The history of Andalucia

Spain has a rich history as a nation, but in addition many of its villages separately also have a history behind a different times, civilizations, cultures and religious beliefs.This is the case of Andalucia .whose history is long and outstanding.Let's now know in depth, the history of Andalucia.

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First civilizations

The situation of Andalucia and the richness of its lands they have caused that, from the Neolithic , some of the most advanced civilizations in history have passed through its territory, such as the Tartessians, Phoenicians and the Greeks .who founded some of the first colonies in Andalucia: Gadir (Cadiz), Malaka (Malaga) or Sexi (Almunecar).

After these, the navigators Phoenicians , who first discovered the riches of the area (silver, gold, tin and copper) settled in Andalucia in the 11th century BC , founding several coastal colonies, including Gadir, the current Cadiz. Together with the Phoenicians, the Pyrenees were crossed by the first Indo-European tribes of Celtic descent.The Greeks also founded commercial bases for these parts.For the Greeks and the descendants of the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians , who took over in the 6th century, then the Romans who took over arrived and arrived in the Iberian Peninsula from the third century BC.

Andalucia in the time of the Roman Empire

In the s iglo II the Carthaginians expel the Tartessians of Andalucia and begin, during the third century, a conquest that leads them to dominate much of the eastern part of the peninsula, next to the Mediterranean Sea.During this time, Andalucia will be known by the Carthaginians as a province Betica.

During this period, Andalucia was the focus of important thinkers, such as Seneca , and some of its cities, such as Corduba, Hispalis or Italica, were outstanding.

After the Carthaginians, the Romans are imposed, which after several years of domination, after the region is the cradle of some Roman emperors like Trajan and Adriano, were replaced in the domain by the Visigoths in the 5th century AD by Alaric, and then since the 7th century (711) by the Arabs of the Umayyad dynasty that, having crossed the larch of Gibraltar, in 711 established in Andalusia the center of its western emirate with the capital Cordoba.

Al-Andalus

The Muslim invasion expanded in a short time even overcoming the Pyrenees, and being stopped only in Poitiers by the army of Carlo Martello.During the Middle Ages, Muslim possessions in the Iberian Peninsula were called Al Andalus , and from that denomination derives the decorative and urban style of the region.

In Andalucia, Muslim rule lasted much longer (just under eight centuries) than in the rest of Spain, gradually conquered by Christian advancement.The Arab period was the time of the region, which developed a higher level of economic, social development and cultural, being among the most advanced in the world known at that time, and where an active religious tolerance was practiced that allowed its three cultures, the Islamic, the Jewish and the Christian, live together in peace.

agriculture, leather processing, mining, ceramic production and textiles and commerce enjoyed excellent health and brought great prosperity with their development. Cordoba, Malaga, Granada and Seville, were embellished by the largest Arab monuments in Spain: Las Mezquitas.Andalucia is seen "Invaded" then by the great mosques, like the Alcazar and the Alhambra Palace, which were respectively celebrated as centers of art, culture and science.

Beginning in the eleventh century, the first fractures in the Muslim kingdom of Andalusia begin to occur, disagreements that would end up leading to the creation of taifas throughout the territory, that is, small independent kingdoms of great culture but little defense capacity against the advance of the Castilian kings.

With the beginning of that "decline", the dominated Arab hard until the thirteenth century when, with the exception of the Arab kingdom of Granada, most of the region was conquered by the kings of Castile.Also Granada It was conquered in turn by the Catholic Monarchs Fernando and Isabel in 1492, the same year in which Cristobal Colon accidentally discovered the American continent while searching for the route of the Indies.

Expulsion of Muslims and the arrival of Christianity

The struggles between Castilian kings and the Muslim people began to have their point in the century XIII and culminated with the siege of the Castilian troops to the Muslims in the Alhambra of Granada.The siege ended as we mentioned in 1492 , when the Catholic Monarchs definitely took the fortress and annexed Andalucia the Kingdom of Castile.

Until the late fifteenth century, prosperous populations of Jews and Muslims, almost 10% of the population, practiced their religion openly and proudly, but after the Catholic siege, Spain carried out a harsh conversion, initiated by Kings Isabel and Fernando, although this did not seem sufficient and it was Felipe III who did not hesitate to expel 300,000 descendants of the Muslim population of Spain who had become to Christianity, the "Moors", at the beginning of the s 17th century.The human cost was appalling.But, it was thought, Spain was finally pure.

18th century

From that moment, Andalusian prosperity declined progressively, except for the ports of Seville and Cadiz which, by trading with the New World, they continued to prosper. In 1713 Gibraltar was ceded to Great Britain and in 1833 the region was divided into the eight current provinces. Andalucia became a bastion of the anarchist movement during the Spanish Republic, however, it fell against the rebels in the Spanish civil war, suffering numerous harassment (among all the symbolic and terrible murders of Federico Garcia Lorca in Granada) as we will mention later.

Long before, during the 18th century, Andalucia played a key role in the history of Spain during the stage a of the Napoleonic invasions.In Bailen one of the most decisive battles of the war is published and in 1812 the first Spanish Constitution in the Cortes of Cadiz was written.

In later years, the first attempts to modernize the industry and production began to occur, however, these processes did not have such an impact in Andalusia due to the poor distribution of land and the denial of the most favored classes to set aside their privileges.It is during this time when the first vestiges of federalist, republican and radical ideas begin to emerge.It is also in this time when the typical Andalusian stereotypes begin to be forged.

Civil War and Francoism

Andalucia suffered a Endemic problem of organization, distribution and agrarian structure, a problem with which and aluces would face the arrival of the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent arrival of Francoism.The arrival of the extreme right to power did not solve the agrarian problems of the territories and, as a consequence, during the 50s, 60s and 70s many Andalusians had to emigrate to other territories of Spain, mainly to Cataluna.

The recurring manifestations against Franco followed in Andalusia during the years of his dictatorship due to reprisals and subsequent repressions.At Franco's death, Andalucia became an autonomous region of Spain in 1981.Since then, economic and cultural development has been intense with the climax represented by the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America with the 1992 Universal Exhibition in Seville and the inauguration of the high-speed train that connects the Andalusian capital with Madrid and the rest of Spain.