27.4 Europe: a.d. 1201 to 1300  (Page 7/14)

The Kingdom of Navarre remained under French rule from A.D. 1234 to 1316. Even though many Jews had fled southern Spain in the last century, overall the peninsula- still had the largest and most prosperous Jewish population in Europe. Sephardic Judaism included diplomats, tax collectors, physicians, astronomers and translators. Even in the north, however, some troubles were developing in the religious field as the Dominicans began preaching just south of the Pyrenees. On the coast at Barcelona, native sailers, with Jewish money, began an extensive slave trade in Moorish prisoners and that city became a most active Mediterranean port. Ramon Lu II, of this area, was the greatest Spanish intellectual figure of the period - poet, novelist, educator, scientist and traveler.

In the middle east of Spain the Aragon Empire was strengthened by the commercial wealth of Catalonia and Valencia and by 1281 this empire had taken the Balearics and then Sicily, as Peter III defeated Charles of Anjou. Peter's nobles formed the "Union for Liberty", however, and curtailed much of his power. The next king, Alfonso III, had to grant the so-called Magna Charta of Aragon. (Ref. 8 )

In Moslem Spain, the Almohades were defeated in 1212 at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa by the Christians under Alfonso VIII (of Castile) and were soon expelled from most of Spain. Part of the Moslem's troubles derived from the existence of many diverse, often antagonistic factions from many origins, as we have noted previously. By 1278 the Emirate of Granada existed only as a small coastal strip adjacent to Gibralter, while the Kingdom of Castile controlled the remainder of Spain except for Navarre and Aragon. Intermarriages of Spanish and Moors had remained common, at least up until this century, but now the preaching of the Crusades and papal propaganda prepared the Spanish mind for intolerance and later fanaticism. (Ref. 137 , 196 )

Up until 1291 the Moslems had prevented Christian vessels from going through the strait of Gibralter, but in that year a Genoese sea captain seized control of the strait and thereafter Atlantic and Mediterranean sea routes could be integrated. (Ref. 279 )

Portugal

Sancho II, beginning his reign in 1223, was deposed by the pope in 1245 and the throne was taken by his brother, Afonso III. Portugal increased its borders to its modern size and the port of Lisbon became its capital. Under Diniz (1279) one of its best loved and greatest rulers, culture bloomed and Portugese changed from a Galican dialect -to a literary language. The Portugese navy was started and the University of Lisbon was founded in 1290. (Ref. 222 , 119 )

France

NOTE: Insert Map: France in A.D. 1259

By the beginning of this century in France, elective monarchy had been replaced by hereditary monarchy. The turning point of the French royalty was the conquest of Normandy in 1204, which meant the destruction of the Angevin or Anglo-Norman Empire on the French side of the English Channel. After 1214 England controlled only Gascony on the continent. Much of Languedoc was obtained by the French king in a campaign against the Albigensian heretics (1209-1229). (Ref. 8 ) Philip II also finally defeated Otto IV of Germany, thus starting the decline of the Holy Roman Empire and allowing the beginning of strong, present day France. Following Philip came Louis IX, St. Louis, who participated in the Crusades. De Gramont (Ref. 74 ) says the Crusades were essentially a French affair and partially exhausted the nation's colonial potential. The beginnings of industrialism created an economic revolution with resulting class struggles leading finally to class wars. Peasants carrying religious banners fought against barons and priests alike. Nobility was first conferred by gift in 19270 and generally could be purchased, in this century. (Ref. 217 ) Nevertheless, this minor economic revolution stimulated the minds and energies of men and was the making of modern Europe. Additional Notes