1. Chapter 9
Spain Looks Westward

2. Before you Start…
• Before you start, read the intro on page 193
and answer the following questions:
1. What factors do you think influenced
Christopher Columbus to want to set out on
his voyage?
2. Why might the Spanish monarchs have been
reluctant to support him?

3. What factors do you think influenced
Christopher Columbus to want to set out on his
voyage?
• Desire for fame, fortune, to find the unknown,
to find a route to the Far East, or to finish
what he had started are all acceptable
answers

4. Why might the Spanish monarchs have
been reluctant to support him?
• They might have been reluctant because other
European leaders had turned him down, he
wasn’t Spanish, they didn’t trust him, they
thought the plan wouldn’t succeed, the cost
was too high, or they could look foolish.

5. How to Interpret a Historical Map
• When looking at a historical map, always try to find the answer to
these 8 questions.
1. Who created the map?
2. When was it created?
3. What do we know about the creator from examining the map?
4. What evidence in the map suggests why it was drawn?
5. Who would use this map? What would they use it for?
6. Are there any symbols, designs, or decorations on the map? What
do they mean?
7. Are there differences between this map and a modern map of the
same area? Have any borders or boundaries changed?
8. What to you think is the historical significance of this map?
• Remember, you might not be able to answer all of these
questions, but do your best to answer as many as possible.

6. Map Assignment
• Go to page 195 in the text book and answer
the “Try It!” questions (1 and 2)

7. Al-Andalus, Muslim Spain
• The majority of the people in Spain were
Christian during the middle ages
• During the fall of the Roman Empire, in 711 AD, a
Muslim force led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad crossed the
Strait of Gibraltar and landed in Spain
• In just a few years, Muslims conquered almost all
of Portugal and Spain
• In time, people began to convert to Muslim, but
some resisted

8. Life and Society
• Spain was a part of a vast empire for the next few
centuries
• They Islamic world was part of the largest
economic trade zone in the world
• Goods and ideas were exchanged between places
from all over
• Muslim rulers and rich merchants supported the
arts
• Muslims did not allow people to be shown
realistically because it may lead to idolatry (the
worship of idols)

9. Centres of Learning
• Learning was important to the Muslim society
– They used learning to understand the universe and to aid
in living an ethical life
• The world’s first university was established in Cairo,
Egypt in 971
• Major Spanish cities, under Muslim rule, became great
centres for learning
• Muslim scholars even studied and discussed science
and medicine
• They were the first, along with Jewish scholars, to
translate the books and essays of the ancient Greeks

10. Religious Tolerance
• Muslim Spain was a society that was relatively
tolerant of religious minorities

11. The End of Muslim Spain
• By the early 1000s AD, the area of jurisdiction
of the Islamic rulers (the caliphate) had begun
to decline in Spain
• They had a series of ineffective rulers which
helped lead them towards a period of civil
unrest
• This led to a lot of quarrelling between the
leaders

12. Creating a Christian Spain
• Because of their devotion to their faith, Queen
Isabella and King Ferdinand were know as the
Catholic Monarchs
• The Christian crusaders from across Europe
came to help the Spanish Christian forces win
territory from the Muslims
• By 1492, Spain was a completely Christian
land

13. The Spanish Inquisition
• Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand wanted to
unite Spain under on religion, Christianity
• They did so by taking over the Spanish
Inquisition from the Church
• The Inquisition was a state-run system of
courts where Church officials put believer of
religious ideas other than Catholicism on trial
• After the trials, Jews and Muslims were given
two options: convert or be exiled

14. • The expulsion of the Jews and Muslims had
done some harm to Spain
• A larger part of the Spanish educated middle
class was made up of Jews and Muslims
• Many of them were business people and
financiers
• Their expulsion made it hard from economic
growth in Spain

15. Saving Souls
• With the thought of expelling all non-Christians out of
Spain, their view of “saving” people started to look
elsewhere
• The king and Queen feared that the Muslims were
spreading their beliefs across the world (especially in the
Middle East and Asia)
– They viewed this as a threat to Christianity
• The king and queen believed that they had a religious duty
to convert as many people as possible to Catholicism
• This was one of the reasons they decided to support
Columbus’s plan
• All Spanish explorers from Spain brought missionaries with
them on their expeditions

16. Gold and Glory
• The idea that national wealth is based on a
country’s supplies of gold and silver was an
important part of the European thinking
during the Renaissance
• Money meant a country could buy the
resources it needed
• A country could finance a war and protect
their borders if they had enough money

17. Wealth for Spain
• In 1492, Spain had used up all of its gold and silver
reserves
• They spent all their money fighting in wars
• King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella hoped that
Columbus’s mission would bring back gold to support
the Spanish economy
• When Columbus arrived in the Americas he only found
a small supply of gold, but wrote back to the king and
queen telling them that the rivers were full of gold
• This led to the King and Queen sending bigger
expeditions to the Americas

18. First Voyage
First Voyage Second Voyage
Second Voyage
October 1492
October 1492 September 1493
September 1493
Columbus’s fleet
Columbus’s fleet 33ships
ships 17 ships
17 ships
Columbus’s company
Columbus’s company 90 sailors
90 sailors 2500 sailors, soldiers,
2500 sailors, soldiers,
missionaries, and settlers
missionaries, and settlers
Columbus’s instructions
Columbus’s instructions Just explore
Just explore Set up aacolony on arrival,
Set up colony on arrival,
with aapermanent settlement
with permanent settlement