History of Spain
A Society Organized for War
From the Golden Age to the Decline of Spain
Syllabus
History 465b/565b Professor Nader
Speech (COMM) 214 Social Sciences 219
T Th 9:30-10:45 Office hrs: T W Th 11-12
email: naderh@u.arizona.edu
Course Description
This course investigates the way people lived, worked, and thought in a society of stark contrasts: Spain was a society organized for war, expanding its territory into the Americas and Far East to become the first world empire on which the sun never set. At the same time, Spaniards produced outstanding works of science, art, literature, and music. This Golden Age of accomplishment occurred while two religious minorities--Jews and Muslims—were being persecuted and then expelled from the country. The Golden Age was followed by the Decline of Spain. As historians, we will ask what made Spain a great power and what destroyed that power.
Required Texts to Buy for this Course
Class Notes Hist 465b/565b
Poem of the Cid (University of California Press)
Bernal Díaz. The Conquest of New Spain (Penguin, 1963).
Recommended Texts
J. H. Elliott. Imperial Spain (Penguin)
Helen Nader. Liberty in Absolutist Spain (Johns Hopkins University Press)
Policy on
Writing assignments, Exams, and Grades
Attendance
Class meetings combine lectures and discussion of the required readings. I want you to succeed, so I will do everything I can to help you do excellent work.
Attendance at lectures is required. Students who do not attend regularly or who come unprepared will have a difficult time succeeding in this fast-paced course. You should make every effort to complete all the reading and writing assignments on schedule, attend lectures, and participate actively and intelligently in classroom discussions.
Writing Assignments
In class: There will be very short, in-class writing assignments (quizzes) each week. Each will be worth 5 points. Of the 24 or 25 quizzes I will count only the top 20 at the end of the semester.
At home: There will be one short (no more than10 pages) writing assignment.
Exams
There will be 2 essay exams: one midterm and one final.
Make-up exams and papers
I am happy to provide make-up exams at your convenience. I will grade them at my convenience, which is usually during final exams week.
I do not accept late or make-up quizzes.
Grades
By the end of the semester you will have four grades--the in-class writing assignments (quizzes) total, 1 midterm exam, 1 homework paper, and the final exam. You have the possibility of accumulating 400 points by the end of the semester:
100 for in-class writing assignments
100 for midterm exam
100 for homework paper
100 for the final exam.
I will drop the lowest of these four and divide the total by three in computing your grade for the semester.
Due Date Reading Assignments and Exams
Jan 10 Map Quiz based on today’s lecture
17 Class Notes, pp. 1-10 (The Chronicle of 754); pp. 11-20 (The Chronicle of Alfonso III); pp. 21-42 (Ibn Abd Rabbihi).
24 Poem of the Cid, all.
31 Class Notes, pp. 43-112 (Powers, A Society Organized for War).
Feb 7 Class Notes, pp. 113-182 (Dillard, Daughters of the Reconquest).
14 Class Notes, pp. 182-256 (Dillard, Daughters of the Reconquest).
21 First Exam
28 Class Notes, pp. 257-278 ( Ayala, Chronicle of King Pedro).
Mar 7 Class Notes, pp. 279-286 (Pulgar, Crónica de los señores Reyes Católicos); class handouts: King Fernando and Queen Isabel, Santa Fe Capitulations and Letter from Christopher Columbus to the Catholic Monarchs (1493).
14 Spring Recess
21 Bernal Díaz, Conquest of New Spain, pp. 1-125.
28 Bernal Díaz, Conquest of New Spain, pp. 126-307.
Apr 4 Short Paper Due
11 On the webpage: King Fernando and Queen Isabel, Decree Establishing the Spanish Inquisition; Charter of Expulsion of the Jews (1492); Count of Tendilla, Letters Opposing the Inquisition, 1515.
18 On the webpage: Inquisitorial Trials of Inés López (1495-1496, 1511-1512).
25 Class Notes, pp. 287-318 (Report from the Town of Getafe).
30 (Tuesday) Review
May 9 Final Exam 8:00am-10:00 am