estimated to be relatively low, generally fewer than 100,000, and most often around 30,000 people. They settled mainly in the regions around modern northern Portugal and Western Galicia, in

33820-565: Was enthroned in Santiago de Compostela in 958. However, Sancho reclaimed the crown in 960 with support from his mother's Kingdom of Pamplona , the Leonese nobility, and Muslim assistance. His son, Ramiro III , grew increasingly absolutist, alienating the Galician nobility who also resented the lack of Leonese help when the Normans raided Galicia from 968 through 970. The Galician nobility again rose in rebellion, in 982 crowning and anointing Bermudo , son of Ordoño III , as king in Santiago de Compostela . With their support, he first repelled

34010-426: Was forced by his sons to abdicate in 910, his lands were partitioned, bringing about the first episode of a short-lived distinct kingdom of Galicia. García I obtained the Terra de Fora or León , consisting of the southeastern portion of their father's realm, while Ordoño II held the western lands, i.e. , Galicia (including the recently acquired lands of Coimbra ) where he had already been serving as governor, and

34200-402: Was in order to alleviate interior conflicts sparked off by his predecessor (revolts in Portugal , Catalonia and Andalusia ) and achieve peace in Europe. Upon the death of Philip IV in 1665, and with the incapacity of Charles II to govern, Spain suffered an economic slowdown and battles for power between the different 'favourites'. The death of Charles II in 1700 without descendants provoked

34390-428: Was known for the many foundations he established throughout the west of the Iberian Peninsula , generally in places with difficult access, such as mountain valleys or islands. He also wrote two monastic rulebooks, characterized by their pact-like nature, with the monastic communities ruled by an abbot , under the remote authority of a bishop ( episcopus sub regula ), and each integrant of the congregation having signed

34580-482: Was not a scholarly man. Yet he studied these books, made hundreds of marginal notations in them and came out with ideas about the world that were characteristically simple and strong and sometimes wrong ... Under the Mongol Empire 's hegemony over Asia and the Pax Mongolica , Europeans had long enjoyed a safe land passage on the Silk Road to India , parts of East Asia , including China and Maritime Southeast Asia , which were sources of valuable goods. With

34770-696: Was not from Genoa, but from the Aragon region of Spain or from Portugal. These competing hypotheses have been discounted by most scholars. In 1473, Columbus began his apprenticeship as business agent for the wealthy Spinola , Centurione, and Di Negro families of Genoa. Later, he made a trip to the Greek island Chios in the Aegean Sea , then ruled by Genoa. In May 1476, he took part in an armed convoy sent by Genoa to carry valuable cargo to northern Europe. He probably visited Bristol , England, and Galway , Ireland, where he may have visited St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church . It has been speculated he went to Iceland in 1477, though many scholars doubt this. It

34960-503: Was now recognized as king in an assembly of magnates held in Lugo. The youngest brother, Fruela II , received the Asturian heartland in the northeast, with Oviedo as its capital. From Galicia, Ordoño launched several successful raids on the Islamic south, returning with riches and Muslim serfs, and confirming himself as an able commander. At the death of García in 914, Ordoño also acquired León, and on his death in 924 his younger brother, Fruela, reunited Alfonso's realm. Fruela's death

35150-404: Was reduced again to the category of bishopric, and subjected to Braga. Meanwhile, the Suevi, Roman, and Galician cultural, religious, and aristocratic elite accepted new monarchs. The peasants maintained a collective formed mostly by freemen and serfs of Celtic, Roman and Suebi extraction, as no major Visigoth immigration occurred during the 6th and 7th centuries. This continuity led to

35340-436: Was rich in gold. Columbus, for his part, continued to the northern coast of Hispaniola , where he landed on 6 December. There, the Santa María ran aground on 25 December 1492 and had to be abandoned. The wreck was used as a target for cannon fire to impress the native peoples. Columbus was received by the native cacique Guacanagari , who gave him permission to leave some of his men behind. Columbus left 39 men, including

35530-459: Was still imperfect at the time of his first voyage. By sailing due west from the Canary Islands during hurricane season , skirting the so-called horse latitudes of the mid-Atlantic, he risked being becalmed and running into a tropical cyclone , both of which he avoided by chance. By about 1484, Columbus proposed his planned voyage to King John II of Portugal . The king submitted Columbus's proposal to his advisors, who rejected it, correctly, on

35720-413: Was the villa , centered on a church, and composed of one or more hamlets or villages, together with all its facilities, lands, and possessions. The villas perpetuated ancient Roman and Suevic foundations, and they were the base for the ecclesiastical organization, and for the economic production of the country, later evolving into the modern parroquias and freguesias (rural parishes). The local economy

35910-402: Was the discovery of the tomb of Saint James the Great at what would become Santiago de Compostela ; the shrine constructed there became the religious center of the nation, as well as being the destination of a major international pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James . This increased the political and military relevance of Galicia, and its noble families aspired to positions of power within

36100-562: Was then administered within the Crown of Castile (1490–1715) and later the Crown of Spain (1715–1833) by an Audiencia Real directed by a Governor which also held the office of Captain General and President. The representative assembly of the Kingdom was then the Junta or Cortes of the Kingdom of Galicia , which briefly declared itself sovereign when Galicia alone remained free of Napoleonic occupation (1808–1809). The kingdom and its Junta were dissolved by Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies , Regent of Spain, in 1834. The origin of

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