Siglo XV - History Lab

Instruction to Columbus: Voyage and good government in the Indies

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:51 +0000

In the course of the 15th century, Portugal and Castile were at the forefront of overseas expansion along the Atlantic coast of Africa. Progress in cartography, navigational instruments and shipbuilding made it possible to sail the Atlantic. The dispute between Portugal and Castile was settled in 1494 with the signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas, which established a dividing line 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. Columbus’ first expedition left Cabo de Palos in August, arriving on 12 October 1492 at an island in the Caribbean, later called San Salvador. At the same time, Columbus discovered the island of Cuba and, later, the island of Santo Domingo, which was called Hispaniola. Columbus made three voyages, and it was during the third (1498) that they reached the mainland.

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Royal Provision of the Catholic Monarchs to the Concejo de la Mesta, allowing shepherds to dispose of unowned livestock without a known owner

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:42 +0000

The Honourable Council of the Mesta was an institution of medieval origin which, throughout the Modern Age, extended its powers and privileges to the benefit of the herdsmen ahead of the farmers. Thus, a law of 1501 came to determine that all land on which transhumant herds had grazed at least once was reserved in perpetuity for grazing and could not be used for other purposes by the owner. In this context, the document contains legislation by which the Catholic Monarchs allowed shepherds to dispose of unowned livestock without a known owner. The Mesta was abolished in 1836.

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Original treaty concluded between the Catholic Monarchs and John II of Portugal on the limits of territories

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:42 +0000

Castile and Portugal engaged in long territorial disputes during the Modern Age over the control and administration of overseas territories. This confrontation came to an end in 1494 with the signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas, which established an imaginary dividing line 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands between the overseas dominions of each.

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Juan de la Cosa’s Universal Charter (reproduction 1992)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:37 +0000

Reproduction made in 1992 of the Universal Letter handwritten by Juan de la Cosa in 1500, on the occasion of the V Centenary of the Discovery of America, which is kept in the Naval Museum of Madrid (Sign. 257). Edition of 2,000 copies.

The post Juan de la Cosa’s Universal Charter (reproduction 1992) first appeared on History Lab.

Testament of Christopher Columbus

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:30 +0000

Testament, foundation of entailed estate and codicil granted by Admiral Christopher Columbus: Foundation of entailed estate in Seville in the year 1497 before the notary public Martín Rodríguez. Testament granted by Christopher Columbus on 22 February 1498. Codicil of Christopher Columbus, granted in Valladolid on 19 May 1506 and deed dated 25 August 1505 in Segovia.

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Capitulations of Admiral Christopher Columbus or “de Santa Fe”

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:30 +0000

Document showing the agreements between the Crown and Christopher Columbus for his planned voyage to the Indies. It contains the capitulations that Christopher Columbus signed with the monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile in Santa Fe on 17 April 1492, a few months after the capture of Granada. Its chapters stipulate the conditions under which Columbus would set sail on his first voyage, which led to the discovery of America that same year.

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Women’s Monastic Spaces in Cordoba (1811)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:25 +0000

The women’s monasteries had a significant influence on the urban structure of Cordoba from the end of the Middle Ages until the end of the Modern Age. This is partly due to the presence of large oligarchic families at the origins of these buildings, influencing the typology, artistic trends and the disproportionate size of some of their spaces. The Christian recovery of these southern territories during the late Middle Ages led to the formation of different lordships, which, being endowed with extensive lands, eventually allowed the establishment of this type of religious foundation.
During these years, the 17th century was undoubtedly the most prolific, as no less than six female cloisters were added to the existing ones. The first of this century was the convent of Corpus Christi in Santa María, which was founded in 1608 by order of Bishop Fray Diego de Mardones in his quest to establish in Córdoba a convent for nuns belonging to the Order of Saint Dominic. From then on, it was not until 1635 that the formation of new convents continued in this century.
Thanks to this resource, a total of twenty female cloisters can be recorded, which, together with the large number of male communities, turned Cordoba into a convent city. Taking as a reference the Map of the French of 1811, the first map of the city of Cordoba to be drawn, the location of the monasteries of nuns at the end of the Modern Age can be seen, with a clear chronological separation between the late medieval foundations – in red – and those belonging to the modern period – in dark tones.

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Navarrese lay lordships with jurisdiction in the second half of the 15th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:25 +0000

At the beginning of the Modern Age, the different Hispanic kings, in their search for support, gradually ceded part of their jurisdiction to the nobility, but during the second half of the 15th century, the towns tried to take advantage of the wars between the Agramonteses and the Beaumonteses to gain the support of the monarchs. The intention of the towns, which did not resign themselves to losing their royal status, was to free themselves from seignorial jurisdiction, a fact that was maintained throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.
Navarre also underwent this process of cession of royal patrimony, with the high nobility receiving noble titles accompanied by extensive lordships with their corresponding rents and jurisdiction. Moreover, they tried to usurp these rights when circumstances were favourable to them.
This situation continued in Navarre until the 17th century, with the recovery of territories by the Crown interceding with new alienations in the search for resources for a royal treasury in crisis.

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Trade routes and customs in the exterior of Burgos, 1469-1559

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:18 +0000

The map focuses on the period during which the lords of the house of Velasco, constables of Castile, managed the tithes of the sea through the Cantabrian ports, and more specifically that of the area outside Burgos. This position was fundamental, as it was the main source of income from Castilian foreign trade in these waters and one of the tools in the splendour of the wool trade experienced in Burgos as the main exporter of wool in Castile.
The tithes from the sea obtained by the Velasco family must be interpreted as royal in nature, as they were collected on the crown’s foreign trade, but they were collected on behalf of a lordly power, so that through this movement the crown had a powerful alliance of mutual interest in the north of the peninsula, dividing in a certain way the Castilian interior as the destination and consumption of imports with the area of Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria as the link between the markets and the ocean.
With Burgos as the main hub, it controlled the customs offices of San Vicente, Santander, Laredo, Bilbao and San Sebastián, as well as other locations further inland such as Tolosa and Calahorra. Everything was structured through the three main communication routes that formed the backbone of Burgos’ foreign trade, the north towards Santander, the northeast towards San Sebastián and the east, which passed through Logroño.

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Birth of Venus

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:28 +0000

During the 15th century, European civilisation underwent an important process of enrichment and expansion, in addition to profound political, economic and social transformations. In short, there was a change of mentality that culminated in the emergence of a new artistic and literary movement, the Renaissance. This cultural epoch is rooted in anthropocentrism (Man as the centre of the Universe) and in the revaluation of the individual personality, while at the same time it is strongly marked by its attempt to break with the Middle Ages in order to recover the forms of classical Antiquity. It originated in Florence, where it was born in the early 1400s, and lasted for two centuries in three distinct stages. The first, the 15th century, is known as the Quattrocento or early Renaissance; the second, as the Cinquecento or full Renaissance, reduced to the first 20 years of the 16th century and considered the period of plenitude; the third and last is called Mannerism, which covers the rest of the 16th century and in which certain anti-classical connotations predominate. The architecture, which mainly uses stone and marble, is dominated by a high degree of proportion and symmetry; in this field, churches with a centralised plan and a variety of civil buildings stand out: villas, palaces, hospitals and libraries. The architects Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, Bramante, Andrea Palladio and Michelangelo stand out. Man is the fundamental subject of sculpture, whether religious or profane, and he was the protagonist of a large number of portraits of a royal, heroic, equestrian or funerary nature. The materials used are diverse, the most common being stone, marble, bronze, wood and terracotta. The most notable figure is Michelangelo, who was joined by Lorenzo Ghiberti, Donatello, Andrea Verrocchio and Luca della Robbia. Finally, the main centres of painting were Florence, Rome and Venice. During the Quattrocento, artists focused their attention on perspective and composition, with Fra Angelico, Massaccio, Piero della Francesca, Ghirlandaio and Botticelli, the latter two being painters of a refined and detailed style. Finally, Cinquecento painting was dominated by simple, monumental forms in which a high degree of technical perfection was achieved, with important examples in the works of Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo.

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