UNIT 6 SOCIAL SCIENCE: THE CHRISTIAN RECONQUEST

THE CHRISTIAN RECONQUEST

Christians in the north of the Iberian Peninsula were organized into kingdoms and counties. They fought against the Muslims for oven seven centuries.

Eventually they unified intor four large Christians Kingdoms: the Crown of Castle, the Crown of Aragón, the kingdom of Portugal and the kingdom of Navarre. This perios is known as the Christian Reconquest.

In 1469, the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Fernando II of Aragón, utited both crowns.

In 1492, towards the end of the Middle Ages, the Catholic Monarchs conquered the Muslim Kingdom of Granada.

SOCIETY

Society in the Christian kigdoms was organized as feudal system. It cossited of three social groups: the noblemen, the clergy and the peasants. The king was the highest political authority.

The king gave land to the noblemen. In exchange, they protected the king and the land. Noblemen liven in castles.

The clergy included bishops and monks. They carried out religious and cultural activities. Monks lived in monasteries.

Most of the population were peasants. They worked the land. The majority were serfs. This means they served a nobleman, cultivating the nobleman's land and giving some of the crops to him.

MEDIEVAL CITY

Medieval cities had a castle, a cathedral or church, a city hall, places and a marketplace. Cities were organized into neighbourhoods or distirics. they were surrounded by walls. City gates were closed at night.

Many people were crafstmen, for example, carpenters, weavers and goldsmiths. Other people were traders or merchants. They traded products in the marketplaces and trading fairs.

ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE

Romanesque architecture includes mainly churches, monasteries and cathedrals built between the 10th and 12th centuries. These buildings had thick, solid walls with small, narrow windows. They were dark inside. They had rounded arches. Walls were decorated with frescoes of religious life.

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

This includes mainly churches and cathedrals built in the 13th and 14th centuries. Buildings were tall with ribbed ceilings and pointed towers. Large glass windows made their interiors bright and colorful. They had pointed archs.