Unit 8: The Iberian Christian kingdoms (La Reconquista)

In this unit we will study the "Reconquista" from the point of view of the Iberian Christian kingdoms. It was a very long (around 800 years) and complex historical process, that will be decisive for the History of the current Spain and Portugal.  
We will work this unit with the help of these teo presentations:

1) Presentation # 1: Good synthesis, with many maps (an extremely weak point in our book) and some interesting videos. This is the one for our class. 

2) Presentation #2: More extense than the previous one but very well structured anyway. Too long for our class, my recommendation is to watch it at home, because it complete and amplifies some aspects from the previous one.  

Here you have some pictures, helpful for this unit. They are mainly maps, because in our book in this unit the historical cartography is scarse and not very clear.    

Statue to Don Pelayo in Covadonga (Asturias), a memorial for the battle (718-722?) that started the Reconquista

Battle of Alarcos (Ciudad Real) - June 19th 1195 - Castilla (Alfonso VIII) vs. Almohad Empire (Yusuf II), a great triumph for the Muslims 

Battle of the Navas de Tolosa (Jaén) - June 16th 1212 - A Christian International League defeated badly the troops of the Almohad Empire

Surrender of the keys of Granada by the emir Boabdil to the Catholic Monarchs, January 2nd of 1492. Last chapter in the Reconquista.  

  

Unit 7: Cities in Medieval Europe

In this unit we shall speak about the Later Middle Ages or, in other words, the 2nd half of the Middle Ages, after the year 1,000 to the end of the period with the fall of Constantinople in Turkish hands in 1,453. 

In order to prepare this unit we shall have a couple of different presentations:

1) Presentation #1: It is fantastic, full of data and very clear. The problem is that is maybe too long, and thus it will be impossible to see it entirely in class. My recommendation, the same as in the previous unit, is to have a general overview (NOT to study it carefully) at home while you have the book in front of you. It includes a lot of contents of Gothic art, many more than in the book and too much for the necessary level in this year. 


2) Presentation #2: It is the one that we shall see in the class. Much shorter and managing, it has some short videos, quite educational and curious.