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The Forces That Created Modern Spain |
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The Forces that Created Modern Spain Letters The Islamic influence on Spanish culture has indeed been significant, but greater still is the influence of the Romans. About 4,000 words in the Spanish lexicon are of Arabic origin - the remainder are of Latin origin - that is why there is so much similarity between Spanish and Italian. In fact, were it not for the Roman alphabet we use to exchange symbols throughout Europe and the Americas, the world in which we live today would have been a vastly different place: Spaniards still use the Roman alphabet, just as we do. Numbers The Arabs introduced the Hindu-Arabic number system to the Spaniards, which the Spaniards later used to keep meticulous records of tribute and inventory. Those same Hindu-Arabic numerals are used throughout the world today, with few exceptions. The Arabic countries and India later modified some of the numerals; but they are, for the most part, recognizable. Architecture The Romans invented the arch. The Arabs later added scalloping to the arch for aesthetic effect: one can easily discern the similarity among the arched columns of a Roman aqueduct, a Spanish mission and an Islamic mosque. Irrigation and Agriculture The Romans had already built a system of irrigation in Spain with aqueducts; the Moors improved it. The Moors also introduced rice and citrus fruit to the Iberian Peninsula. Religion The Romans had established the Catholic Church in Iberia; the Moors established the mosques and madrasas to teach the Spaniards they had conquered Islam. Not surprisingly, most Spaniards adopted the religion of their conquerors; those who did not were called mozárabes. Language The Moors spoke Arabic, Berber and Bantu; learned Arabic scholars adorned their mosques with florid prose and poetry in Arabic script; but the people of Aragon, Seville, and Navarre spoke Romance languages; the official language of the Church of Rome was Latin. Lines of Communication The Romans had also built a system of roads to support their armies of conquest; hence, the expression: “All roads lead to Rome.” These lines of communication facilitated subsequent conquests of Iberia. Many of the roads and bridges the Romans built in Iberia still stand today. From Nomadic to Sedentary Lifestyle The Romans built cities in Iberia; the Arabs built fortresses where the Romans had gone before them. Spanish gypsies who traveled in caravans, were the descendants of nomadic tribes that had crossed the Strait of Gibraltar during the Moors' invasion.  |
Comparison and Contrast The Roman conquest of Spain did not last as long as the Arabic conquest, but when one considers that Spain is a Catholic country and that its language is essentially of Roman origin, it is hard to argue that the Islamic influence on Spain and its people is as great as that of Rome's. Visigoths
As the Roman Empire declined in Western Europe, the Visigoths invaded
the Iberian Peninsula, but their occupation was of little
consequence - they made almost no changes to speak of, but left the
Roman culture intact. Moors The Moors who invaded Spain were not of singular race or ethnicity: they were Arabs who had crossed the Sahara Desert spreading Islam at the point of a sword, Berbers who had long lived in the Sahara from Morocco to Libya, and black nomads from what today is Mauritania. The Romans called those last mentioned “Mauri,” from whence came the name “Moro,” in Spanish. In English we call them Moors. The term “Moro” was later used by the Spaniards to refer to any people of Muslim faith, such as the “Moros” they encountered in the Philippines.
Celts The Celts had swept through Iberia before the Romans, but little is known of their impact on those already living there.
Struggle and Conquest Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the creation of modern Spain was the ceaseless struggle of the people to exist under a succession of foreign invaders. It was this, more so than any other cause, that had conditioned them for conquest. It is not hard to imagine a little boy growing up in Castile, or Aragón, with a burning desire to be a soldier to fight off his oppressors and conquer them, in turn. The stories that were passed down from father to son would have to have had startling impact.
Caste System The Spaniards had a caste system. The lowest class of nobility was called the “hidalgo,” or warrior class, from whence came the knights and in later centuries, the conquistadors. The conquistadors essentially did to the Native Americans what the Moors had done to them: conquer, colonize and exact tribute.
Geography Largely surrounded by water, it seems inevitable that the Spaniards would have sailed the world’s oceans, especially with the pressure they felt from the Portuguese’ success in following the African coastline to the Gulf of Arabia and the Indian Ocean.
Religion and the Spoils of Conquest The race to modernize Spain began almost immediately after its unification under Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. Born of a desire to spread Christianity, and later intensified by a desire to increase wealth, the Spanish conquest of The New World began. By the middle of the XVI Century, it had succeeded in establishing an empire of unprecedented magnitude.
The Legacy of Conquest Like the Romans before them, the Spaniards left a lasting influence on those they conquered, but that is a topic for another discussion. |
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Contributed by Richard Wible |
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