Important people that you should know.

Cristopher Colombus







Amerigo Vespucci






Ferdinand Magellan








Vasco Nuñez de Balboa

An interesting and funny video about Colombus reaching new land.

The treaty of Torresillas.

When Colombus discovered America, the Catholic Monarchs asked the Pope for permission to rule and evangelise the new territory.
Portugal also wanted to control the sea and the territory explored by its navigators. To avoid conflict between the two nations, the Treaty of Torresillas was signed in 1494.
The Treaty of Torresillas divided the newly discovered territories between Spain and Portugal along a meridian 370 degrees west of the Cape Verde Islands. All territories west of the line belonged to Castile, and all territories east of the line belonged to Portugal.

The Great Geographical discoveries (vocabulary)

- Astrolabe                                              
 - Mestizos                                     
- Magellan
- Caravel                                                 
 - Black slaves                               
- Vasco Nuñez de Balboa
- Compass                                               
- House of trade                            
- Treaty Of Torresillas.
- Criollos
- Cristopher Colombus                              
- Pre-columbian civilizations

The conquest and organisation of the American Empire.

The crown of Castile conquered American territory thanks to its military superiority because it exploited the divisions between the indigenous peoples.

THE GREAT EXPEDITIONS:
 -Mexico. This conquest was led by Hernán Cortes, who founded the city of Veracruz. He conquered the Aztecs.
 -Peru.This conquest was led by Francisco Pizarro, the territories of the Inca Empire. Today, these territories included Peru, Ecuador and part of Bolivia.
In 1533, the colonisers executed the Inca emperor, Atahualpa.

THE ORGANISATION OF THE CONQUERED TERRITORIES:
The conquered territories were part of the Crown of Castile. The language,culture and lawswere imposed in these territories.
Two administrative areas were established, New Spain and Peru.
Cabildos(mayors) were also appointed to govern cities, and courts established to impart justice.

THE EXPLOITATIO OF RESOURCES:
The new territories were divided among the colonisers.

TRADE IN AMERICA:
Extensive mining was carried out in America and all was sent back to Spain. Other exports were new to Europe.
Castile also imported goods to America. The Casa de Contratación (House of trade), in Seville, regulated trade between Spain and America.

COLONIAL SOCIETY:
Most of the population was indigenous, Spaniards had political and economic power.
Different social groups:
     -Criollos: descendants of the colonisers.
     -Mestizos: one Spanish and one indigenous parent.
     -Black slaves: were brought from Africa.
The colonisation affected the demographics of the indigenous peoples in some areas the local population disappeared completely.

American flag nowadays.

Pre-columbian peoples.

When the Europeans arrived in America, they found advanced civilizations and great empires.
Because Colombus believed that he had arrived in India, he called the local inhabitants Indians. However, today, these civilizations are called pre-Columbian, which means before the arrival of Colombus.

-MAYAS:
   lived in Central America and they worked mainly in agriculture, astronomy and mathematics, they used hieroglyphs.

-AZTECS:
  lived in the Valley of Mexico and they founded important cities like Tenochtitlan.

-INCAS:
   lived in high pateaus of the Andes and they worked in agriculture.

Summary (discoveries)

Cristopher Colombus, a navigator believed to be from Genoa, thought he could reach the Spice Islands by crossing the Atlantic. Hw knew the Earth was round but he thought taht it was much smaller. He did not know thta the continent of America existed.

Colombus presented his project to the Catholic Monarchs. Quenn Isabella signed the Capitulations of Santa Fe in 1492, agreeing to finance his voyage.

Colombus project was based on two ideas:
 - The Earth was round.But he calculated the diameter incorrectly.
 - The ocean was the only thing separating Europe and Asia. He didn't know about America.

In 1513, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa led an expedition taht crossed the isthmus of Panama. It was there that he discovered a new ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and confirmed that America was a new continent.

The name of America comes from Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian navigator who explored the coasts of the New World after Colombus. He claimed to be the first person to set food on the new continent.

In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan led an expedition to find a sea route connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.This expedition was the first voyage around the world.

Technical advances.

- Navigation maps of coasts and ports are called portolan charts.




-The rudder, the compass and the astrolabe, which allowed ships to navigate more accurately.

The Great Geographical discoveries. (introduction)

At the end of the 15th century, technical advances allowed Europeans to go on maritime expeditions to discover new trade routes. As well as the African coast and the Spice Islands, explorers discovered the continent of America and made the first voyage around the world.

European civilisations expanded to all the continents, creating large colonial empires. In America, the Spanish and Portuguese conquered the indigenous civilisations.They then imposed their culture and religion, and exploited local resources and people.

Vocabulary: (The Renaissance and the Reformation)

-Humanism: a new way of understanding the world developed in the 15th and 16th centuries.
-Renaissance: a change in thought led to a new cultural movement based on classical secular art.
-Protestant reformation: in this period, people began to criticise the corruption and abuses of the Catholic Church. This unrest led to a reform movement.
-Patron: is someone who gives money and support to a person or organisation and their
 activities.
-Perspective: the technique that gives paintings a three dimensional character.
-Printing press: a machine invented in the 15th century for producing text and images in large quantities.
- Protestant: a member of the Christian church that broke from the Catholic Church during the Reformation.
-Reformation: the movement to reform the Catholic Church that led to the Protestant  churches in the 16th century.

The Reformation.

At the end of the Middle Ages, people began to question the attitudes of high clergy.
The protestant Reformation began with Lutheranism:salvation throught faith and Bible.
Other protestant doctrines included Calvinism and Anglicanism.


Martin Luther: (Lutheranism).
   Lutheranism was based on 3 fundamental principles:
                                                        - salvation throught faith alone
                                                        - universal priesthood
                                                        - authority of the Bible


Lutherans believes on Lutheranism:
           - each man could interpret the Bible alone
           - without the invention of the church


Catholic Counter-Reformation.
  The spread of the Reformation in Europe led the Catholic authorities in Rome to persecute Protestants and begin and reform of their own church.
  The Reform of the Catholic Church was known as the Counter-Reformation.
  It began with the Council of Trent (1545-1563).
  The Council reaffirmed the main dogmas of Catholicism.
                                                                 - faith
                                                                 - the sanctity of mass
                                                                 - the seven sacraments
                                                                 - worship of virgin and saints

An interesting Renaissance video.

Printing Press

Renaissance art

The Renaissance and the Reformation.

* Summary:
  - In the 15th and 16th centuries, a new way of understanding the world developed, called humanism (began in Italy).
  - This change in thought led to a new cultural movement based on classical secular art called the Renaissance.
  - In this period, people began to criticise the corruption and abuses of the Catholic church. This unrest led to a reform movement known as the Protestant Reformation. Christianity in Europe became divided between Catholics and Protestants.
  - German Johannes Gutemberg invented the Printing Press.

The Black Death.

- Fleas bit infected rats.
- When an infected flea beat a human, it became infected (the blood).
- Symptoms:
 · Swellings on necks and armpits.
 · Black or purple spots on other parts of the body, as the nose or tips of fingers.
- 3 types of plagues:
 · Bubonic plague, spread from flea bites. One week of life.
 · Pneumatic plague, attacked the respiratory system and spread by breathing. 2 days of life.
 · A rares version attacked the blood system.
- Consequences:
 · Black death killed at least 75 million people in Europe alone.
 · Historians said it killed as many as 150 million people, 60% of the European population.

The Renaissance (art)

The Renaissance and the Reformation (introduction).

-- In the 15th and 16th centuries, a new way of understanding the world developed, called humanism.
-- Humanism focused on human values and looked bck to the classical cultures of Greece and Rome. This cange in thought led to a new cultural movement based on classical secular art called the Renaissance.
-- During this period, people began to criticise the corruption and abuses of the Catholic Church. This inresst led to a reform movement known as the Protestant Reformation. Christianity in Europe became divided between Catholic and Protestants.

The Modern Age

- In the west, the Modern Age began at the end of the 15th century and continued until the   end of the 18th century.

- Europe emerged from the crisis of the Middle Ages with new ways of thinking (humanism) and innovative ideas about art.

- An artist revolution began in Italy with the Renaissance ant then moved on to the Baroque.

- The Spanish Empire enjoyed a golden age in the 16th century, but then went into decline in the 17th century.

The great Peninsular kingdoms. (main ideas)

--The Christian kingdoms defeated the Muslims at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212.
--By the end of the 13th century, the Christian kingdoms had conquered all the Muslim territory except Granada.
--Two different types of Gothic architecture developed on the Iberian Peninsula: one that used rich decoration and another with very little decoration.
--Gil de Siloé and Pere Joan were famous Gothic sculptors.
--The miniatures of the Cantigas de Alfonso X are an example of Gothic painting.