Spain has an extraordinary and complex history. Through the centuries, numerous groups have contributed to forming its unique culture.
After years of struggle between rival dynastic families, the Bourbons sought to modernise Spain with forward thinking ideas. Ingredients from America became part of dishes; bullfighting became popular; and flamenco developed into a national art form.
Roman Empire
Antiquity saw the Iberian Peninsula colonized by Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans; their cultures intertwined with those of native peoples to form Hispania – an identity uniquely Iberian to this day.
By 100 BC, Rome had come to dominate much of the Mediterranean Sea region and had established a system of senatorial provinces led by proconsuls and imperial provinces run by legates; Hispania fell under this latter category.
Roman occupation had a tremendous influence in Spain. Latin replaced native languages of the region and Christianity overtook polytheistic practices; additionally, massive land reformation projects created senatorial and imperial provinces which would last well into Middle Ages.
Visigoths
Visigoths (tervingi in Spanish) ruled Spain for centuries and made an indelible mark on its culture, legal traditions, and religious practices. Catholicism became the dominant faith at that time while their law codes focused on centralization of power and equality before law. Their Germanic vocabulary such as guerra and yelmo also contributed to bolster Spanish’s eventual unification under Castilian.
Converting to Christianity enabled kings to appoint bishops, setting an ecclesiastical precedent over secular monarchies. Additionally, an anointment ritual reinforced the king as a holy figure.
Muslims
Muslims brought with them a culture that left its mark across Spain – especially art. The Muslim period is commonly regarded as the golden age of learning with libraries, colleges and public baths being established along with architecture, literature and poetry flourishing flourishing at an incredible rate.
Early in the eleventh century, Islamic Caliphate disintegrated into several smaller kingdoms ripe for Christian influence. Yusuf ibn Tashfin’s Almoravid forces responded strongly, and recaptured much of Spain including Toledo by 1085.
Today we can see evidence of this cultural influence in Spanish; its language contains elements which originate in Arabic that don’t appear elsewhere among the romance languages.
Austrian Kings
Charles I was the King of an united Spain as well as Holy Roman Emperor and Duke of Burgundy with territories in Germany, northern Italy and Austria. Additionally he ruled over the Dutch Republic as well as Spain’s colonies in America during his rule – it was during this period that “The sun never sets on the Spanish Empire” was coined.
He was an ardent and devout Catholic and during his rule the Golden Age of Spanish culture flourished, with artists like painter Diego Velazquez or Lope de Vega emerging. He participated in the Thirty Years’ War between Germany and France and established his principle “cuius regio, eius religio (“whose realm, its religion”). Furthermore he expanded the Inquisition.
War of Independence
War brought Spain into a new political culture, celebrated in Pablo Picasso’s mural-sized painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso and evidenced in nationalist ideas espoused by liberal ministers who encouraged land reform and supported education initiatives. These events fragmented Spain into smaller pieces with conservative allies revolting at civilian junta control, while liberal ministers supported land reform initiatives as well as education campaigns to preserve peace.
War had disastrous financial repercussions for Spain. King Philip V incurred debts in Europe while his military campaign in Americas wasted resources by fielding poorly equipped, poorly trained troops. Spain also saw its economy suffer; Castilian wool was shipped off to Dutch mills while rich farmlands left fallow after expelling Jews and Muslims were abandoned to decay.
Constitution
December 6th is a day to commemorate all of those who made Spain more democratic, with women voting for the first time and learning more about its principles that still guide its future development.
Article 62 details the symbolic duties of the King that do not reflect any real exercise of political power; these duties include sanctioning and promulgating laws approved by the Cortes Generales which he then symbolically calls or dissolves.
It also establishes the State’s taxation system and ensures it is fair and without expropriation, while also acknowledging conscientious objection as an acceptable reason for exemption from military service.