the spanish period (1521 – 1898)

THE SPANISH PERIOD

(1521 – 1898)

a new conqueror , a divided rule

The Imperial Spain: the new conquerors

A. Historical Background : The most spectacular change during the Renaissance which shaped the course of history was the opening of the world

to European Shipping. Propelled by the slogan: “GOSPEL, GOLD and GLORY,” and supported by much-improved technology, the two Iberian superpowers of Spain and Portugal pushed through their ultimate goals to discover the rest of the world.

With the accumulation of wealth, political authority, additional empirical knowledge in science and technology, and the supportof a small economic elite, they were able to finance several daring reconnaissance enterprises in vast, unknown, undiscovered seas, and untouched, uncharted continents.


1. Portugal vs Spain: the 15th century Superpowers Renewed interest in Greek and Roman cultures

fostered humanistic studies in art and science. New, stimulating ideas were spread with the advent of printing. Out of the doomsday mentality caused by the Black Death, civil wars, and economic uncertainties emerged expansionism, cohesion, and a sense of prosperity.

As the eastern Mediterranean reeled before the expanding Ottoman Empire, and Muslim rule ended in Iberia, western Mediterranean traders and mariners looked beyond the Straits of Gibraltar for alternative routes to the riches of the East.


1. Portugal vs Spain: the 15th century Superpowers The Christians, Muslims and Jews of the Iberian Kingdoms --

modern-day Spain and Portugal -- had coexisted throughout most of the Middle Ages in considerable harmony, despite periods of war and conflict. Close contact and currents of influence among these groups fostered a varied culture and flourishing intellectual life more advanced than anywhere else in Europe.

Unification of the Christian kingdoms of Aragon, Navarre, and Castile began in 1469 when Princess Isabel of Castile married Prince Fernando of Aragon. In 1480, they established the Holy Inquisition to enforce orthodox Christian belief and practice. In the very year of Columbus' first voyage, the monarchs conquered the last Muslim kingdom of Granada and expelled all Jews who refused to convert to Christianity. Despite such repressions, the extraordinary cultural diversity of late medieval Iberia left an enduring legacy in art, architecture, language, music, foodways, agriculture, and urban life.


1. Portugal vs Spain: the 15th century Superpowers The first global empires were a product of the European

Age of Exploration that began with a race of exploration

between the then most advanced maritime powers, Portugal and

Spain, in the 15th century. The initial impulse behind these dispersed

maritime empires and those that followed was trade, driven by

the new ideas and the capitalism that grew out of the European Renaissance. Agreements were also done to divide the

world up between them in 1479, 1493, and 1494.


1. Portugal vs Spain: the 15th century Superpowers Portugal began establishing the first global trade

network and empire under the leadership of Henry the Navigator. Portugal would eventually establish colonial domains from Brazil, in South America, to several colonies in Africa (namely Portuguese Guinea, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola and Mozambique), in Portuguese India (most importantly Bombay and Goa), in China (Macau), and Oceania (most importantly Timor, namely East Timor), amongst many other smaller or short-lived possessions


1. Portugal vs Spain: the 15th century SuperpowersDuring its Siglo de Oro, the Spanish Empire had possession of the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Italy, parts of Germany, parts of France, and many colonies in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. With the conquest of inland Mexico, Peru, and the Philippines in the 16th century, Spain established overseas dominions on a scale and world distribution that had never been approached by its predecessors (the Mongol Empire had been larger but was restricted to Eurasia). Possessions in Europe, Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, the Americas, the Pacific Ocean, and the Far East qualified the Spanish Empire as attaining a global presence in this sense.


2. Maritime – Economic Rivalries:With momentous maritime discoveries, the unknown lands of the New World and Asia, with their diverse ancient civilizations and cultures, was integrated with Europe.

Thus,in the arduous and lengthy process of maritime discovery inthe late 15th century, new sea lanes to the Southeast Asia were chartered which led to the spice trade routes.The first of these was initiated by Portugal by sailing via

thesoutheastern route which made into the Indian Ocean in 1488 and ended with the fall of Malacca (1511) and the Maluku (Moluccas) in 1512.


2. Maritime – Economic Rivalries:The second was led by Spain by sailing via the western orsouthwestern route that made serendipitous landfalls in

theWest Indies in 1492 and culminated in the “rediscovery” ofthe Philippines in 1521. The inclusion of Asian trade to that of Europe led not only

tothe flow of economic products and the wealth of Asia to European societies but also to the dynamic interaction ofcultures. The tremendous profit European trade brought to the superpower nations, intensified European rivalries for the fabled source of Oriental products.


B. Magellan and different expeditions. 1. Magellan: his early life and travels

Ferdinand Magellan (Portuguese: Fernão de Magalhães,; Spanish: Fernando de Magallanes; c. 1480 – April 27, 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He was born at Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, but later obtained Spanish nationality in order to serve king Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" (modern Maluku Islands in Indonesia).


B. Magellan and different expeditions. 1. Magellan: his early life and travels

Magellan's expedition of 1519–1522 became the firstexpedition to sail from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific Ocean (then named "peaceful sea" by Magellan; the passage being made via the Strait of Magellan), and the first to cross the Pacific. It also completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth, although Magellan himself did not complete theentire voyage, being killed during the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines. (Magellan had, however, traveled eastwards to the Malay Peninsula on an earlier voyage, so he became one of the first explorers to cross all of the meridians of the globe.) Of the 237 men who set out on five ships, only 18 completed the circumnavigation and managed to return to Spain in 1522, led by the Basque navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano, who took over command of the expedition after Magellan's death.


B. Magellan and different expeditions. 2. Voyage of Circumnavigation 2.a.)Background: Spanish search for a westward route to

Asia

The aim of Christopher Columbus' 1492–1503 voyages to the West had been to reach the Indies and to establish commercial relations between Spain and the Asian kingdoms. The Spanish soon realized that the lands of the Americas were not a part of Asia, but a new continent. The 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas reserved for Portugal the eastern routes that went around Africa, and Vasco da

Gama and the Portuguese arrived in India in 1498. It became urgent for Spain to find a new commercial route to Asia, and after the Junta de Toro conference of 1505, the Spanish Crown set out to discover a route to the west.


B. Magellan and different expeditions. 2. Voyage of Circumnavigation 2.b.) Funding and Preparations:

Magellan's project was particularly interesting, since it would open the "spice route" without damaging relations with the neighboring Portuguese. The idea was in tune with the times. On March 22, 1518 the king named Magellan and Faleiro captains so that they could travel in search of the Spice Islands in July. He raised them to the rank of Commander of the Order of Santiago.


B. Magellan and different expeditions. 2. Voyage of Circumnavigation 2.c.) Imperial Conditions

The expedition was funded largely by theSpanish Crown and provided with ships carrying supplies for two years of travel.The king granted them: a.) Monopoly of the discovered route for a period of ten years. b.) Their appointment as governors of the lands and islands found, with 5% of the resulting net gains. c.) A fifth of the gains of the travel. d.) The right to levy one thousand ducats on upcoming trips, paying only 5% on the remainder. e.) Granting of an island for each one, apart from the six richest, from which they would receive a fifteenth. ( cf. Magellan, Wikepedia)


B. Magellan and different expeditions. 2. Voyage of Circumnavigation 2.d.) The Spanish Fleet

The fleet provided by King Charles V included five ships: the flagship Trinidad (110 tons, crew 55), under Magellan's command; San Antonio (120 tons, crew 60) commanded by Juan de Cartagena; Concepcion (90 tons, crew 45) commanded by Gaspar de Quesada; Santiago (75 tons, crew 32) commanded by Juan Serrano; and Victoria (85 tons, crew 43),named after the church of Santa Maria de laVictoria de Triana, where Magellan took anoath of allegiance to Charles V, commanded by Luis Mendoza. Trinidad was a caravel, and all others rated as carracks or "naus".


B. Magellan and different expeditions. 2. Voyage of Circumnavigation


B. Magellan and different expeditions. 2. Voyage of Circumnavigation 2.e.)Departure and crossing of the Atlantic

On August 10, 1519, the five ships under

Magellan's command – Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepción, Victoria and

Santiago – left Seville and descended the Guadalquivir River to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, at the mouth of the river.

There they remained more than five weeks.

Finally they set sail on September 20.


B. Magellan and different expeditions. 2. Voyage of Circumnavigation 2.f.) Passage to the Pacific

At 52°S latitude on October 21 the fleet reached Cape Virgenes and concluded they had found the passage, because the waters

were brine and deep inland. Four ships began an arduous trip through the 373-mile (600 km) long passage that Magellan called the Estrecho (Canal) de Todos los Santos, ("All Saints' Channel"), because the fleet travelled through it on November 1 or All Saints' Day. The strait is now named the

Strait of Magellan.

the spanish period (1521 – 1898)

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