4. Land of Three Religions: Faith, Reform and Inquisition

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we think about the religious character of Ferdinand and Isabella's rule, focusing in particular on the treatment of Jews in Spain from the late 14th century onwards, including the large community of Jewish converts known as conversos, the beginning of the Spanish Inquisition, and Ferdinand and Isabella's reform of the Catholic church.

Course

In this course, Dr John Edwards (University of Oxford) explores the reigns of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, jointly known as the Catholic Monarchs, or simply 'Ferdinand and Isabella'. We begin by providing a broad overview of Spanish history from the Roman period to the mid-15th century. In the second module, we think about Isabella's accession to the throne in 1474, her defeat of Juana la Beltraneja in 1475-79, and the consolidation of her rule from the 1480s onwards, before turning in the third module to the Granada War (1482-92) and the completion of the Christian reconquest of Spain. In the fourth module, we think about the religious character of Ferdinand and Isabella's rule, particularly with regards to the relationship between Christians, Muslims and Jews, before moving on in the fifth module to explore the emergence of Spain first as a European and then as a world power in the later fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Finally, in the six module, we provide a broader assessment of Ferdinand and Isabella's reign: should we see the Catholic Monarchs as laying the foundations for the Spanish Golden Age or a period of violence, warfare, and religious persecution?

Lecturer

Dr John Edwards is Senior Research Fellow in Spanish at the University of Oxford. He specialises in the history and culture of Spain in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with particular emphasis on religion and the European context. His recent publications include Mary I: England’s Catholic Queen (2011) and Ferdinand and Isabella (2004).