Five Kingdoms In The 15th Century

Catherine is like a bird trapped in her cage. Many things are going through her mind. She's asking herself many questions. How will I get out? Or why am I even trapped?

Crusading fervor remained a basic part of the Portuguese and Spanish national ideals. The desire to Christianize Muslims and pagan peoples played a central role in European expansion. Queen Isabella of Spain, for example, showed a fantastical zeal for converting the Muslims to Christianity and concentrated her efforts on the Muslims in Granada (Buckler 503). These conquests and mass conversions were done solely to bring Christianity to the world. Crusades and conquests were essentially wars of conversion. As an unnamed scholar wrote about a crusade in China, “While Buddha came to China on white elephants, Christ was borne on cannon balls.” Explorers such as crusaders forced Christianity into places that were home to other religions. But not all explorers who practiced the Christian faith spread their religion through crusading. Christopher Columbus understood Christianity as a missionary religion that should be carried to peoples and places where it did not exist. Although his character certainly included material and secular qualities, first and foremost, as he wrote in 1498, he believed he was a divine agent: “God made me the messenger of the new heaven and the new earth of which he spoke of in the Apocalypse of St. John after having spoken of it through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah; and he showed me the post where to find it.” (Buckler 506)

In the 1300's an Italian scholar named Petrarch came up with the name "Dark Age" to describe the time Europe was going through during the Middle Ages in 500AD-1500AD. Throughout the Middle Ages Europe was going through some rough times, but there were also moments of growth. For example the Black Death was a time of darkness but there were positive times like when universities were built. Although the dark ages were looked at as a negative occurrence, more events show a sign of growth.

It remained under the rule of Visigoth until Islam’s arrival via the Moors in 711 CE. From being the westernmost part of the Roman Empire to western-most part of the Islamic empire. They created one of the longest and lasting maritime empires in history after their Reconquista in 1250 and made a treaty of Ayllon with Castile to continue the Crusade against Muslims and regain the spoils of war from the port. Portugal found a sea route to India onwards Asia. They build trading post and forts. They defeated Goa in India and set a foothold in Asia. They colonized Brazil in 1530 so that they can defend it. Their ulterior motive was to divide Brazil into 15 capitanias so that enough wealth to support a settlement

Spain and Portugal spreading Catholicism among the native people was the excuse that the pope used to justified colonization.

This would be the finale of the reconquista, the end Islamic rule. Power would  be returned to Christian royals, Ferdinand and Isabella. This constant push for widespread Christianity best shows how strongly devoted Europeans were to religion. The reconquista been going on for centuries its main objective being the expulsion of Muslims and Jews. Unlike 1555 which represents an enormous religious yet politically motivated shift, with the Peace of Augsburg, allowing princes to choose the religion of their people, 1492 exemplifies the strong long held, unforgiving Christian faith, and how dedicated Europeans were to their God. This point represents a constant in the year, something that would continue to persist, rather than a shift away from it, towards new

In the year 1492, the Muslim kingdom of Granada fell to Isabella and Ferdinand (Lewis). Under King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella’s rule, Spain put an end to the Muslim domination of Granada. This victory was known as the reconquest. They gave the Muslims the choice to convert to Christianity or leave the country. The victory of the reconquest earned Ferdinand and Isabella the admiration of the pope (King).

Religious motives of the ‘Old Land’ of Europe’s exploration can be traced back to the days of the Crusades down to the 11th and 15th century, where the European Christians tried to invade and claim the city of Jerusalem from its Muslim control. The struggle between the Islamic rule and the European Christians planted the ideology of ‘Reconquista’ in the latter’s religion. It influenced the Christian religion with an air of religious intolerance. With the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, European Catholic’s interests in colonizing newer lands and declare global dominance earned a new momentum. And strong Catholic nations of Spain and Portugal were the

Religion was also an important factor that helped convince Queen Isabella to employ Columbus. Ferdinand and Isabella were large supporters of the church, a powerful organization at the time. They wanted to spread Catholicism, which was predominant in Spain. The Franciscans, a group of related mendicant religious orders within the Catholic church, were already somewhat interested in a foreign mission as well. If Spain had more control over Asia through a new trade route and began missions there, they could begin to convert the people living there to Christianity. Furthermore, if more Europeans were Christians, they could be stronger than the Muslims. Columbus was also in support of spreading Christianity, and he wanted to spread the word of Jesus Christ as he believed God had intended him to sail the Atlantic Ocean to do so.

The Moors arrived at the Iberian Peninsula in 711 by crossing the Mediterranean Sea near North Africa (Florian 20). Within seven years, the Iberian Peninsula (which they called Al-Andalus) was almost completely occupied by these people (De Luca et. al. 5). Moors had control of the majority of Iberian Peninsula, but, in late 718, King Visigoths Pelayo of Alcama, fought against the Moors and defeated them at the battle of Covadonga. Later on, they were defeated at another battle: the battle of Granada. The unity of Spain played heavily in this battle. It was between Aragon 's King Ferdinand and Isabella I, the Queen of Castile. They were married in 1469, soon after which the united forces of both states rose against the Moors (Florian 183). Their combined forces participated in the Reconquista, which led to the fall of

The hCG diet was designed nearly 50 years ago by a British physician whose belief that a hormone found in pregnant women would help people lose weight rapidly and reduce fat. This diet demands that a person’s caloric intake be no more than 500 calories a day along with a daily injection of hCG. hCG is also known as human chorionic gonadotropin. It is also available in pill form or drops.

[Cover: discussion about how risks are balanced during risk assessment, why this is a difficult task -> proposing a set of principles and practical measures that might assist both researchers and patients, to enable more informed decisions about risk]

The Christian religions rise to supremacy in the middle ages was the result of several factors. Christians had long been persecuted by the Roman Empire because the Romans felt that Christianity challenged and offended the Greco-Roman Gods and the Christians were prone to revolt against Roman rule. Christianity survived because it had many teachings that appealed to the downtrodden in Roman society, these teachings being that even though they were suffering they would gain equality and possibly superiority in the next life, Christianity gave them hope.

Before the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Moors were in control of much of the Iberian Peninsula. They desperately wanted to unite Spain and turn it into a

At the turn of the 15th century, the conditions in Europe went from plague, a smaller population, a lack of knowledge, and provincial learning to economic prosperity, enlightenment, and centralized power that was brought about by the renaissance and the new monarchs. The first condition in Europe that led to exploration was the Renaissance. The Renaissance was the revival of classical art and studies of Ancient Greece and Rome. What began first in Italy spread throughout Europe, and inspired creative thinking. This was a push factor because the maps of ancient geographers and work of Arab scholars motivated Europeans to learn more about the world and lands that existed besides Europe.