History of 14th Century Iberia
A Very Brief Overview of Significant Events
Major Cultural Groups
Moor: Muslims in Al-Andalus
Morisco: Muslim converts to Catholism (and their descendants)
Mozarab: Iberian Christians, including Christianized Iberian Jews, who lived under Muslim rule in Al-Andalus following the conquest of the Christian Visigothic Kingdom by the Umayyad Caliphate (Mozarabic/Visigothic Rite Catholicism)
Mudéjar: originally the term used for Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not initially forcibly converted to Christianity or exiled
Muladí: Muslims of local Iberian descent or of mixed Arab, Berber, and Iberian origin who lived in al-Andalus during the Middle Ages; Christian convert to Islam
Sephardim: Jewish diaspora in Iberia
Medieval Moorish Kingdoms
Umayyad Dynasty in Spain
Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba, 756–912 (929)
Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba, 929–1031
Taifa kingdoms
taifas (singular taifa, from Arabic: طائفة ṭā'ifa, plural طوائف ṭawā'if, a party, band or faction): independent Muslim principalities/kingdoms that emerged from the decline and fall of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba
First period (11th century)
Second period (12th century)
Third period (13th century)
Emirate of Granada/Nasrid Kingdom of Granada (1230-1492)
Major Christian Kingdoms & Dynasties
Crown of Castile (1037-1230)
Kingdom of Navarre (824-1620)
Crown of Aragon (1035-1706)
Kingdom of Portugal (1139-1910)
Emirate of Granada (Al-Andalus)
Last major Moorish threat to Christian nations was rise of Marinids in Morocco (14th c.)
Took Granada & Algeciras
Unable to take Tarifa
1246 - Granada becomes tributary state (taifa) under Crown of Castile
1306 - Granada conquers Ceuta
1309 - loses control of Ceuta to Kingdom of Fez (with help from Crown of Aragon)
1310 - Granada reconquers Ceuta
1314 - Granada loses Ceuta again
1315-1327 - Granada retakes & holds Ceuta
1330 - Granada loses territory to Castile in Battle of Teba
1340 - Granada, under Yusuf I, supports Marinid invasion of Iberia; loses Battle of Tarifa to combined armies of Portugal & Castile
1344 - Algeciras retaken from Moors
1349-1350 - Siege of Granada
1384 - Granada retakes Ceuta
1386 - Granada loses Ceuta to Kingdom of Fez
Crown of Castile
1297 - Treaty of Alcañices signed between Denis of Portugal and Ferdinand IV
Secured position of Ferdinand as King of Castile
Defined border b/w Portugal and Castile
Returned lands to Portugal
Established alliance of friendship & mutual defense
Confirmed marriage of Fernando IV to Constance
Confirmed betrothal of Afonso of Portugal to Infanta Beatrice
Portugal supplied troops to aid Maria against John of Castile
1300 - Pope Boniface VIII grants dispensation to allow marriages of Ferdinand and Afonso
Also granted dispensation that legitimized marriage of Maria de Molina and Sancho
1300 - Cortes of Valladolid - John of Castile renounces pretensions to throne of Castile and swore oath of loyalty to Fernando IV
1301 - Fernando IV comes of age
1302 - Ferdinand IV marries Constance in Valladolid
Sultan Muhammed II al-Faqih of Granada dies and was succeeded by his son, Muhammad III, who attacked the Kingdoms of Castilla y León and conquered the municipality of Bedmar
1309 - Ferdinand IV lays siege to Algeciras and Gibraltar
Seizes Gibraltar, but fails to seize Algeciras
1311 - Alfonso XI born in Salamanca
1312 - City of Alcaudete conquered
Cortes of Valladolid - Ferdinand promotes judicial reform
1312 - Ferdinand IV of Castile dies, only heir is 1 year old. Regency crisis results
1313 - Constance of Portugal dies
1319 - Disaster of the Vega de Granada (Battle of Sierra Elvira) - catastrophic defeat of armies of Castile
1325 - Alfonso XI takes the throne of Castile
1340 - Castilian victory at the Battle of Rio Salado
1344 - Algeciras falls
1348 - Ordenamiento de Alcalá legal code enacted
collection of 58 laws enacted by the courts of Alfonso XI in Alcalá de Henare
The Castilian Succession Crisis
1350 - Alfonso XI dies and plunges kingdom into another succession crisis
Alfonso had two sons by his wife, Maria of Portugal, and ten children by his mistress, Elenor de Guzman
Conflict b/w Infante Pedro (designated heir) and Henry, Count of Trastamara (son by Elenor de Guzman) - Henry contested Pedro’s right to throne
Pedro allies with Edward, Prince of Wales
1367: Battle of Nájera - Black Prince defeats Henry’s forces & restores Pedro to the throne
Pedro fails to repay Edward for services; Edward leaves Castile
Henry takes opportunity to attack Castile
1369: Pedro killed at Battle of Montiel
1371 - John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (brother of Edward, Prince of Wales AKA the Black Prince) married Constance (daughter of Pedro)
1379: Henry II dies
John I (Henry’s son) assumes the throne
Henry III (John I’s son) born
1385: Battle of Aljubarrota - Castilian army defeated by Portuguese
1386: John of Gaunt claims throne of Castile for Constance
Occupied cities of A Coruña, Santiago de Compostela, Pontevedra and Vigo
Demanded John I (Henry’s son) give up throne
John declined, instead married son Henry (III) to Catherine, Gaunt’s daughter
Title of Prince & Princess of Asturias created for royal couple
1387: John I of Portugal invades Castile to place John of Gaunt on Castilian throne
1388: Henry III marries Catherine of Lancaster
resolves succession crisis
Secures House of Trastámara
Establishes peace between England and Castile
1390: John I dies, Henry III proclaimed king
1393: Henry II assumes power
Crown of Aragon
828: County of Aragon emerges between Aragón river and Aragón Subordán river
1035: Kingdom of Aragon breaks away from Kingdom of Pamplona
1137: Kingdom of Aragon and County of Barcelona merge into Crown of Aragon
1285: James II becomes King of Sicily
1291: James becomes King of Aragon
1296: James signs treaty with Charles II of Anjou - cedes Sicily
Allied with Ferdinand IV of Castile to capture Murcia
1304: Lost Murcia
1313: granted autonomy to the Aran Valley (Pyrenees)
The 1321 Leper Scare
alleged conspiracy of French lepers to spread their disease by contaminating water supplies, including well water, with their powders and poisons
1320: members of Shepherd’s Crusade claimed to have found barrels filled with rotten bread while pillaging a leper colony (possibly near Le Mas-d'Agenais), and made a strikingly uncommon accusation, alleging that the lepers had intended to use the bread to prepare poisons for contaminating well water.
June 1321: people of southern France stated that the lepers were acting on the orders of Jews, who in turn had been bribed by the Muslims of Spain
June 2 1321: King Sancho of Majorca informs King James of Aragon of “leper conspiracy” - French lepers fleeing France seeking shelter in Spain
James authorizes arrest & expulsion of all leprous foreigners
By June 27, changed order to arrest and expel all leprous and non leprous foreigners
Destruction of goods
Local inquisitions set up in Manresa, Ejea de los Caballeros, Huesca, Montblanc, Tarazona and Barcelona
Leper colonies and sanitoriums attacked & goods seized
Portugal
Creation of Portugal
9th c: county of Portus Cale established on western Iberian coast on orders of Alfonso III
10th c: county explands; becomes known as Portugalia (County of Portugal)
Northern portion of Portugal absorbed into Kingdom of Galicia, and then into Kingdom of Leon - alternating periods of independence and polity
1073: Alfonso VI gathers power across Iberia
1077: Alfonso VI styles himself Imperator totius Hispaniæ (Emperor of All Hispania)
June 24, 1128: Battle of São Mamede - Portuguese independence established - Afonso Henriquez proclaims self Prince of Portugal
1139: Afonso adopts the title King of Portugal
1143: Afonso recognized King by Leon in Treaty of Zamora
1179: Afonso recognized as King of Portugal by Pope Alexander III
Reconquista in Portugal
1139: Afonso invades Alentejo and defeats combined forces of Moors
1140: Moors seize fortress of Leira (outpost for Coimbra)
1144: Moors defeat Portuguese Templars at Soure
1147: Afonso storms fortress of Santarém
June 16, 1147: band of crusaders on their way to Palestine land at Porto & volunteer to volunteered for the impending siege of Lisbon
October 24, 1147: Afonso captures Lisbon
1166-1171: truce with Moors
1179-1184: Moors retrieve most lost territory
1185: Afonso dies; Sancho I takes the throne, continues war against Moors
1192: brokers peace with Moors
1192-1201: engaged in hostilities with Alfonso IX of Leon
1249: the Algarve reclaimed from the Moors - end of Reconquista in Portugal
1309: Prince Afonso of Portugal marries Beatrice of Castile
January 1325: Afonso IV becomes King of Portugal
1357: Afonso IV dies; Pedro I takes throne
May 1383: King Ferdinand I marries daughter Beatrice of Portugal to John I of Castile
End of hostilities between Portugal & Castile
Meant that Portugal would lose independence to Castile on Ferdinand’s death
Preferred candidates for the throne
John, son of Peter I of Portugal and Inês de Castro (Castile)
John, Great Master of Aviz, son of Peter I - preferred candidate of merchants class
October 1383: Ferdinand I dies; wife Leonor assumes regency for John and Beatrice
Crisis of 1383-1385 (Portuguese Interregnum)
December 1383: John of Aviz faction murders João Fernandes Andeiro, Count of Ourém (Leonor’s lover)
April 1384: Battle of Atoleiros
Castilian army against John of Aviz faction
Aviz faction wins; John I retreats to Castile
Summer 1384: John of Gaunt levies troops to reinforce Portuguese army laying siege to Lisbon
July 1384: Aviz faction breaks naval blockade
Plague breaks out among Portuguese and Castilian troops
September 1384: John I retreats to Castile
April 1385: John of Aviz proclaimed tenth king of Portugal by the Cortes
August 14, 1385: Portuguese and English combined forces defeat Castilian army at Battle of Aljubarrota
Fought a la Crecy & Poitiers - longbowmen, and defensive structures used to defeat heavy cavalry
John of Aviz recognized King of Portugal