The Royal Academy of History with the support of the Rafael del Pino Foundation has organised the series of conferences "Cities and Frontiers in the Hispanic 12th century. Around the ninth centenary of the conquest of Zaragoza by Alfonso I of Aragon" which will take place in November 2018 according to the following programme:
Tuesday, 6 November
Conquests, cities and new frontiers, 1050-1150: an overview. Miguel Ángel Ladero Quesada and José Ángel Sesma Muñoz
Royal Academy of History
Tuesday,13 November
Toledo (1085). Miguel Ángel Ladero Quesada
Royal Academy of History
Friday, 16 November
Zaragoza (1118). José Ángel Sesma Muñoz
Royal Academy of History
Tuesday, 20 November
Tortosa and Lérida (1148.1149). Eduard Juncosa i Bonet
Friday, 23 November
Lisbon (1147). José Augusto de Sottomayor Pizarro
University of Oporto. Correspondent of the Royal Academy of History
Tuesday, 27 November
Seville in the 12th century. María Jesús Viguera Molins
Royal Academy of History
On the occasion of the celebration in December 2018 of the nine hundredth anniversary of the conquest of Saragossa (1118) by King Alfonso the Battler of Aragon, it seems appropriate to reflect on the fact that between 1086 (capture of Toledo) and 1147-1149 (conquests of Lisbon, Tortosa and Lérida), the southward advance of the Christian kingdoms incorporated the first large urban centres in Muslim territory into their dominion, These were also the focal points of the central axis of the Iberian Peninsula, the Ebro and Tagus rivers, thus establishing a solid line of defence, a firm base for the continuation of the reconquest and basic points of reference for the transformation of Hispanic society and its political organisation.
This was also the beginning of a peculiar form of urban renaissance that took place in the Hispanic sphere during the central centuries of the Middle Ages, at the same time as what was happening in other lands of Western Europe. The conquering kings and their successors populated and organised these cities, inheriting some aspects of the past and creating many others that identify a new period in their history as urban centres of medieval Spain.
These conquests show the capacity acquired by the Christian kingdoms and counties in the north of the peninsula. The social mutation experienced in them throughout the 11th century, the parallel fragmentation of al-Andalus into multiple taifas and the economic boost received with the pariahs paid by these favoured the rapid development of military power and with it the Christian advance through areas already fully articulated and populated, which meant a change of sign in the dominion established for four centuries in the Peninsula. After these actions, the consistency and warrior capacity of the Hispanic kingdoms, together with the European vision of their enterprise as a crusade, made the total recovery of the territory lost in 711 almost a matter of time.
Beyond the military repercussions of the conquests, which would become evident in the following territorial advances and the control of large agricultural and livestock areas, the
The domination of those cities, endowed with full activity, opened up the possibility of economic development based on production for trade and commercial traffic, both in the sense of
north-south, to meet growing European demand, as well as east-west, linking the Mediterranean routes with those of the Cantabrian and the Atlantic coast, thus contributing to the emergence of
an increasingly thriving urban society, on a par with that which had formed in Europe.
On the other hand, they were cities with a long tradition as political and administrative centres from very ancient times (Roman, Visigothic and Muslim) and equipped with the necessary infrastructure for the exercise of power (ecclesiastical and civil), which allowed the establishment, beyond the merely symbolic, of capitals in the kingdoms and the
strengthening of royal power.
Finally, the existence of an indigenous population in those cities and their extensive areas of influence, completed or replaced by the arrival of settlers from the north, made it possible to
new options for coexistence between Christians, Moors and Jews and the establishment of cultural ties. The remains preserved in urban planning, in buildings and in some forms of
organisation are evidence of that relationship.
