the kingdoms of spain and portugal. map of europe in the middle ages
TRANSCRIPT
Small Christian kingdoms conquered Muslim lands. Two of the most powerful kingdoms became the largest, called Aragon and
Castile.
Pedro Giron was a great fighter, but he was over forty, and he had a reputation for drinking, quarrelling, and killing.
Isabella prayed something horrible would happen to prevent them from being married, and right before the wedding, Pedro
got sick and died of stomach pains.
Pedro Giron
Four years later, her brother decided she should marry the king of Portugal. He was old and fat,
and she was not about to wed him.
Isabella sent a covert letter to Ferdinand, the young prince of Aragon, begging him to meet her in secret.
Ferdinand and Isabella were devout Catholics, and they decided that Spain should be unified as a Christian country.
After ten years, the Spanish armies defeated the Muslim king of Granada. This ended Moorish rule, and began the years of the
Spanish Inquisition.
Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand brought all of Spain together, but they declared it illegal to practice any
religion, other than Christianity.
If they converted and stayed, they would remain under scrutiny. If they were suspected of keeping their old practices, they would undergo the Spanish Inquisition – a trial to find a person guilty of
heresy.
In the Spanish Inquisition, torturers would use different ways and devices to get the accused to confess to practicing different
religions, as well as witchcraft and sorcery.
If the accused confessed while being tortured, it didn’t count. The person had to confess while in a calm state.
Because of Portugal’s long coastline, it was easy for the Portuguese people to build boats and sail them.
Prince Henry of Portugal became known as Henry the Navigator because he wanted the Portuguese to sail
further than anyone else in the world.
Henry built a school for navigation so sailors could learn how to plot stars, use instruments, and learn how to calculate the speed
of a ship.
astrolabecalculating speed using knots
Unfortunately for Henry, the sailors were too scared to sail down the coast of Africa. They called the unfamiliar
waters the Sea of Darkness.