Western European state, whose name comes from Lat. Hispania, with which the Romans indicated the territory of the Iberian peninsula, which they conquered in 19 BC, which the Spain occupies for the most part. The Christianization of the provinces of the Spain had to proceed slowly, although in the secc. 3rd and 4th already known some dioceses (Mérida, Astorga, Saragozza, Tarragona, Seville, Córdova, Toledo) established in the capitals of the juridical convents corresponding to the administrative division of Diocletian.
The invasion of the peoples of the North – Swabians and Vandals – and the foundation of independent kingdoms determined the triumph of some heresies linked to the new rulers; but the unifying policy of the definitive victors, the Visigoths (476-711), especially starting from Recaredo (586-601), resulted in the creation of the kingdom of Toledo, Catholic (589), in the organization of the ecclesiastical provinces, in the institution of a Hispanic liturgy of great originality and in a cultural renovatio of letters and arts favored by peoples who came from North Africa, while the Roman traditions returned to flourish in the ancient centers.After the rapid Islamic occupation, starting from 711 only in the mountains of the North remained nuclei of Christian resistance that gave life to new monarchies: the Asturian, in the NW, and the Catalan nucleus. The rest of the peninsular territory was called by the Muslims al-Andalus. Far from the capital, Damascus, it was transformed into an independent emirate by ῾Abd al-Raḥmān I (756), who established the capital in Córdova. In the NE the Asturian-Leonese kingdom was organized, whose capital passed through Oviedo – at the time of Alfonso II (791-842) – in León when the borders were extended with Alfonso III (866-910), under whose auspices a religious and civil art developed in the service of a politics that claimed to be the heir of a idealized Visigothic kingdom. Within the framework of the restorative policy of Christianity in the peninsula it is appropriate to refer to the invention of the body of the apostle s. James the Elder and the promotion of Santiago de Compostela as a pilgrimage center. Already in the century. 10th, in the face of the Caliphal moment of maximum splendor, in the kingdom of León, which encompassed Galicia, and in the county of Castile, which had become an integral part of the Asturian kingdom until under the government of Fernán González (d. in 970) it obtained the independence, an art called Mozarabic developed due to the role played by artists and patrons who, coming from the Muslim Spain, contributed to repopulate the new conquered territories. it broke up in the so-called kingdoms of Taifas. Once political power was fragmented, the centers of artistic production diversified: Seville, Toledo, Zaragoza, Almería, Malaga and Granada. For Spain 1997, please check aristmarketing.com.
The dismemberment of the caliphate favored the territorial expansion of the Christian kingdoms of the North. The eastern center of resistance that had become Marca Hispanica of the Carolingian Empire soon became de facto independent from Frankish power, although nominally it continued to recognize its sovereignty until 988, when Borrell II (d. In 992), count of Barcelona – county which ended up predominating over the others – refused to lend vassalage to Ugo Capeto king of France (987-996). The progressive Christian advance allowed the restoration of ancient seats and the link with the Franks led to an early monastic and liturgical reform. During the sec. 11 ° the policy of the counts favored a large-scale building activity and the territory that later became Catalonia was a center of experiences that led to the Romanesque. 10 ° and the Navarrino expansionist momentum transformed the kingdom of Navarre – independent since the century. 9 ° – in arbiter of the Christian kingdoms. The arbitration role became hegemonic under the reign of Sancho Garcés III known as el Mayor (1000-1035), who incorporated the counties of Castile, Aragon, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza into his reign, and whose personal policy gave impetus to an important renewal artistic. After his death, Aragon became independent again, but rejoined Navarre in 1076. His son Ferdinand I the Great (1035-1065), heir to Castile, became the first Castilian-Leonese ruler thanks to his marriage to Sancia, heir of the old kingdom; to the royal patronage we owe a renewal of the workshops for the processing of ivory and miniature, now properly Romanesque, together with the promotion of the Cluniac expansion in the western territories of the peninsula. León returned to be precariously independent between 1065 and 1072 with Alfonso VI, who was later also king of Castile (1072-1109). The definitive settlement of the Cluniacs in Castilian-Leonese territory is due to the pro-European vocation of this monarch, as well as the support of the Gregorian reform and the defense of the Roman liturgy in such a way that under his reign the Camino de Santiago knew an era of splendor. A last period of independence of the kingdom of León (1157-1230) occurred on the death of the emperor Alfonso VII (1126-1157), under whose protection the Cistercians and Premonstratensians had built their first foundations. Under the reign of Ferdinand II (1157-1188) and Alfonso IX (1188-1230) territories were conquered from the Muslims beyond the Guadiana River, while in Andalus the small kingdoms of Taifas, enemies of each other, had become easy prey for Christians, who imposed on them vassalage taxes in exchange for peace. But the invasion of the Almoravids (1085), a Berber people, unified the Muslim territory again (1090-1140). After the formation of the second kingdoms of Taifas (1143), other African invaders, the Almohads, took power, but at the beginning of the century. 13 ° the Castilian monarch Alfonso VIII (1158-1214) was joined in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212) by the Navarrino García Ramírez and the Aragonese Ramiro II, thus managing to curb the new Almohad offensive. Shortly after the Castilian-Leonese monarchy, unified again under Ferdinand III (1230-1252), it reconquered Andalusia – with the exception of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada – and the kingdom of Murcia. To cope with the Almohads, the military orders of Santiago, Calatrava and Alcántara were founded in Castile and León, joining the Templars and Hospitallers, whose bailiwick and hospitals dotted the Camino de Santiago.
The Castilian dominance would have left Galicia and León in the background, and although the Camino de Santiago also constituted a channel for the coming of French artists called by cultured prelates, who made classical Gothic coexist with the Mudejar tradition, the kingdom of Castile with Burgos as capital it was organized around a new NS directorate. 13 ° the peninsular kingdoms experienced a different political path. Navarre moved closer to France and remained on the edge of the peninsula until 1360. The Crown of Aragon instead carried out a policy of expansion in the Mediterranean, inaugurated by James I the Conqueror (1213-1276) who took possession of the kingdoms of Valencia and Mallorca. Become since the century. 14 ° one of the major powers of the Mediterranean (with the possession of the Balearics, Sicily, Sardinia, Athens, Neopatria and Naples), its political situation found correspondence in the Mediterranean tendencies of Catalan and Valencian art, which coexisted with a particular Aragonese Mudéjar tradition The kingdom of Castile, transformed into a great power by Alfonso X (1252-1284), was soon weakened by the war and by the noble uprisings that began with the death of the heir Fernando de la Cerda (d. in 1275) and ended only with the reign of the Catholic Kings. The enterprises of Reconquista in the Strait of Gibraltar and in the kingdom of Granada maintained the alliance between Castile and the Aragonese Crown until 1356, when the war of the two stones broke out. This ended when the Trastamara dynasty settled in the kingdom of Castile, a member of which, Ferdinand I, would have been elected (1412) king of the Crown of Aragon when the house of Barcelona was extinguished. The internal conflicts that weakened the main states of the peninsula were added in the secc. 14th and 15th centuries, epidemics and agrarian crises, with spiritual, political, economic and artistic repercussions.
Monetation
The beginning of coinage in the Castile-León area probably dates back to Ferdinand I the Great (1035-1065), whose first dineros are known. After some occasional silver issues, the minting concentrated on billon (alloy of silver and copper), but there was also a gold circulating of Andalusian origin which permanently influenced the monetary system of Castile-León. Thus the maravedí type, imaginary unit of account, originated in the Muslim gold morabetín and the occasional gold coins of the century. 12th and early 13th were, both in Castile and in León (temporarily separate kingdoms), as well as in Portugal, morabetín which had a typology of their own in León and Portugal, but inscriptions in Arabic and the addition of a cross in Castile. It was the alfonsino maravedí, coined by Alfonso VIII (1158-1214) and by Henry I (1214-1217). These issues seem to have had a transitory character to cope with the scarce Andalusian coinage and ceased with the flow of the Almohad doblas, which represented a new supply of gold for the peninsula. the only metal coined until the first gold doblas appeared with Alfonso X the Wise (1252-1284) and with Peter I (1350-1369) the silver royal began. The dobla, probably already coined by Ferdinand III (1217-1252), now possessed its own typology, ie Christian, but followed the Arab type, while the real approached the large European. In any case, neither gold nor silver seem to have played an important role on a commercial level, except for the most active centers (Burgos and perhaps other cities) and leaving aside the dobla of John II (1406-1454), which probably constituted a first attempt to approach the European types.The kingdom of Navarre revolved around the money of biglione, first the sanchete, then the carlín, without the extensive and various monetary experiences of Charles II (1349-1387) appreciably affecting the circulation. In reality, silver (large) and gold (florin) did not begin to circulate in a consistent form until the end of the 15th century. was based on the penny (12 denarii) and the pound (20 soldi), in accordance with the Carolingian system.Initially the circulation of gold in Muslim denari was important, while, during the gold issue crisis in Andalus in the middle of the century. 11th, the mancús of Barcelona was created, also as a substitute. The entry of the morabatín almoravide closed this cycle and since then the money of billon, first coined in the various Catalan counties, then centralized in Barcelona, formed in the secc. 12th and 13th the only issued value. The stability of the currency was achieved thanks to the counterpower of the commercial oligarchy. This Catalan commercial side was what led to the rapid adoption of European monetary types, the croat (large of 12 denarii) in 1285 and the Florentine type florin in 1340. entry of the morabatín almoravide closed this cycle and since then the money of billon, first coined in the various Catalan counties, then centralized in Barcelona, formed in the secc. 12th and 13th the only issued value. The stability of the currency was achieved thanks to the counterpower of the commercial oligarchy. This Catalan commercial side was what led to the rapid adoption of European monetary types, the croat (large of 12 denarii) in 1285 and the Florentine type florin in 1340. entry of the morabatín almoravide closed this cycle and since then the money of billon, first coined in the various Catalan counties, then centralized in Barcelona, formed in the secc. 12th and 13th the only issued value. The stability of the currency was achieved thanks to the counterpower of the commercial oligarchy. This Catalan commercial side was what led to the rapid adoption of European monetary types, the croat (large of 12 denarii) in 1285 and the Florentine type florin in 1340.
