The Eighty Years' War

The Eighty Years’ War faced the seventeen provinces from the Netherlands against the King of Spain. The rebellion began in 1568 and ended in 1648.

The expenses caused by the Eighty years’ war, that lasted the same number of years that its name indicates, finished with the sink of the Spanish economy. Most of the money came from the gold and silver found in America but the war was long enough to exhaust the Spanish kingdom. And during this war, The Black Legend about Spain was born.

Flanders was very important for the Spanish Empire. It was a constant threat for England and France.

The end of the war reached in 1648 with the Peace of Münster (a treaty part of the Peace of Westphalia), when the Dutch Republic was recognized as an independent country.

History through Art: Columbus Monument in Barcelona

The monument of Christopher Columbus is a 60 meters high column. It was put up for the Universal exposition of 1888 in homage to the famous explorer. The sight of the city is remarkable.

The Columbus Monument (Monument a Colom in Catalan, also known as the Monumento a Colón and Mirador de Colón in Spanish). It was constructed for the Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888) and is located at the site where Columbus returned to Spain after his first voyage to the Americas. The monument serves as a reminder that Barcelona is where Christopher Columbus reported to Queen Isabella and Ferdinand after Columbus' most famous trip.

The statue was sculpted by Rafael Atché and is said to depict Columbus pointing towards the New World with his right hand, while holding a scroll in the left. As it was sited, instead of pointing to the west towards the New World, the statue points east towards Columbus's supposed home city of Genoa. The statue is atop a socle, on which the word "Tierra" (land) is inscribed.

Pre-columbian cultures

Before the Spanish arrived, the continent of America was inhabited by several people, known as pre-Columbian cultures. Many were small tribes, but some civilizations such as the Aztecs, the Mayans and the Incas. They formed pre-Columbian empires.

History through Art: Poem to Christopher Columbus...

Christopher Columbus

you called the ocean blue

you used your compass and a map

to find a land so new.

Introduction: The discovery of America

When The Catholic Kings supported Christopher Columbus’ project, they expected him to arrive to ``Las Indias´´ through the Atlantic Ocean. On October 1492, Columbus arrived in Guanahani, an Islan but he believed he was in ``Las Indias´´.  Christopher Columbus died without knowing he had discovered a new continent. After that, this the new continent was called America in honor of Americo Vespucio who was the first one to make a map and identity America as a continent.

The Spanish people who reached America obtained riches and explored new lands. They found several tribes, and they brought to Spain some of the products that these tribes had: potatoes or tobacco.

The aboriginals learnt the language and the habits of the Spanish conquerors and we also adopted some characteristics of their culture and gastronomy: potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, new commercial routes, precious metals…                                         

The consequences of this discovery were economic, political and scientific consequences. The main one was that we found out new commercial routes and new kinds of crops.

Glossary of the Decline of the Spanish Empire

Decline: to slope or causes to slope downwards a downward movement, such as of prices population.

Robbed: to take something by unlawful force.

Massive: large in amount or degree.

Inflation: a progressive increase in the general level of prices brought about by an expansion in demand or the money supply or by autonomous increases in a costs.

Detriment: a cause of disadvantage or damage.

Advantage: that is very favourable.

Tight: difficult to deal with or manage.

Valido: the valido was a political figure of the old regime in the Spanish Monarchy

Glossary: The Spanish Empire

Constant: happening a lot or all the time.

Fernando the Catholic: King of Sicily 1468-1516.

Golden Age: a period of time, sometimes imaginary, when everyone was happy, or when a particular art, business, etc. was very successful

Isabel the Catholic: She was queen of Castilla 1474 to 1504.

Lutherans: They are Christians that followed Martin Luther, a religious German man.

María de Borgoña: Her husband was Maximiliano I. She was born in Brussels the 13 of February.

Masterpieces: a work of art such as a painting, film, or book that is made with great skill

Maximiliano I: He was born in Austria the 22 oh March of 1459.Her wife was Maria of Borgoña.

Netherlands: It is a country in the Norwest zone of Europe.

Reign: “the sun never sets on the Spanish Empire”

Sink: to (cause something or someone to) go down below the surface or to the bottom of a liquid or soft substance.

The Black Legend: The Black Legend (Spanish: La Leyenda Negra) is a style of historical writing or propaganda that demonizes the Spanish Empire, its people and its culture. The first to describe this phenomenon was Julián Juderías in his book The Black Legend and the Historical Truth (Spanish: La Leyenda Negra y la Verdad Histórica), an influential and controversial critique published in 1914, that explains how modern European historiography has traditionally presented Spanish history in a deeply negative light, ignoring any positive achievements or developments. For this anti-Spanish literature, Juderías coined the term black legend. Later writers have supported and developed Juderías' critique. In 1958, Charles Gibson argued that Spain and the Spanish Empire historically presented as "cruel, bigoted, exploitative and self-righteous in excess of reality."

Threat: a suggestion that something unpleasant or violent will happen, especially if a particular action or order is not followed.