2011-2012 Challenges. Number 14

These are the questions for the last challenge of the year. They are about Spain´s history and the refer to the Regencies´ period and the first stage of Isabella II´s reign:

QUESTION 1

In September 1832 when  Ferdinand VII became ill, several intransigent absolutists put pressure on him in order to change the succession law in favour of Ferdinand´s brother, Carlos María Isidro. When this intrigue was discovered, a violent scene took place in La Granja Palace. One of Ferdinand VII´s sisters-in-law had an important role in this incident. Who was this lady? What happened?

QUESTION 2

Three months after Ferdinand VII´s death, his widow and Regent, Mª Cristina, married in secret a man who worked in the royal palace. Who was this man and what was his job when he met the Regent? What nobility title did he receive when this marriage became public and official ten years later?

QUESTION 3

In 1835, during the First Carlist War, the city of Bilbao was besieged by the carlist troops. According to the legend, a famous dish of the Spanhish cuisine was invented by the carlist general who commanded this siege of Bilbao. Who was this general? What tasty dish did he supposedly invent?

General Espartero´s entrance in Bilbao

Source: http://www.albumsiglo19mendea.net/cas/palabrafichadescriptiva.php?foto=000507&codigo=507&pag=2&texto=espartero

QUESTION 4

The First Carlist War finished with the signature of the Vergara Convention between two generals who had been comrades-in-arms during the independence wars of the Spanish American colonies. Who were these generals?

QUESTION 5

In 1843 Isabella II was declared of age when she was 13 years old. One month later, the proggressive prime minister Olózaga was involved in a strange incident, which led to the return of the moderates to power. What was the so called "Olózaga incident"?

Salustiano Olózaga

Source:http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salustiano_Ol%C3%B3zaga

QUESTION 6

When and why was the Guardia Civil created? What previous public order force was replaced by the Guardia Civil? Who was the first director of the Guardia Civil?

2011-2012 Challenges. Number 6

This week´s research will make you discover some curiosities related to the War of Spanish Succession(1700-1714)  and its consequences:

QUESTION 1

There is a Catalan proverb related to the consequences of the Battle of Almansa in 1707. What is this proverb and what´s its meaning?

QUESTION 2

Since 1943 the Almodí Museum of Fine Arts of the city of Xàtiva includes a portrait of Philip V hanging upside down. Why?

Source: http://puntsdevista.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/felipe-v.jpg

QUESTION 3

One of the decisions of the Utrecht Treaty was that Spain had to cede Gibraltar and Minorca to Great Britain. When did Minorca come back to the Spanish sovereignty?

QUESTION 4

Other decisions of the Utrecht Treaty were the two rights Great Britain got in the Spanish Indies: the assiento and the ship of permission. The violation of the limits to these rights by Great Britain led to a war between Spain and Great Britain in 1739. This war had a very curious name: War of Jenkins´Ear. What was the reason for this name?

  

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JenkinsEar.jpg

2011-2012 Challenges. Number 2

The Dukes of Lerma and Uceda and the Count-Duke of Olivares

This week you will have to research about some aspects of the Hispanic Monarchy during the 17th century: 

QUESTION 1

One of the Austrias´ validos used his power and influence over the king to become very wealthy. He even convinced the king to move the capital city from Madrid to a different city. Who was this valido? What was the new capital city of the Monarchy? When did the court come back to Madrid and why? When intrigues and corruption cases in which he was involved, what did he do to avoid being prosecuted?

 Source: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_de_Quevedo

QUESTION 2

The famous writer Francisco de Quevedo had intense relations with several validos under Philip III and Philip IV´s reign. What effects did this relations have in Quevedo´s life? Why was Quevedo confined in a monastery between 1639 and 1643?

QUESTION 3

The opposition to the Count- Duke of Olivares´s policy is in the origin of the anthem of a territory of the Iberian Peninsula. What is this territory? What is the title of this anthem and on what events is it inspired?

Images

Duke of Lerma:
http://www.valladolidweb.es/valladolid/vallisolet/biograf/duquedelerma.htm

Duke of Uceda:
http://www.sandovaldelareina.com/castellano/apellido/los_sandovales.htm

Count-Duke of Olivares:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conde-Duque_de_Olivares

Louis XV´s speech about the king´s power

Louis XV of France

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Louis_XV_France_by_Louis-Michel_van_Loo_002.jpg

This year we are going to start commenting on historical documents and the blog will have a section with original texts related to the contents we´ll study. The first one is an extract of a speech King Louis XV of France gave before the parlement of Paris in 1766:  

In my person alone lies that sovereign power whose very nature is the spirit of counsel, justice and reason. From me alone the courts receive their existence and authority. The fullness of this authority, which they exercise in my name only, remains permanently vested in me, and its use can never be turned against me. Legislative power is mine alone, without subordination or division. It is by my sole authority that the officers of my courts effect not the creation of the law, but its registration, promulgation and execution, and that they have the right to remonstrance, as is the duty of good and faithful counsellors. Public order in its entirety emanates from me. I am its supreme guardian. My people are one with me, and the rights and interests of the nation – which some dare to make into a body separate from the monarch – are of necessity united with my own and rest entirely in my hands.

Louis XV´s speech before the parlement of Paris, 1766

Source: FURET, François, Revolutionary France, 1770-1880, Blackwell Publishing, 2004

Could you explain the relation of this speech with what we have studied this week? Do you think Louis XV´s power was as he described it?

PowerPoint presentation about the 17th century

Here you have the PowerPoint presentation we have been using this week to learn about the 17th century. Review the slides if you want to take some notes to complete your schemes and summaries.

2011-2012 Challenges. Number 1

Five mercenaries in the Thirty Years´War

Source: http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/Daniel-Hopfer/Five-Mercenaries-In-The-Thirty-Years-War-1518-48.html

Hi everybody!

As we have lessons on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday this year, the weekly challenges will be set on Thursday afternoon. This way you will have more time to research and solve them. Let´s inaugurate this year´s challenges with some questions about the Thirty Years´ War.

QUESTION 1

One of the most famous Spanish painters immortalized the result of a victory of the Hispanic Army during the Thirty Years´ War. Who was this painter? What is the name of that painting?

QUESTION 2

There is a famous series of novels, which explain different aspects of life, culture and politics in the Hispanic monarchy during the  17^th century. The main character of these novels fought and died in the Battle of Rocroi, considered to be the beginning of the end of the Hispanic hegemony in Europe. What is the name of this fictional character? Who is the author of this series of novels?

QUESTION 3

The casualties of the Thirty Years´ War were numerous, especially in the German States, where the main battles took place. The use of mercenaries caused a lot of damage to the civil population. They attacked and sacked cities and villages and acted with extreme cruelty. Some regions didn´t recover until 100 years later. What percentage of the population of the German States died in this war?

The hanging, one of the prints of The miseries and misfortunes of war, Jacques Callot, 1632

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Hanging_by_Jacques_Callot.jpg

QUESTION 4

One of the consequences of the Thirty Years´War was the independence of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. What type of State had this new country? What type of State is the Netherlands at present?

The questions are not difficult. Researching and learning more are the main objectives. Come on, participate!

Presentation about the Indies

Here you have the presentation about the conquest, administration and exploitation of the Indies. There is some  additional information you should read. 

Challenge number 23

This one will be the last challenge of this year. If you take part in it, you will discover some curious stories about the conquest and colonization of the Indies. Here you have the questions: 

QUESTION 1

After his adventure in the Indies, one of the most famous conquistadors returned to Castile and fruitlessly tried to be received by the Emperor Charles V. One day the conquistador approached to the Emperor´s carriage and mounted on the footstep. Surprised, the Emperor asked who he was. And he replied: "I´m the one who has given you more provinces than your ancestors left you cities". Who was this conquistador?

QUESTION 2

There is another legend about a Castilian conquistador who "discovered" an important territory in the present USA. He was supposed to be looking for the Fountain of Youth. Who was this conquistador? What territory did he discover? Why did the conquistador give this name to this land?

QUESTION 3

Who gave name to the Amazon river? Why was it called "Amazon"?

QUESTION 4 

What was the "asiento"? What was its relationship to the exploitation of the Indies?

Presentation about Charles V and Philip II´s reigns

At Carlos´s request, here you have the presentation we have been using on Unit 8. This presentation doesn´t include the part that corresponds to the conquest, colonization and administration of the Indies. 

Sanbenitos and the Holy Inquisition

The word Sanbenito comes from “saco bendito”, blessed sack, and it was the penitential dress worn by the convicted heretics condemned by the Holy Inquisition. This garment was similar to a yellow colour wool sack without sleeves and it was a way of public slander and shame. The convicted had to wear the Sanbenito during the auto-da-fe and later, until they finished their penance. Those who were condemned to death wore the Sanbenito until the moment they were executed. When the convicted finished their penance or after their execution, all the Sanbenitos were collected by the Church officials and publicly displayed in parish churches, with the names of the convicted.

There were different types of Sanbenitos: the colours and drawings indicated the crimes the convicted had commited and the punishments they deserved:

-   The Samarra (T-shirt): It was worn by those condemned to be burnt at the stake. It included dragons, devils and flames and the image of the convicted.

- The Fuego Revolto (stirred fire): It was worn by those who had repented. The flames were represented downwards. This meant that the convicted had escaped death. 

-   The Sanbenito (blessed sack): The penitents worn this dress. It included the cross of  Saint Andrew. 

The convicted also wore a pointed cap, called "coroza", rosaries and candles of different colours. 

There is an expression in Spanish related to this garment: “to hang someone with the Sanbenito” (“colgarle a uno el sambenito”). This means “unfairly blaming someone for something he/she is not responsible for”, “reminding only a person´s bad actions and forgetting the good ones”, “negatively labelling someone”. There is another expression related to the Sanbenito: " to get rid of the Sambenito" ("quitarse el sambenito"). This one refers to the difficulties of getting rid of an unfairly bad reputation.

Francisco de Goya, the famous Aragonese painter, lived and worked between the 18th and 19th centuries. The Holy Inquisition still existed. Some Goya´s works of art allow us to know how the Sanbenito ´fashion´evolved throughout the centuries. 

Auto-da-fe of the Inquisition, oil on board, 1812-1819

For being born somewhere else, brown wash drawing, 1814-1823

Goya had a lot of problems with the Inquisition, especially with a series of engravings called Caprichos. The Inquisition wanted to prosecute Goya. Finally, Goya gave the engraving plates to king Carlos IV as a present to avoid being arrested. 

The Catholic Monarchs´ presentation

Here you have the Powerpoint presentation of Unit 6. You can have a look on the last slide, where you can observe the map of the territories inherited by Charles V, the Catholic Monarchs´ direct succesor. 

Sephardi Jews

Source: http://www.fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST/gallery/expuls.htm

Sepharad was the name the Jews gave to the Iberian Peninsula since the 2nd century AD. In modern Hebrew it means "Spain". When the Catholic Monarchs decided to expel the Jews who didn´t convert to Christianity in 1492, the Jews who left their kingdoms were called Sephardi or Sephardic. They settled down in different parts of the Mediterranean coasts: the most part of them settled down in the Ottoman Empire, especially in the cities of Salonica (present Greece) and Istanbul (present Turkey). Others settled down in Northern Morocco and Algeria. These Jewish communities preserved their language, a variation of old Castilian called Ladino or Judezmo. These Sephardi communities still speak this language. It´s very curious to listen to them, because you can have an idea of how old Castilian sounded in the 15th century like. 

Here you have a link with more information about Ladino: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judezmo

And here you have an example of Luz de Sefarad, a weekly radio programme totally spoken in Ladino. It´s broadcasted on Radio 5, a Spanish radio station, every Saturday at 19:40. If you click on Play, you will be able to understand almost everything:

And here you have the link to other Luz de Sefarad podcasts: 

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/audios/luz-de-sefarad/

Remembering the Black Death

Last day we reminded different concepts we studied last year, such as the big crisis in the 14th century and the more serious consequences of the Black Death plague in the Crown of Aragon. We also remembered that the high mortality caused by the Black Death allowed the people who survived to improve their working conditions. If you like to refresh you minds about the Black Death, here you have an interesting video. It´s been made by a group of U.S.A history teachers who use music and very famous songs to explain different history topics. In this case, they used Gwen Stefani´s song Holloback girl to explain the Black Death. It´s a good idea for a future project ;)

Here you have the link to the History Teachers´ channel on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=historyteachers#g/u

If you have a look on the videos, you will discover many interesting things. All the videos are subtitled. 

Challenge number 18

Auto-da- fé presided by Santo Domingo of Guzmán (c.1493-1498) Pedro Berruguete

Source: http://www.museodelprado.es/enciclopedia/enciclopedia-on-line/voz/auto-de-fe-presidido-por-santo-domingo-de-guzman-berruguete/?no_cache=1

As we have talked this morning, this week´s challenge will be a little different. You will have the opportunity of improving your glog skills by creating a new glog on the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, mostly known as the Spanish Inquisition. Here you have the links you can use to get the basic information: 

Some links in Spanish:  

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisici%C3%B3n_espa%C3%B1ola

http://www.almendron.com/historia/moderna/inquisicion/inquisicion.pdf

http://www.gabrielbernat.es/espana/inquisicion/index.html

Some links in English: 

http://history.howstuffworks.com/european-history/spanish-inquisition.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition

http://www.thefullwiki.org/Spanish_Inquisition

Some useful links about medieval tortures, from which you can extract some pictures of the devices used to torture the Inquisition prisoners: 

http://ateismoparacristianos.blogspot.com/2010/07/metodos-de-tortura-durante-la.html


http://www.medievality.com/torture.html

And this is a BBC programme on the Spanish Inquisition you can listen to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003c1bw

A good glog should include this information: 

- When the Tribunal of the Holy Inquisition was created and what its purpose was.

-  Crimes they persecuted.

-  How it was organized.

-  How it worked.

-  What punishments they imposed.

-  How the Tribunal was used with political purpose sometimes. 

Remember that your glog would be more interesting if you include pictures, links to enlarge some information and some video (if you are able to find one). You could also include the origin of some Castilian expressions related to the history of the Inquisition, such as "to wear the sambenito".

These are the instructions to do a good work:  

1. Read the information and make sure that you understand everything. The links in Spanish will be very useful for you. 

2. Prepare a good scheme on paper and use it as a reference for your glog design. 

3. When you start writing, use simple sentences and don´t translate word by word and, of course, don´t use the Google translator. You have different links that will provide you with all the vocabulary you need in English. Forget about copying and pasting.

4. Don´t write too much information and think in the readers. The possible readers have to feel attracted by your work and be able to understand and get the possibility of learning more (if they want) through links.

You will have time to solve this challenge until next Friday, the 13th May. If you need any help or advice, you can use the Glogster Edu message platform or contact me by e-mail. 

The Holy Brotherhood and green sleeves

Source: http://ciudadreal.wordpress.com/2009/05/03/la-santa-hermandad-de-ciudad-real/

The Holy Brotherhood was a militia created (refounded, in fact) by the Catholic Monarchs in Castile to restore peace in the countryside after the chaos of the Succession War (1474-1479). This was one of the reforms they made to reinforce their authority over their subjects, especially over the nobles. On the picture below you can observe the uniform the members of the Holy Brotherhood wore. As Kelly has explained today, there is a Spanish expression related to the Holy Brotherhood that we still use to refer to people doing things too late. We say "A buenas horas, mangas verdes". This expression comes from the green sleeves of the Holy Brotherhood members´ uniform. People started using this expression to refer to this police force arriving too late to the places where a crime had been committed. This expression could be similar to the English expression "Too little, too late". 

There is another interesting expression in Dutch related to the Holy Brotherhood. As we´ll study in a few days, Holland belonged to the Hispanic Monarchy for more than hundred years. The Dutch don´t have a good opinion of the Hispanic rule in Holland, but they have preserved the expression "Heilige Hermandad" (Holy Brotherhood) to refer to the Police in a positive way. 

These two examples show us how history is present in many situations of our ordinary life. 

Challenge number 17

This week we´ll start with history challenges. Here you have some questions related to the Catholic Monarchs´ background and a final question that explains one of the most crucial decisions they made during their rule: 

QUESTION 1

Both Isabella of Castile and Fernando of Aragon belonged to the Trastámara dynasty. What´s the origin of the word "Trastámara"? When did this house or dynasty appear?

QUESTION 2

Who was Beltrán de la Cueva? What was his role in the succession of Castile?

QUESTION 3

King Enrique IV, Isabella of Castile´s brother, was called "the Impotent". Why? Was this really true?

Enrique IV of Castile

QUESTION 4

What is the relation between the Succession War in Castile (1474-1479) and the exploration of the Atlantic Ocean and the "discovery" of new lands?

Soviet Mercadona

Today in Social Sciences we talked about some of the problems of centrally planned economies. We mentioned how centrally planned economies do not meet the demands of consumers. We specifically mentioned the lack of consumer goods in these countries. This lack happens because resources that could be used for the production of consumer goods are diverted to the production of whatever the state decides is most important.

On this website you can take a look at photos from supermarkets in the U.S.S.R. You can observe many interesting things - the lines of people waiting to buy things, the empty shelves, the lack of brands on the products. It's very interesting.

http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2008/09/19/2054/