Page 56 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

THE SPAIN OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA

Richard L. Kagan

y his own account, Christopher Columbus stretching along Iberia's northern coast: Galicia, strength derived from the production of wool.
left Portugal and arrived in Spain sometime in Asturias, and the Basque country, all of which Its arid climate and mountainous terrain were
1485. He came in search of royal support for owed allegiance to the crown of Castile. Each of ideal for grazing, and sheep raising had domi-
what he later described as the "enterprise of the these kingdoms maintained its own identity, a nated the economy of Old Castile since the
1
Indies/' Columbus' enterprise was to journey situation that the union of Isabella and Ferdi- eleventh century, when Berbers from North
to India, China, and Japan by sailing westward nand did not alter. The monarchs had no inten- Africa introduced the merino, a species known
from the Canary Islands into the Atlantic. This tion of constructing a unified realm and even for its fine, long-staple wool. Most of these
scheme was both risky and expensive. For one rejected a suggestion to adopt the title of king sheep — estimated at more than three million in
thing, Columbus' cosmographical calculations and queen of Spain. Instead they called them- 1492—were herded in flocks whose long annual
challenged traditional notions about the size selves in traditional fashion: "King and Queen migrations from winter to summer pasture and
(if not the shape) of the world. He believed of Castile and Leon, Aragon, and Sicily, Toledo, back again were conducted under the supervi-
that the circumference of the globe was much Valencia, Galicia, Mallorca, Seville, Sardinia, sion of the Mesta, the royal sheepherders'
smaller than geographers generally accepted. Corsica, Murcia, Jaen, Algarve, Algeciras, guild. Wool from these flocks was then shipped
Furthermore, he had an exaggerated notion of Gibraltar, Count and Countess of Barcelona, to northern Europe in exchange for finished
the extent of the Eurasian landmass and was Lords of Vizcaya and Molina, Dukes of Athens textiles and other manufactured goods. The
convinced that the "ocean sea" separating and Neopatria, Counts of Rousillon and wool trade was Castile's golden fleece, enriching
Europe from Asia could be easily crossed. Cerdagne." various sectors of society: the nobles and
Born in the Italian maritime republic of Within the monarchs' extensive domains, the monasteries owning large flocks; the merchants
Genoa in 1451, Columbus already had a dec- kingdom of Castile and Leon enjoyed pride of of Burgos, the commercial capital of Old Cas-
ade's experience sailing in the Atlantic by 1485. place. Its five million inhabitants outnumbered tile; the shippers of Bilbao, the Cantabrian port
Under Portuguese auspices he had ventured as the population of the crown of Aragon by through which much of this cargo moved; and
far south as the Cape Verde Islands and the almost five to one. Castile's economy was also the crown, which taxed the transhumant flocks
coast of Guinea and as far west as Madeira. Co- the most dynamic of all the Spains. Its economic as well as the trade fairs in Medina del Campo
lumbus had proposed his enterprise to John v,
king of Portugal, but had generated little inter-
est. The Portuguese had already established
important trade links with southern Africa and
were seemingly committed to reaching India via
what would soon be named the Cape of Good
Hope. Columbus also may have explored the
possibility of English and French backing for his
seaborne adventure, but as we now know, the
mariner's future actually lay with the Spanish
monarchs, Isabella i of Castile (1474-1504) and
Ferdinand v of Aragon (1482-1516).

The Spains
Strictly speaking, Spain did not exist in the fif-
teenth century except as a geographical refer-
ence to the ancient Roman province of Hispania.
Columbus himself addressed Ferdinand and
Isabella as "king and queen of the Spains,"
a term that referred to the crown of Castile
and Leon, Isabella's domain, and the crown of
Aragon, an amalgam comprising the inland
kingdom of Aragon, the principality of Catalo-
nia, the Levant kingdom of Valencia, and the
Balearic Islands, together with Aragonese
dominions in the south of Italy. "The Spains" fig. i. Felipe Bigamy, Ferdinand the Catholic. Poly- fig. 2. Felipe Bigamy, Isabella the Catholic. Poly-
also encompassed the small Cantabrian states chromed wood. Capilla Real, Granada Cathedral chromed wood. Capilla Real, Granada Cathedral

EUROPE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD 55