Nativism

Nativism

At its pinnacle inwards the nineteenth century, nativism was the often conspiratorial hostility of white, native-born, Protestant Americans to European immigrants that, at times, was embodied inwards political movements in addition to evolved into truly exclusionist policies.

In the 1850s, a burgeoning coalition of self-proclaimed nativists swept into role in addition to called for radical change. During the nineteenth century, the perception of immigrants shifted from welcome to demonization, unremarkably depending on whether the the States was going through economical expansion or stagnation.

From the start, immigration in addition to the resulting competition, whether religious, class, or racial, betwixt ethnic groups became a key number inwards the evolution of the United States, in addition to 1 that was oft expressed inwards the rhetoric of conspiracy theory.


Historically, immigration falls into 3 periods: colonial in addition to eighteenth century; “Old” inwards the starting fourth dimension one-half of the nineteenth century; in addition to “New” starting inwards the 1880s. The decade from 1845 to 1854 saw the greatest proportionate influx of immigrants inwards U.S. history. By 1860 to a greater extent than than 1 out of every 8 Americans was foreign-born, with the most numerous beingness Irish, German, in addition to English linguistic communication immigrants.

Each menstruum generated its ain form of nativist reaction, from Know-Nothingism (the openly nativist political political party of the 1840s in addition to 1850s), to anti-immigration laws (the starting fourth dimension beingness the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, culminating inwards the closing of the gates through the National Origins Acts of 1921 in addition to 1924).

It is of import to note, however, that openness to immigration has remained the bulk opinion, for inwards Tom Paine’s words, the the States was to hold out “an asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil in addition to religious liberty” from all parts of the world.

In the colonial period, although ethnic mixture was the reality, with a bulk white population living with an Indian in addition to a dark grouping of African origin, the white grouping was real heterogeneous inwards its composition. The bulk were of English linguistic communication rootage but many were Dutch, French Huguenots, German, in addition to Scots-Irish, which created frictions.

For instance, inwards the Massachusetts colony, the Puritans did all they could non to acknowledge non-English settlers. In spite of the reality of ethnic plurality, the global perception was that of Englishness. Hence, afterward the Revolution, the threescore pct of English linguistic communication rootage inwards the white community took political might in addition to laid the melody culturally.

Early nativism was marked yesteryear a belief inwards full assimilation, the giving upward of one’s one-time culture, language, in addition to behaviour to hold out blended into a novel identity, that of an American, equally celebrated yesteryear Hector Saint John de Crèvecoeur, who glorified the Earth of limitless opportunities to all newcomers (the “melting-pot” theory).

The asylum tradition was promoted through the 1790 Naturalization Act, which made it possible for virtually anybody to hold out admitted in addition to naturalized into a citizen. However, this “generous” deed contained limitations; entirely “free white persons” who had resided inwards the the States for at to the lowest degree 2 years were eligible for naturalization. Hence, from the start, the reality of social in addition to political exclusion—of blacks in addition to Indians—paved the agency for future exclusions.

The self-image of hospitality was seriously tested at the fourth dimension of the 1798 Alien in addition to Sedition Acts, which gave the president arbitrary countersubversive powers to exclude or conduct whatever foreigner deemed to hold out dangerous, in addition to to prosecute anybody publishing or writing inwards “a false, scandalous in addition to malicious nature” almost the president or Congress.


The authorities was reacting against European radicals whose political activities were considered subversive. The Naturalization Act was amended to render for a fourteen-year residency requirement for prospective citizens; inwards 1802, Congress reduced the waiting menstruum to v years, a provision that remains inwards effect today.

Anti-Catholicism

In the next decades, most immigrants entering the the States were Roman Catholics (one-third of all immigrants betwixt 1830 in addition to 1840 were from Catholic Ireland), in addition to so ethnic prejudice against immigrants was also unremarkably accompanied yesteryear conspiracy-mongering against Catholicism.

Since the colonial period, Americans had come upward to seat themselves equally a Protestant nation, in addition to many leading Protestant clergymen had cautioned the province against a papal plot to destroy U.S. freedom in addition to society.

In the nineteenth century this conspiratorial tradition fed into nativism inwards a multifariousness of forms: exclusive nativist clubs in addition to fraternities such equally the Order of United Americans or the United Sons of America; in addition to political parties, specially when the social in addition to economical province of affairs was bleak, equally inwards the belatedly 1830s, the early on 1840s, in addition to the mid-1850s.

These groups attracted middle-class Protestants, members of the 2 “traditional” parties (Democratic in addition to Whig), in addition to working-class voters who resented what they considered to hold out the project contest from immigrants, the increment inwards crime, world drunkenness, in addition to pauperism, in addition to the manipulation of immigrant voters.

More important was the proliferation of nativist propaganda. Prompted yesteryear the tidings of an Austrian Catholic missionary fellowship sending coin in addition to men to the United States, Samuel F. B. Morse, a distinguished professor of sculpture in addition to paradigm at New York University, wrote Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 Foreign Conspiracy against the Liberties of the the States (1834) in addition to he went on to break The Imminent Dangers to the Free Institutions of the the States (1835), both of which involved denunciations of the Catholic conspiracy against the United States.

Lyman Beecher, a seventh-generation clergyman in addition to president of Lane Theological Seminary inwards Cincinnati, published Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 Plea for the West inwards 1835, inwards which he exposed the alleged plot yesteryear the pope to fix a “Vatican” inwards the West yesteryear sending hordes of Catholic settlers there. However, perchance the most effective was the “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” of nativism, the Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk, which sold 300,000 inwards 1836.

Monk told of her alleged experiences with Catholicism, which involved forced sexual intercourse with priests in addition to the murdering of nuns in addition to children. Although her woman nurture denied the legitimacy of her work, stating that Maria never belonged to the nunnery in addition to that a encephalon injury her immature lady received equally a kid could hold out the get of her stories, the volume was widely accepted equally truth.

In 1841, the Vindicator was published yesteryear Rev. W. C. Brownlee, the leader of the New York Protestant Association. In the same year, in that location was growing concern inwards New York State that Catholics were gaining influence inwards schools because of the activeness of Archbishop John Hughes of New York.

He was seeking to obtain province aid for Catholic schools, which was interpreted equally both a subversive plot against the First Amendment, in addition to a refusal yesteryear Catholics to attend world schools in addition to hold out assimilated. In 1842, the American Protestant Association was founded yesteryear 100 Clergymen inwards Philadelphia to oppose Catholics.

This propaganda led to agitation, rioting, in addition to mobbing. Although Catholics occasionally reacted to the nativist displace with violence, nativists instigated the greater percentage of those vehement acts. In Boston, in that location were numerous riots inwards 1823, 1826, in addition to 1829. In May 1832, these potentially explosive weather condition produced a riot at a New York Protestant Association meeting.

Further, piece addressing a Baltimore Baptist audience inwards 1834, a grouping of Catholics attacked a Baptist speaker. On 10 August 1834 a mob of 40 to 50 people gathered exterior of the Ursuline Convent School at Charlestown, close Boston, in addition to burned it to the ground. Although 8 people were arrested in addition to tried, entirely 1 was sentenced to life imprisonment.

This rather lenient sentence, together with the lack of condemnation inwards moderate Protestant circles, shows how widespread hostility to Catholics had become. The violence continued into the next decade when, for example, xxx people were killed in addition to hundreds injured during nativist riots inwards Philadelphia inwards 1844.

Political Nativism

Anti-Catholicism gradually evolved into a political crusade. In 1844, James Harper founded the American Republican Party inwards monastic tell to intermission the deadlock betwixt the Whig in addition to Democratic Parties inwards New York State, in addition to offering approximately other approach to politics.

It allied with the Whigs, which resulted inwards the defeat of the Democratic Party. The American Republican Party demonstrated the political relevance of the nativist displace in addition to paved the agency for the entrance of the Know-Nothings into the national political scene equally the entirely coherent arrangement to residuum its political activeness on hostility to immigration in addition to to Catholics.

The American Party had its origins inwards 1849 inwards New York. At starting fourth dimension a cloak-and-dagger fellowship called the Order of the Star-Spangled Banner, it became a formal political party inwards 1853, in addition to its members were dubbed the Know-Nothings (after their refusal to respond questions almost their involvement) yesteryear Horace Greeley, a famous paper editor. By the middle of the 1850s the political party ranked over a 1 grand one thousand members across the country.

At the local level, inwards the 1854 election, the Know-Nothings won 6 governorships in addition to controlled legislatures inwards Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, in addition to California, where they passed discriminatory laws against immigrants, including the starting fourth dimension literacy tests for voting, inwards monastic tell to disenfranchise the Irish.

The party’s platform focused on voting rights, stretching the residency menstruum earlier naturalization from v to twenty-one years, in addition to requiring the exclusion of foreigners in addition to Catholics from world office. After the defeat of their candidate inwards the presidential election of 1856, the Know-Nothings were divide yesteryear their inability to overcome the slavery issue.

They lost influence in addition to were absorbed into the expanding Republican Party, formed inwards 1854. However, approximately other of import factor inwards their reject was that non all Americans opposed the arrival of novel immigrants because they were much needed yesteryear industrialists, railroad builders, in addition to other businessmen equally unskilled labor willing to convey lower wages.

Exclusion or Americanization?

After the Civil War, “new immigrants” from southern in addition to key Europe, fifty-fifty to a greater extent than numerous in addition to alien, increased the demonological anxiety of the native-born, which led to numerous conflicts in addition to a radical reexamination of the country’s immigration policy.

From 1880 to 1930 a full of 25 1 grand one thousand newcomers entered the United States. The to a greater extent than numerous were Italians, Jews, in addition to Slavs—totaling to a greater extent than than nine million—who brought inwards novel customs, manners, languages, in addition to religions.

To this current of immigration 1 should add together the massive dark migration to the North. All these groups were scattered throughout the province but they tended to flock together inwards big cities, specially inwards New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, in addition to New England.

In this era of laissez-faire capitalism, nativism evolved into the fearfulness that bird conflict would destroy the social stuff of the United States. Mounting labor organization, in addition to the importation of socialist in addition to anarchist ideologies yesteryear immigrants, rekindled the conspiracy theories.

The vehement strikes of the 1870s in addition to 1880s were hence seen equally signs of forthcoming disaster. In this climate, the American Protective Association was organized equally a cloak-and-dagger fellowship dedicated to eradicating “foreign despotism,” which included Catholics. One of its aims was to ban German-language instruction.

Nativism took on a special coloring inwards the West, where the fearfulness was of Chinese immigrants, considered a threat to white workers because they accepted lower wages. The Workingmen’s Party led a displace for a novel province constitution inwards California inwards 1878 in addition to 1879 that included stringent discriminatory measures.

At the national level, riots in addition to mobbing, specially inwards Wyoming in addition to New York, led to mounting pressure level yesteryear California in addition to other western states on Congress to top the nation’s starting fourth dimension immigration restriction, which approximately commentators have got viewed equally the institutionalization of racial paranoia. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act excluded the Chinese from naturalization in addition to immigration.

More restrictions were introduced inwards 1892, in addition to Chinese immigration was banned permanently inwards 1902. In 1906 the starting fourth dimension English linguistic communication language requirements for naturalization were enacted. The U.S. authorities legislated gradually to unopen the doors yesteryear limiting Japanese immigration through the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907–1908.

In the 1917 Immigration Law, Congress enacted a literacy requirement for all novel immigrants in addition to designated Asia equally a “barred zone” (excepting Nihon in addition to the Philippines). The 1921 National Origins Act inaugurated the quota system, yesteryear which admissions from each European province was limited to 3 pct of each foreign-born nationality inwards the 1910 census.

It effectively favored northern Europeans at the expense of southern in addition to eastern Europeans in addition to Asians. The 1924 Johnson-Reed Act tin hold out considered equally a perfect application of nativist concerns for racial homogeneity since it confirmed that immigration quotas were based on the ethnic makeup of the U.S. population equally a whole inwards 1920.

It was non until 1965 that racial criteria were removed from U.S. immigration legislation. An annual quota of 20,000 was awarded to each country, regardless of ethnicity, nether a ceiling of 170,000. Up to 120,000 were allowed to immigrate from Western Hemisphere nations, non dependent plain to quotas (until 1976).

Meanwhile, at the cease of the nineteenth century inwards the wake of the Progressive movement, the muckrakers, social workers, in addition to social reformers drew the public’s attending to the poverty, disease, in addition to criminal offence rates of immigrant ghettos.

Moreover, they sought to twain the gap betwixt newcomers in addition to native-born Americans. The “new immigrants” were less skilled, less educated, to a greater extent than clannish, in addition to slower to larn English. However, inwards monastic tell to create out with their novel life, immigrants tended to organize into minority societies, trying to save equally much of the group’s civilisation equally possible.

But growing concern for national homogeneity urged many to retrieve that a displace to “Americanize”—meaning assimilation—was necessary. Thus the Bureau of Americanization was created to encourage employers to brand English linguistic communication classes compulsory for their foreign-born workers.

For example, inwards the Ford Motor Company School, the starting fourth dimension affair an immigrant was asked to larn to say was, “I am an American.” Most states banned schooling inwards other tongues; approximately fifty-fifty prohibited the study of unusual languages inwards the unproblematic grades, inwards the belief that world schools were the major tool for Americanization.

English Only?

The global tendency since Word War II has been to diminish discrimination, at to the lowest degree yesteryear statute, in addition to to cut prejudice against immigrants in addition to members of ethnic minorities. Hostility for sure lost much of its conspiracy-minded intensity, with the combined effects of the civil rights displace in addition to the contend yesteryear Hispanics in addition to Native Americans for equal rights.

However, the cease of racial quotas inwards 1965 led many Third World people to displace into the United States, specially those coming from Central in addition to South America, which alarmed many Americans in addition to gave novel targets to nativism, specially inwards the states where those immigrants tended to flock together. The query of bilingualism in addition to so became the key number of nativists.

In the 1980s the “English only” displace was launched to limit the linguistic communication of authorities to English linguistic communication in addition to encourage immigrants to larn English. Illegal immigration was approximately other chemical constituent that encouraged nativist anxieties, equally encapsulated inwards President Ronald Reagan’s annunciation inwards 1984 that “we have got lost command of our ain borders.”

Illegal immigrants were seen equally a threat to native-born workers in addition to an obstruction to unions, equally they were enjoying all the advantages of living inwards America (schools, hospitals, welfare benefits) piece escaping all the drawbacks, similar taxes.

However, no legislation managed to curb the number of “undocumented” aliens on U.S. territory. In California, approximately other upsurge of activism took house inwards the 1990s due to economical stagnation, rise racial tensions, in addition to the widening gap betwixt the rich in addition to the poor.

Voters approved Proposition 187, which was meant to strength world agencies (schools, police, in addition to social in addition to wellness services) to discovery out the immigration status of supposedly undocumented aliens, in addition to written report them to the immigration authorities. The initiatory was judged unconstitutional. However, a straightaway outcome was the enactment yesteryear Congress of legislation toughening immigration enforcement laws.

Christian States of Spain

Christian States of Spain

When the Moors from Morocco invaded Spain in 711, they easily managed to capture most of the Iberian Peninsula with the exception of the area around the Asturian Mountains in the north. When they did get around to attacking that region in 718, the Christians defeated the Moors at the Battle of Covadonga, near Asturias.

The Moors decided to leave that part of Spain unconquered, marking what became the first battle in what the Spanish called the “Reconquista,” or Reconquest of Spain for Christendom. Over the next centuries several Christian kingdoms emerged in Spain, notably Asturias, León, Castile, Aragon, and Navarre.

These gradually expanded and eventually managed to defeat the Moors using their alliances. They ejected them from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492, when Isabella, heir to the throne of Castile, and Ferdinand II, king of Aragon, captured Granada, the last Muslim possession on the peninsula.


Kingdom of Asturias

The kingdom of Asturias was, in origin, a Visigoth kingdom of Spain created by Pelayo (Pelagius), a grandson of King Chindaswinth, who had been defeated by the Moors. Pelayo established his capital at Cangas de Onis, securing his independence with a victory at the Battle of Covadonga. The Moors, rather than sending more soldiers into Asturias, headed into France and in 732 were defeated at the Battle of Tours.

For the next century the Moors were on the defensive and this allowed Pelayo and his successors to rebuild their strength. Pelayo’s son, Favila, became king on his father’s death in 737 but died two years later in a boar hunt. He had no son so his brother-in-law was proclaimed King Alfonso I.

He enlarged the kingdom of Asturias by annexing Galicia in the west, and León in the south. He also extended his lands in the east to the borders of Navarre. When Alfonso died, his cruel son Fruela I came to the throne. One of Fruela’s first acts was to kill his own brother, Bimarano, who he thought wanted the throne. After reigning for 11 years, Fruela was murdered on January 14, 768, and was succeeded by his cousin Aurelius (son of Alfonso’s brother Fruela).

He was, in turn, succeeded by Silo, a nephew, who had married Alfonso I’s daughter. Aurelius had managed to prevent the Moors from attacking by paying them tribute, and all that is known about Silo is that he moved the kingdom’s capital from Cangas de Onis to Pravia. This period coincided with Charlemagne’s invasion of Spain, and his capture of Barcelona.

Silo’s successor, Mauregato, was an illegitimate son of Alfonso I (his mother allegedly being a slave) (r. 783–788) and was alleged to have offered 100 beautiful maidens annually as tribute to the Moors. The next king, Bermudo I, a brother of Aurelius, had been ordained deacon and reluctantly accepted the position as king, abdicating three years later and allowing Alfonso II “The Chaste,” a son of Fruela I, to become king.

Initially people were worried that Alfonso might try to avenge the murder of his father—instead he ruled for 51 years. He had been married to Berta, said to have been a daughter of Pepin, king of the Frankish tribe, but they had no children as he had taken a vow of celibacy.

During his long reign he stabilized the country’s political system amd attacked the Moors, defeating them near the town of Oviedo, which they had recently sacked. Alfonso II was so impressed by the beauty of Oviedo that he moved his court there and proclaimed it his capital. It was to remain capital of the kingdom of Asturias until 910, when León became the new capital.

Work began on the construction of the Oviedo Cathedral, where Alfonso II was eventually buried. Alfonso’s main achievement was that he conquered territory from the Moors, moving the reach of his Christian kingdom into the edges of central Spain. The Moorish king Abd ar-Rahman II (r. 822–852) was, however, able to check the advances of Alfonso, drive back the Franks, and stop a rebellion by Christians and Jews in Toledo.

The next king of Asturias was Ramiro I, a son of Bermudo I. He began his reign by capturing several other claimants to the throne, blinding them, and then confining them to monasteries. As a warrior he managed to defeat a Norman invasion after the Normans had landed at Corunna, and also fought several battles against the Moors. His son, Ordono I, became the next king and was the first to be known as king of Asturias and of León.

Ordono extended the kingdom to Salamanca and was succeeded by his son Alfonso III “The Great.” Alfonso III reigned for 44 years (866–910) and during that time consolidated the kingdom by overhauling the bureaucracy and, then fought the Moors. He managed to enlarge his lands to cover the whole of Asturias, Biscay, Galicia, and the northern part of modern-day Portugal. The southern boundary of his kingdom was along the Duero (Douro) River.

Kingdom of León

Alfonso had three feuding sons who plotted against each other and then against their father. To try to placate them all, Alfonso divided his kingdom into three parts. Garcia became king of León, Ordono became king of Galicia, and Fruela became king of Oviedo (ruling Asturias). This division was short-lived as wars among the young men resulted in all the lands eventually coming together under one ruler.

García only reigned for four years before he died, without any children. Ordono II ruled in Galicia before dying 14 years later and eventually Fruela II “The Cruel,” Alfonso III’s fourth son, who had outlived the others, reunited the kingdom in 924. However he died of leprosy in the following year, with Ordono II’s son’s becoming King Alfonso IV.

He did not want to rule and abdicated in order to spend the rest of his life as a monk. This allowed Alfonso IV’s brother to become King Ramiro II. Soon after this, Alfonso tried to regain the throne, only to be taken by his brother, blinded, and left at the Monastery of St. Julian, where he died soon afterward.

Ramiro II was succeeded by his elder son, Ordono III, and then by a younger son, Sancho I “The Fat.” There were two years when Ordono IV “The Wicked,” a son of Alfonso IV, was king, but then Sancho I’s only son became King Ramiro III. He was five when he became king and the Normans decided to attack again, destroying many coastal towns. Eventually he abdicated and allowed his cousin, Bermudo II, son of Ordoo III, to become king.

It was during the reign of Bermudo II that the Moors attacked and managed to get as far as León. When Bermudo II died in 999, his son Alfonso V was only five, and Don Melindo González, count of Galicia, became regent. In his 20s Alfonso V led his armies into battle against the Moors, recaptured much of León, but was killed in battle with the Moors at Viseu in Portugal, on May 5, 1028.

His only son, Bermudo III, was 13 and during his nine year reign faced more threats from the neighboring Christian kingdom of Castile. In 1037 he was killed at the Battle of the River Carrion fighting King Ferdinand I of Castile, and the kingdom of León, as it was then known, was absorbed into Castile.

Kingdom of Castile and Granada

The kingdom of Castile began as a dependency of León and was controlled by counts. However in 1035 Ferdinand I “The Great” was proclaimed king of Castile and two years later after defeating and killing Bermudo III, became king of Castile and León, ruling for the next 27 years.

These new kings saw themselves as lineal descendants of the heritage of Asturias, even if not by blood. When Ferdinand I died he divided his lands among his children and Sancho received Castile, Alfonso received León and Asturias, García was given Galicia and northern Portugal, his daughter Urraca was given Zamora, and Elvira was given Toro.

This was meant to end squabbling by them but only ended up with much fighting. At this time, a nobleman, Rodrigo Díaz de Bibar, emerged as the great Spanish pahlawan El Cid. Interestingly he later tried to set up his own kingdom of Valencia, which ended in his death. Eventually Alfonso ruled all the lands as Alfonso VI “The Brave,” king of Castile.

Alfonso VI launched a number of attacks on the Moors but most of these were overshadowed by the efforts of El Cid. In 1085 the Christians were able to capture the city of Toledo, and Alfonso reigned until his death in June 1109 at the age of 70. He had five or six wives. His daughter Urraca succeeded Alfonso VI. She married first Raymond, count of Burgundy, and later Alfonso I, king of Aragon.

Her successor was Alfonso VII (r. 1126–1157), titling himself as “Emperor of All Spain.” When he died his lands were divided between his eldest son, Sancho III “the Desired,” who was given Castile; and his second son, Ferdinand II, who was given León.

Sancho III only reigned for a year and his only surviving son became Alfonso VIII, r. 1158–1214. In 1212 he defeated the Moors at the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, giving Castile control over central Spain. When he died, Henry I, his youngest but only surviving son, succeeded him. He died and was succeeded as king of Castile by his nephew Ferdinand III.

Meanwhile in León, Ferdinand II had reigned for 31 years, and when he died in 1188, his brother, Alfonso IX, succeeded him. Alfonso IX’s first wife Teresa, from whom he was divorced, was later canonized as Saint Teresa in 1705. His eldest surviving son with his second wife was Ferdinand, who had already become king of Castile. When Alfonso IX died in 1230, the kingdoms of Castile and León were reunited.

Ferdinand III embarked on a series of wars against the Moors, managing to capture the cities of Córdoba (1236), Jaen (1246), and Seville (1248). With the capture of Seville, the “Reconquista” was almost complete—the Moors held only the city of Granada. The forces of Ferdinand were unable to take that city, although the emir of Granada did acknowledge his overlordship.

Ferdinand III also founded the University of Salamanca, died on May 30, 1252, and was buried in Seville Cathedral. In 1671 Pope Clement X canonized him, and he became St. Ferdinand (San Fernando). Ferdinand’s son, Alfonso X, had two titles, “The Wise,” and “The Astrologer.”

During his reign he codified the laws, wrote poems, and had a large number of scholars produce a great chronicle of Spanish history. One of his advisers, Jehuda ben Moses Cohen, wrote that the king was someone “in whom God and placed intelligence, and understanding and knowledge above all princes of his time.”

He was also elected as King of the Romans in 1257, renouncing the title of Holy Roman Emperor in 1275. However Alfonso X was faced with a dynastic succession crisis. His eldest son, Ferdinand de la Cerda, died in 1275, leaving two young sons, Alfonso X did not want a young boy on the throne so nominated as his successor his second son, Sancho. Ferdinand’s wife championed the cause of her two boys, and Alfonso X’s wife sided with her.

The conflict continued when the French—Ferdinand’s wife was a French princess—declared war on Sancho, who had the support of the Spanish parliament, the Cortes. War seemed inevitable, but when news arrived that Sancho was ill, Alfonso died of grief and despair.

Sancho IV “The Brave” became the next king, his illness being not as serious as was first thought, and after reigning for 11 years, he was succeeded by his son Ferdinand IV “The Summoned,” who was only nine when he became king—his mother ruled ably as regent. Little of note happened during Ferdinand IV’s reign and he gained his title from sentencing to death two brothers who had been accused of murdering a courtier.

They went to their execution protesting their innocence and “summoned” Ferdinand to appear at God’s court of judgment in 30 days. As Ferdinand was only 26 years old at the time he was unconcerned, but on the 30th day after the execution his servants found him dead in bed.

His one-year-old son, Alfonso XI “The Just,” became the next king and in 1337, when he was 13 years old, attacked the Moors of Granada. At the Battle of Río Salado on October 30, 1340, the Spanish, supported by the Portuguese, defeated a Moorish army. It was said to have been the first European battle where cannons were used. Alfonso XI reigned until 1350 when he was 39.

Alfonso was married to Maria of Portugal but spent most of his reign with Leonor de Guzmán, a noble woman who had recently been widowed. Alfonso and Leonor had a large family but when Alfonso died, Leonor was arrested on orders of the queen and taken to Talavera, where she was strangled. The next king was the son of Alfonso and Maria, Pedro I “The Cruel,” who reigned from 1350 until 1366.

During the reign of Pedro I he also married Blanche of Bourbon, cousin of the king of France, but fell in love with Maria de Padilla. Initially Pedro appointed Maria’s friends and family to positions of influence, but some nobles forced the dismissal of supporters and relatives of Maria.

In 1355 he had four of these noblemen stabbed to death, and apparently blood splattered over the dress of his wife, earning Pedro his title “The Cruel.” In 1366 he was deposed by his half brother Henry II of Trastamara, “The Bastard,” but managed to oust Henry and returned as king in the following year, spending the next two years in battles with his half brothers, and assisted by the English led by Edward the “Black Prince.”

These events formed the backdrop of the French novel Agenor de Mauleon (1846) by Alexander Dumas. Eventually Pedro was murdered and Henry II was restored to the throne. Over the next 10 years, until Henry died, attempts were made, ultimately successful, to prevent John of Gaunt from invading Spain.

Henry II’s only legitimate son, was John I, 21 years old, and he became king when his father died. Some 11 years later, while watching a military exercise, John I fell from his horse and was killed. His 11-year-old son, Henry III “The Infirm,” became the next king. When he died in December 1406, his one-year-old son was proclaimed John II. When he was 13 years old, the Cortes declared the teenager to be “of age,” and John II ruled in his own right.

The king had many favorites, one of whom was Don Alvaro de Luna, who later writers suggested was a boyfriend of the young king. John II reigned until his death in 1454, was succeeded by his son, Henry IV, who reigned until 1474. He had a daughter and before Henry IV died, the heiress, Isabella, married Ferdinand of Aragon, uniting Christian Spain.

Kingdoms of Aragon and Navarre

The royal House of Aragon, in northeastern Spain, traces its origins back to Ramiro I (r. 1035–1063). His father, Sancho III, king of Navarre, had left him Aragon, as Ramiro was illegitimate. Ramiro was a warrior prince and quickly extended his lands, even briefly taking part in forays into the land of his half brother Garcia III, who had inherited the rest of Navarre.

In a war with the Moorish emir of Saragossa over tribute, Ramiro was killed in battle on May 8, 1063. Ramiro’s successor was his eldest son, Sancho I, who managed to recapture lands from the Moors, pushing the boundaries of Aragon to the north bank of the river Ebro. In 1076 when his cousin, the king of Navarre, died, Sancho succeeded to the throne of Navarre.

In June 1094 Sancho was killed during the siege of Huesca. His son and successor, Pedro I, then became king of Aragon and Navarre, carrying on the siege of Huesca for another two years. In 1096 he defeated a large Moorish army and its Castilian allies, at the Battle of Alcoraz, with help, legends state, from St. George. Pedro’s two children died young, and in grief both he and his wife died soon afterward.

Pedro was succeeded by his brother Alfonso I “The Warrior.” Having no children he was succeeded by his younger brother, Ramiro II “The Monk.” Ramiro was only king for three years, abdicating to spend the remaining 10 years of his life in a monastery.

His only child, Petronilla, became queen, when she was one year old. When she turned 15 in 1151, she married Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona. Twelve years later she abdicated the throne in favor of her son Alfonso II (r. 1163–96).

His eldest son and successor was Pedro II, who was alleged to have kept scandalous company with many women. With the outbreak of the Albigensian Crusade in France, and the persecution of the Cathars in southern France, Pedro II led his army into the region to demonstrate the historical ties of Aragon to the region.

He tried to stop the carnage that was taking place around Carcassone and urged the pope to recognize the area as a part of Aragon, not France, which would have ended the crusade. He failed and on September 13, 1213, at the Battle of Muset, was killed in battle with the crusaders led by Simon de Montfort.

Pedro’s son James I “The Conqueror” was only five when he succeeded his father. After a terrible regency, James took control and led his armies in taking the Balearic Islands (1229–35), conquering Valencia from the Moors in 1233–45, and also in the campaign against Murcia in 1266. When James died his son, Pedro III, succeeded him, leading his armies against the Moors.

He had a claim to the kingdom of Sicily through his wife and invaded the island in 1282, earning the title “The Great.” He was badly injured in the eye during fighting with the French and died soon afterward to be succeeded by his son Alfonso III “The Do-Gooder.” This interesting title came from the fact that he granted his subjects the right to bear arms.

His brother and successor James II “The Just” conquered more land from the Moors and was in frequent disputes with the papacy. In 1310 he conquered Gibraltar, and possibly to placate Pope Clement V, two years later he suppressed the Order of the Knights Templar.

James II was succeeded by his son Alfonso IV “The Debonair” or “The Good.” Most of his reign was spent in disputes over the islands of Corsica and Sardinia, which were captured by the Genoese. His son and successor, Pedro IV, held a huge coronation, apparently with as many as 10,000 guests, and earned the title “The Ceremonious.”

He managed to lead his army into Sicily, which he recaptured, and when he died in 1387, his feeble son John I succeeded to the throne. His wife, Iolande de Bar, was actually in control of the kingdom. John died after being gored by a boar during a hunt, and his younger brother Martin “The Humane” became king.

It was during his reign that the famous santo cáliz was transferred to Valencia Cathedral, where it is still revered by many as the Holy Grail. It was said that St. Peter took it from the Holy Land to Rome, and it was taken to Valencia. Martin lost the throne of Sicily and when he died in 1410, there was a brief interregnum until Ferdinand I “The Just” was proclaimed king.

Ferdinand I was the son of John I and was elected king by the nobles. When Ferdinand I died in 1416, after reigning for just four years, his eldest son, Alfonso V “The Magnanimous,” became king. There was a plot to overthrow him, and he refused to hear the names of the conspirators, allowing them to go unpunished.

He spent much of his time and energy in his possessions in Italy: Naples and Sicily. When he died, his lands in Spain went to his brother John, who had been king of Navarre, and he became king of Aragon and Navarre. His Italian lands went to his illegitimate son Ferdinand. John II reigned from 1458 until 1479.

His greatest achievement was arranging the marriage of his son, Ferdinand, to Isabella, heir to the throne of Castile. They were married in 1469 at Valladolid. When John died on January 19, 1479, the Christian kingdoms of Spain were united with Ferdinand and Isabella as joint rulers. In 1492 the armies of Ferdinand and Isabella finally took Granada, the last Moorish part of the Iberian Peninsula, ending the “Reconquista.”

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the last pagan state in Europe. Landlocked and protected by dense forests and impassable wetlands, Lithuania was spared the fate of the other Baltic peoples, who were either converted or killed by German and Scandinavian colonizers between the late 12th and early 14th centuries.

Their geographical location also protected the Lithuanians from Rusian armies and the Golden Horde, who conquered much of eastern Europe in the mid-13th century. Yet Lithuania’s position on the Nemunas River system would also later make it an important economic crossroads in the trade between eastern and western Europe.

During the 14th century Lithuania flourished under a series of able rulers, called “grand dukes,” in imitation of their neighbors to the east, the rulers of Rus. Based out of the ancient (and present) capital of Vilnius, the nascent state began to expand east, into the Rusian lands abandoned by the retreating Tartars. By 1323 they had conquered Kiev, the ancient Rusian capital.


The survival of this pagan state on the frontiers of Christendom deeply disturbed the papacy, which made numerous attempts to convert the Lithuanians. Despite their best efforts, the permanent conversion of Lithuania came not at the instigation of papal legates, but rather at the request of Polish nobles, who offered Grand Duke Jogaila the hand of Queen Jadwiga and the throne of the kingdom of Poland.

In 1386 Grand Duke Jogaila became King Władysław (Ladislas) II of Poland. Lithuania, which had been called the “the spawn of Satan” by Christians in the 13th and 14th centuries, now together with Poland became the “bulwark of Christendom,” defending it first from the Tartars and later from the Ottoman Turks.

The Lithuanian state was the largest in Europe at that time, stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. Even after the death of the last member of the dynasty in 1572, the state they had created remained an important player in European politics.

Early Lithuania

The first mention of Lithuania in western sources occurs in an entry in the Annals of Quedlinburg for 1009, which states that the missionary Bishop Bruno of polish “el” Querfurt was martyred there. Historians, however, do not know much about Lithuania before the mid-13th century.

Its geography made it almost impassable for armies in all but the coldest months of winter, which spared it from the first waves of western European expansion along the Baltic littoral, as well as from the territorial ambitions of various Rusian princes and the ravages of the Golden Horde.

Lithuanian society at this time was governed by a loose association of clans based on hill forts, who supported themselves mainly through agriculture, but also through trade and plunder. In the early 13th century power coalesced around the leaders of one of these clans—Ringaudas, whose son, Mindaugas, ruled Lithuania for 25 years (1238–63).

During Mindaugas’s reign he began to take a more active interest in the affairs of his western neighbors. He granted German merchants the right to trade in his lands, and even allied himself with his former enemies, the Teutonic Knights, against western Lithuanians who did not wish to submit to his rule.

This alliance with his German neighbors was symbolized by Mindaugas’s baptism in 1251. Two years later he was crowned by Pope Innocent IV, becoming king of Lithuania. In this same year, Christian, a member of the Teutonic Knights, was enthroned as bishop of Livonia in the new cathedral in Vilnius.

Mindaugas’s conversion however, while a feather in the cap of papal diplomacy, did not have a far-reaching impact on Lithuania for a couple of reasons. First very few of Mindaugas’s subjects followed his example. Second, the new policies that followed his conversion, including allying with the Teutonic Knights, succeeded in further aggravating nobles who were already displeased with Mindaugas’s rule.

In 1259 the frustrated bishop left his seat, and a year later the rebelling western Lithuanians dealt the Teutonic Knights a crushing defeat. The following year Mindaugas apostatized, but some of his subjects were not easily placated. Two years later in 1263, the first great ruler of the Lithuanians was assassinated.

Mindaugas’s death was followed by seven years of civil war, which included the assassination of three of his successors. In 1270 a new ruler emerged, Traidenis, a member of one of the rival clans of Lithuanian nobles. A staunch pagan, Traidenis ruled Lithuania until he died of natural causes in 1282. There is a gap in the historical evidence in the years following his death, but by 1290 a new dynasty emerged that would govern Lithuania (and after 1385 Poland as well) until 1572.

Lithuanians worshiped a pantheon of gods, led by Perkunas, the equivalent of the Scandinavian Thor. The few literary sources describing the religion of the Lithuanians were written by Christians, who often were not neutral observers of pagan practices, which they often tried to fit within the framework of their own belief system. One example of this was the claim made by the Teutonic Knights’ early-14th century chronicler, Peter of Dusburg, that a pagan “pope” led the Lithuanian cult.

Using these sources and other descriptions of Baltic religion and archaeological sources, historians have argued that Lithuanian religion was loosely organized and based on the worship of nature. Priests and priestesses practiced divination both by casting lots and through animal sacrifices.

The brief appearance of Christianity in Vilnius does seem to have had some impact on Lithuanian paganism, as archaeological excavations of Vilnius cathedral have demonstrated that a pagan temple was erected on the site of Mindaugas’s church after his demise.

The ostensible leader of the Lithuanian cult was the grand duke, and it appears that rulers after Mindaugas learned that a monumental religious building could be a powerful expression of central authority. The most likely builder of the temple was Gediminas, who reestablished Vilnius as a political capital in the first years of his reign.

Establishment of The Grand Duchy

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania coat of arms

The founder of the new dynasty, Pukuveras, did not have a great impact on Lithuania, because of his brief reign (1290–95). During the reigns of his sons, Vytenis (1295–1315) and Gediminas (1315–42), on the other hand, Lithuania would dramatically expand politically, geographically, and economically to become one of the most important states in east-central Europe.

In 1298 during a dispute between the archbishop and burghers of Riga and the Teutonic Knights, Vytenis offered the Rigans a Lithuanian garrison to defend this important commercial center from their common enemy. Although the Rigans were finally compelled to expel the pagan garrison in 1313, diplomatic and economic relations between the Lithuanians and Rigans continued. Gediminas continued these policies when his brother died in 1315.

Gediminas built up the Lithuanian economy, inviting foreigners to settle in villages and towns by sending letters to the numerous German towns. He also granted German merchants generous privileges throughout his realm and guaranteed their safety along certain routes, called the vredelant, or “land of peace.”

Although trade with the pagans was condemned by the papacy, especially the trade of military supplies, commerce prevailed throughout the crusading period, even between the Lithuanians and the Teutonic Knights. In fact trade between these two states helped to finance their wars with each other.

Gediminas was aware of the necessity of forming military alliances with his Catholic neighbors, the Rigans and the Poles, against their common enemy, the Teutonic Knights. But he had to be careful about offending his subjects—the pagan Lithuanians as well as the Orthodox Rusians, who were quickly becoming the majority of those living in the Lithuanian state. The Lithuanians had long taken an active role in the affairs of their Rusian neighbors, and some prominent Lithuanians had been baptized according to the Eastern rite.

For example one of Mindaugas’s sons became an Orthodox monk, eventually becoming the patron saint of Pskov, while another of his sons, Vaisvilkas, also retired to an Orthodox monastery after ruling Lithuania for three years (1264–67). In addition lacking a written culture of their own, Lithuanian rulers used the language of their Orthodox subjects, Chancery Ruthenian, at their courts.

During Gediminas’s reign these contacts intensified. Through a combination of conquest and marriage alliances, Lithuanian rule was extended farther into Rusian lands, as the Lithuanians filled the power vacuum left by the retreating Tartars. By 1323 Gediminas had conquered Kiev, the ancient capital of Rus.

In 1315 Gediminas established a separate metropolitan for Lithuania in Novgorodok, which would free his Orthodox subjects from the ecclesiastic control of a Muscovite metropolitan. During the course of the next century, this Lithuanian metropolitanate would be reduced to the rank of a bishopric and then elevated again as the patriarch of Constantinople sought to manipulate the political landscape of Rus.

Christianization of Lithuania

At the same time that he appealed to the head of the Eastern Church, Gediminas was also actively seeking the help of the leader of the Western Church to orchestrate a truce with the Teutonic Knights. The price for this truce would be the conversion of Lithuania.

Gediminas informed Pope John XXII of his intensions in 1322 and joined his longtime allies, the archbishop and burghers of Riga, in condemning the atrocities committed by their common foe, the Teutonic Knights. His letter outlined the history of Lithuania’s relationship with Latin Christianity, noting Mindaugas’s conversion as well as his brothers’ defense of Riga.

When the papal envoys arrived in 1324, however, Gediminas had changed his mind, which led some earlier scholars to argue that his letter to the pope was a Rigan a forgery. Gediminas had been reminded of Mindaugas’s fate by some of his pagan and Orthodox subjects.

When the papal legates departed in 1325, Gediminas looked to the west for a new ally and found King Władysław Lokietek of Poland, who was also involved in a dispute with the Teutonic Knights. In this same year Aldona (baptized Anna), one of Gediminas’s daughters, was married to Władysław’s only son, Casmir (Kazmierz). Although the Polish-Lithuanian alliance dissolved after Anna’s death in 1339, the memory of this union would have a tremendous impact on the destinies of both states.

After Gediminas’s death in 1342, his son, Jaunutis, assumed the grand ducal throne. Despite the fact that he was his father’s chosen heir, his reign was brief (1342–45), because his brother, Algirdas, drove him into exile in Moscow. Grand Duke Algirdas’s reign proved to be lengthy (1345–77), in part because he reconciled his position not only with Jaunutis, to whom he granted land from his patrimony, but also with his six other brothers.

His youngest brother, Kestutis, was his greatest ally, and he was given the important task of defending Lithuania’s western border from the Teutonic Knights. Algirdas continued his father’s kegiatan of expansion into Rus, attacking Moscow and trying to reestablish the metropolitanate for the Lithuanian Rus. He also followed in his father’s footsteps of offering to be baptized—this time to both the pope in Avignon and the patriarch of Constantinople—and then denying these intentions.

Despite these ploys, he, like his father, was tolerant of the Christians who lived in his realm, at least as long as they respected Lithuanian religious practices. Five Franciscans found this out the hard way when they were executed for proselytizing.

When Algirdas died he wanted his throne to pass to his son, Jogaila, but Kestutis challenged his nephew’s succession. In 1381 Kestutis overthrew Jogaila, but the usurper was assassinated a year later. When Jogaila returned to power in 1382, he considered taking a Muscovite princess as his bride in the hope of eventually fulfilling his father’s pretensions to the title of grand prince of All Rus.

The resurgent power of the Tartars, however, signaled by their sack of Moscow in 1382, caused the young grand duke to turn west for a bride, to the kingdom of Poland, with which his grandfather had been allied and which had also just lost its king.

Union with Poland

When King Casimir III the Great of Poland died without a son in 1370, his crown passed to his nephew, Louis of Anjou, king of Hungary. Following his death in 1382, the nobles of the two kingdoms were divided as to who should succeed him. After two years of fighting it was decided that his older daughter, Maria, would succeed him in Hungary, while his younger daughter, Jadwiga, would succeed him in Poland.

In 1384, at the age of 10, Jadwiga was crowned queen. Although she had previously been betrothed to Wilhelm von Habsburg, prince of Austria, the Polish nobles rejected this marriage and instead looked east to pagan Lithuania. This was not such an odd decision, however, considering the historical relationship between the two states, and King Casimir’s first wife was a Lithuanian princess.

When Grand Duke Jogaila accepted Christianity in 1386, which was one of the preconditions of his assuming the throne, he took the Christian name Władysław, the name of Casimir’s father, the ally of his grandfather, Gediminas, and the restorer of the Polish kingdom. The following year Władysław II returned to Vilnius and established a bishopric there to manage his pagan subjects’ conversion to Christianity.

When the childless Jadwiga died in 1399, the Polish-Lithuanian state faced a dilemma. In two important assemblies in 1401 and 1413, the Polish and Lithuanian nobles decided to make the Krevo Union (named after the place in which it was created in 1385) permanent.

In fact, unlike other contemporary mergers of states, such as the Kalmar Union, which united the Scandinavian kingdoms in 1397, the Polish-Lithuanian union would prove to be lasting, even surviving the demise of the Jagiello dynasty (named after the Polish version of Jogaila’s name—Jagiello) in 1572.

Building upon this consensus Wladyslaw II led an army against the perennial enemies of Poland and Lithuania, the Teutonic Knights, dealing them a crushing defeat at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410.

the Battle of Grunwald in 1410

His second son, Casimir IV (his first son, Władysław III, having been killed trying to stop the advance of the Ottoman Turks into Europe at the Battle of Varna in 1444), was a ruler equal to his father, in both ability and longevity—while his father ruled Poland-Lithuania for 45 years (until 1434), Casimir ruled for 48 (until 1492). He also defeated the Teutonic Knights in the Thirteen Years’ War (1454–66) and annexed many of the Knights’ possessions, which had formerly belonged to Poland.

Some scholars have called him “the father of Central Europe,” because his sons ruled the neighboring kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary in addition to Poland-Lithuania, and his grandson was Albrecht von Hohenzollern, the last grand master of the Teutonic Knights, who secularized the order in 1525 and founded the dynasty that was to rule Prussia (and later Germany) until the end of the First World War. The eminent scholar Jan Dlugosz, who wrote the first comprehensive history of Poland, educated these children.

Casimir’s fourth son, Zygmunt I “the Elder,” as his father and grandfather ruled for more than 40 years (1506–48) and expanded his kingdom at the expense of the Teutonic Knights, who in two stages (1525 and 1561) were incorporated into the kingdom.

His reign, however, was marred by the growing power of his two neighbors to the east—Moscow and the Ottoman Empire. Because of these threats, Zygmunt looked west to the Habsburg empire for aid. In 1515 at the Congress of Vienna, a double wedding was arranged.

Zygmunt’s son, King Louis of Hungary and Bohemia, would marry the emperor’s daughter, while the emperor’s son would marry Zygmunt’s daughter, Anna. Unfortunately for the territorial ambitions of Poland-Lithuania, the childless Louis died trying to defend Hungary from the Ottomans at the Battle of Mohacs in 1526. The Habsburgs now controlled what was left of Hungary as well as Bohemia.

Following this disaster Zygmunt had his son, Zygmunt II August, crowned co-ruler in 1529 at the age of nine. He and his father ruled together for nearly two decades—“the Elder” in Kraków, and Zygmunt II in Vilnius. In the years following his father’s death, the childless and ailing Zygmunt II was anxious to see that his family’s legacy as rulers of a united Polish-Lithuanian state did not end with his death.

Near the end of his life he convened the Sejm (parliament) nearly ever year in an attempt to convince the Polish and Lithuanian nobles to form a united republic, ruled by an elected monarch. On July 1, 1569, the religious and secular magnates of Poland and Lithuania swore to Zygmunt to uphold the Union of Lublin, which combined their two lands. Three years later the last of the Jagiellonians died.

The legacy of the state created by Jogaila, however, would endure long after the demise of his dynasty. The last pagan ruler in Europe had transformed his state into the “bulwark of Christendom,” and several of his descendants gave their lives in its defense. But Poland Lithuania was also a multiethnic and multireligious polity, the survival of which necessitated toleration.

In 1573 the Confederation of Warsaw guaranteed the religious rights of all the subjects of Poland-Lithuania— Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christians, as well as Jews and Muslims. The largest state in Europe at that time, the republic created by Zygmunt II would endure for more than two centuries, until it was finally partitioned among Russia, Prussia, and Austria in the late 18th century.