Reconquest and Spain's Empire, 1400-1898
History 400-01 : Spring 2004
University of Alicante, Spain
Dale Graden

One of the first global empires, Spain spread its language, cultures and institutions throughout the world with extraordinary speed and efficiency. Having fought the Moors on the Iberian peninsula for three centuries, Spain’s explorers and settlers were ready for new endeavors. 1492 has gone down in history as one of those major years, a turning point one might say. It represented both success (a new world found and new peoples encountered) and failure (expulsion from the Peninsula of the Jews and the "Moors", systematic brutalization of the indigenous peoples encountered in the Americas).

Spain’s empire proved profitable and continued through the early 19th century. In the aftermath of Latin America’s independence wars (1810-25), Cuba and Puerto Rico remained as the last remaining jewels of the empire. War in Cuba ended more than four centuries of Spain’s imperial project.

The requirements of this course are three book critiques from the required list of books or other books of your choice that we agree upon. On Wednesday 11 Feb, everyone is required to submit the first required book critique on Homero Aridjis, 1492.

Please do not miss this class. Your grade will be based on the three book critiques (75%) and your involvement in the course (25%).

Readings

Maria Rosa Menocal, The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain (New York: Back Bay Books, 2003) ISBN 0316168718

Homero Aridjis, 1492: The Life and Times of Juan Cabezón of Castile (Albuquerque : University of New Mexico Press, 2003) ISBN 0826330967

Bartolome de las Casas, An Account, Much Abbreviated, of the Destruction of the Indies, edited by Franklin W. Knight (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Inc., 2003) 0872206254

Miguel Leon-Portilla, The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico (Boston: Beacon Press, 1992) ISBN 0807055018

Richard Boyer and Geoffrey Spurling, eds., Colonial Lives: Documents on Latin American History, 1550-1850 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) ISBN 0195125126

Miguel Barnet, Biography of a Runaway Slave (Willimantic, Ct: Curbstone Press, 1994) ISBN 1880684187

Introduction on Wednesday January 14

Week One 19, 21 Jan

Muslim conquest; Cultures of Medieval Spain

Reading: begin Maria Rosa Menocal, The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain

Week Two 26, 28 Jan

Cultures of Medieval Spain: what is tolerance?

Reading: conclude Menocal, The Ornament of the World

Week Three 2, 4 Feb

Life and Times of Juan Cabezón

Reading: begin Homero Aridjis, 1492: The Life and Times of Juan Cabezón of Castile

Week Four 9, 11 Feb

1480s – 1500 in Spain and the Caribbean

Reading: conclude Aridjis, 1492: The Life and Times of Juan Cabezón of Castile

On Wednesday 11 Feb, everyone is required to submit the first required book critique on Aridjis, 1492, and we will discuss the novel

Week Five 16, 18 Feb

The Conquest of Paradise: Hispaniola in the early 16th Century
view the film "Cabeza de Vaca"

Reading: begin de las Casas, An Account
recommended is Kirkpatrick Sale, The Conquest of Paradise

Week Six 23, 25 Feb

Aztec Empire; Tenochtitlan; arrival of Cortez; liberation theology in the 16th century

Reading: conclude de las Casas, An Account

On Wednesday 25 Feb, optional book critique number two is due on de las Casas, An Account, and we will discuss the book

Week Seven 1,3 March

Aztecs’ account of Spanish conquest

Reading: begin Miguel Leon-Portilla, The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico

view the film "Aguirre, Wrath of God"

Week Eight 8, 10 March

Resistance 

Reading: conclude Leon-Portilla, The Broken Spears

On Wednesday 10 March, optional book critique number three is due on Leon-Portilla, The Broken Spears, and we will discuss the book

Week Nine 15, 17 March

Society in Colonial Latin America

Reading: begin Richard Boyer and Geoffrey Spurling, eds., Colonial Lives: Documents on Latin American History, 1550-1850

view the film "Fitzcarraldo"

Week Ten 22, 24 March

Colonial Lives

Reading: conclude Boyer and Spurling, eds., Colonial Lives

Week Eleven 29, 31 March

Bourbon Reforms

On Monday 29 March, optional book critique number four is due on Boyer and Spurling, Colonial Lives, and we will discuss the book 

Week Twelve 5, 7 April

Reading: recommended is Carlos Fuentes, The Buried Mirror

Independence Movements in the Americas, 1770s-1825

Spring Break

Week Thirteen 26, 28 April

Cuba in the 19th Century: the last jewell of Spain's empire

Reading: begin Miguel Barnet, Biography of a Runaway Slave

Week Fourteen 3, 5 May

The Spanish-Cuban-American War, 1868-1898 and testimonial literature

Reading: conclude Barnet, Biography of a Runaway Slave

On Monday 3 May, optional book critique number five is due on Barnet, Biography of a Runaway Slave, and we will discuss the book in class

Wednesday 5 May, conclusions