SPAIN -- A MEETING OF FOUR WORLDS: SOME THOUGHTS
An Explanation
We are not academic experts on Spain. We are eager to learn from you and to follow your advice. What is listed below is both a general explanation for our Field School theme and some site-specific brainstorming ideas. We are not suggesting that those items not already in the itinerary necessarily be added to the schedule. But we would like to discuss some of these and get your feedback in regards to what should be included. We could talk to the college here about how to cover any incidental additional costs (eg. museum entrance fees).
The Field School Theme (A Meeting Of Four Worlds: Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Indigenous -- Southern Spain, 711-1614 CE)
We would like to organize the Field School loosely around a coherent organizing theme: A Meeting Of Four Worlds, 711-1614 CE. The lands that are now Spain experienced intensive and complex interactions between the peoples of the three Abrahamic religions in the near-millennium between the early 8th and early 17th centuries. Those interactions culminated in, but were not defined by, the ethnic cleansing of Spanish Jews and Muslims alike. This history has profoundly shaped Spain and is etched upon its physical and cultural landscape. 1492 marked the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula's final Muslim-controlled kingdom; the expulsion of Spain's Jews from Ferdinand and Isabella's new unified state; and the Catholic Monarch's sponsorship of Columbus's first voyage. This development initiated Spain's relationship with the fourth of the Field School's main groups -- the indigenous peoples of the Americas -- and marks a pivotal moment of European colonization.
The Field School will not only introduce students to a particular prism through which to interpret Spanish history but will challenge them to assess their own experiences as a tourist in contemporary Spain against the backdrop of that history. This will involve students not only interrogating the continuing legacies and representations of a multi-layered history within Spain itself but also defining themselves, in essence, as a fifth world, and pondering deeply the ways in which those connections manifest themselves through travel experience on the ground in today's Spain.
The indigenous theme will likely be the most elusive of the four of those at the centre of the Field School and will in part be filtered through the stories of the conquistadors and imperial representations rather than being encountered directly. One challenge here will be to make connections between Southern Spain and the world beyond its borders. Thus the Virgin of Guadalupe became not just a patron saint for Columbus and the conquistadors, but also the direct model for Mexico's Virgin of Guadalupe. When we visit Merida, we will mention that there is a city named after Merida in today's Mexico, a city founded by conquistadors in 1542. We will also mention that the Yucatan's Merida has a statue of Gonzalo Guerrero, the Palos-born sailor who broke with the Spanish and became a defender of the Maya. There were many more indigenous Americans in 16th-century Southern Spain than is commonly recognized, and we will ask why that has been lost from the historical record. We will tell stories about the famous (such as Cortes's mestizo son Martin, who spent time at La Rabida Monastery and died as a soldier putting down the Morisco Revolt) and the not-so-famous alike. We would also like to tap into your expertise as you consider how to best highlight the indigenous theme, doing such things as reviewing the life of Bartolome De La Casas outside his Seville residence. We will challenge students not only to learn about the Spanish colonial story but to place themselves in relationship to that history. There are very direct connections between 16th-century Spain and the history and geography of our part of Canada. We live but 25 kilometers from islands named by 18th-century Spanish mariners after Cortes and Malinche (part of the unceded territories of the Homalco, Tla'amin and Klahoose First Nations), while our province is named in an indirect way after Christopher Columbus. Moreover, the history under consideration here is global rather than merely Andalusian or Extremaduran in nature.
Some Extra Notes About Individual Locations
I have highlighted special notes with red stars below.
Seville
Seville Cathedral: Our entire Field School theme could probably be represented through this one site! We'd love to learn about a millennium of Spain's past as reflected through the history of the cathedral and the earlier mosque. The tombs of Ferdinand III and Christopher Columbus; the Patio de los Naranjos; the Biblioteca Colombina; the Giralda -- there seems to be so much here that intersects with our theme. Do you know if Columbus's copy of Marco Polo's Travels is available for viewing in the Library of Fernando Colon or elsewhere in Seville? Would you recommend that we climb the Giralda as a group? I am intrigued by the Chapel of Santa Maria la Antigua within the cathedral and think this serves as a fascinating link between the Reconquista and our Indigenous theme. Not only did 13th-century Castilians link Santa Maria la Antigua to pre-Muslim times but Columbus and the conquistadors took her image abroad as well. Hence one of the islands of the Lesser Antilles is Antigua while Santa Maria de la Antigua became the first mainland Spanish town in the Americas. I know that there is a similar legend about the Virgin of Guadalupe icon. According to tradition, it was rescued from Seville at the time of the Muslim invasion and then buried at Guadalupe, only to be discovered several centuries later. Do you know with which precise location in Seville the icon was said to be associated before its 8th-century removal? I would recommend that students be given several minutes to explore around the cathedral on their own after our group tour, and think this might be a good idea at other major sites as well.
***Royal Alcazar: We look forward to an in-depth introduction to the history of the Alcazar. Alejo Fernandez's "Virgin Of The Navigators" in the former Chapel of the Casa de Contratacion is one major indigenous-connected site that we should not miss during our tour of this extraordinary site.
***Archivo De Indias: Pope Alexander VI's 1493 Doctrine Of Discovery Papal Bull received considerable focus during Pope Francis's 2022 visit to Canada. I think that this document is housed within the Archivo de Indias. It would be a powerful experience for students to view this if that is possible.
Jewish Seville: Perhaps we could learn about the 1391 pogrom in Seville and beyond when we were inside the Santa Maria La Blanca Church. Our tour of the Barrio of Santa Cruz might also include a visit to the Calle de Susona and a retelling of that legend and its association with the start of the Inquisition in 1481. This then could match up with our visit to the Castle of San Jorge and the Inquisition Museum later during our stay in Seville. Would it make sense to march from San Jorge to site of the Quemadero ("The Burning Place"), where those first 1481 victims of the Inquisition met their deaths? By the way, despite mention here of both the 1391 Pogroms and the Inquisition, we do appreciate that Southern Spain also has a long and creative history of interfaith exchange.
***Jewish Community Of Seville***: I think that Seville has a contemporary synagogue. If possible, it would be amazing if our students could meet a few of its members to discuss such matters as the history of the Sephardic experience in Spain and the diaspora; the significance of the recent law that granted citizenship to Sephardic Jews; and Jewish life in Spain today.
Trujillo
***Possible Conquistador Documentary Viewing at the Boutique Hotel Casa De Orellana: The home of Amazon explorer and conquistador Francisco de Orellana has been converted into an upscale hotel. There is a superb 50-minute documentary about Orellana from Michael Wood's BBC series about the Conquistadors (The Search For El Dorado). I would love to view that documentary with students and the hotel manager and guests in a meeting room at the hotel if possible. We could pay the manager a honorarium for the opportunity to do this.
Palace Of The Conquest: Trujillo was not just home to the Pizarro family but became home to a number of Inkas as well. Prominent here was Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui, who was both the daughter of Francisco Pizarro and the wife of Francisco's nephew Hernando. Her profile is carved into the grand home that became her residence in Trujillo.
Other Extremadura Sites
Monastery Of Guadalupe: We would like to learn all about this very important pilgrimage site. This is another place where our tour intersects with the indigenous theme. Although scholars question the monastery's tradition that this was the place for the first Spain-based indigenous baptisms, there are records of Tainos and other indigenous Americans living at Guadalupe.
Merida -- Museo Nacional De Arte Romano: If possible, we would like to visit the archaeological museum during our stop-over in Merida.
Granada
***Mezquita De Granada***: We will walk through the Albayzin. A mosque was built there in 2003 directly across from the Alhambra. It would be wonderful to visit the imam or others associated with the mosque to discuss the history of the mosque; the history of Islam in Spain; and the experiences of Spanish Muslims today if such a meeting could be arranged.
Sacristy Museum: We would like to visit the Sacristy Museum when we tour the Capilla Real and see, amongst other artifacts, the Royal Standard of the Catholic Monarchs.
Alhambra: Can we be shown the precise spot where the Edict of Expulsion was said to have been signed in 1492 when we visit the Alhambra?
Cordoba
Cordoba Mosque And Cathedral: This is a site in which students should be provided a considerable amount of time to explore on their own. The guided tour should focus on the mosque, but not ignore the history of the cathedral, including the statue of St. James Matamoros.
Casa De Sefarad: If possible, we'd like our tour of the Juderia of Cordoba to include not just a visit to the synagogue but to the Casa De Sefarad.
Museo Taurino De Cordoba: I think the Bullfighters' Museum is located in the old house of Maimonides. If possible, can we combine a brief lesson about Maimonides and Jewish Cordoba at Maimonides's statue with a visit to the Museo Taurino De Cordoba.
La Rabida And Palos de la Frontera
Palos De Frontera: Is the House Museum of Martin Alonso Pinzon worth visiting? Perhaps we should visit the Church of San Jorge; sit in its pews; and then leave by the door that Columbus and his crew exited in 1492 before proceeding to the Muelle De Las Carabelas.
La Rabida Monastery: We would like to learn about the Columbus-associated history when we visit here. But we are also interested in more recent representations of the past and the way Spanish history has been remembered. Therefore, we'd also like to see the more modern murals at the monastery and learn about how and why soil from different Latin American nations ended up here at the monastery. How was Spanish history interpreted and represented in the 20th century at the monastery? That's a recurrent question that we will ask also at such other Field School site visits as the Plaza Espana.