| |
Spanish History:
the first 20,000 years.
Roughly 20,000 years ago, pre-historic man sketched pictures on cave walls in the Maestrazgo mountains. About 3000 years BC, Iberians from North Africa settled here and the peninsula was named for them.
Between 1000 and 600 BC, seafaring Phoenicians and Greeks traveling west reached our coastline. Two centuries later, Carthaginians came, saw all the rabbits, and called the land Ispania. When the Romans invaded, they said Hispania. From this came: España, the present day name in Spanish for Spain.
Those master builders constructed roads and many impressive cities. Between Barcelona and us, sits Tarragona, one of the most important Roman sites in all of Spain. Around 100 AD, the Romans left, leaving Christians free to spread the word. In 500 AD, the newly arrived Visigoths tolerated Christianity.
The Moors are unique to Spain
In 711 AD, the Arabs arrived. Referred to as Moors, these
people from the Middle East stayed for another 750 years. Of all the
countries of Western Europe, Spain is the only one to have a lengthy and permanent Arab settlement.
While the rest of Europe suffered through the Dark Ages, Spain flourished under the Arabs. In the beginning, Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived in peaceful co-existence. Moorish culture, cuisine, language, and building style influence Spain to this day.
Spain is unique as it’s the only European country where crusades were fought. When the Christians decided to reclaim the birthplace of Christendom from the Muslims, the culture of the Crusader Knights was born and spread across Europe.
Christians in Spain caught the fever. Wanting to rid Spain of Arab rule, they formed their own religious orders of Knights to get the Muslims out. The Crusader Knights built castles on top of Roman and Arab fortifications. Now a days, it’s difficult to know who built what, since over time, each culture reused the others’ foundations and materials.
How the Maestrazgo got its name.
One of these crusading groups was the Knights of Montesa. They
made their headquarters in San Mateo, which is also our hub. The
Montesas fortified and defended the villages. Once a Roman stronghold, Morella became an extraordinary example of a walled, medieval town in the Maestrazgo.
The Montesa’s Fiefdom was called the “Maestrazgo”. It means Fief of the Master. Maestro, get it. To this day, our area is still called the
Maestrazgo.
The Moors were expelled in 1492. Christian Fiefdoms united under the union (both political and matrimonial) of Isabel of Castile and Fernando of Aragon. The Pope designated Spain a Catholic country.
That’s another story.
|
|
|
|
|
| | | | | | |
|
|
