John Maatman

 Cantor, Norman F. “The Idea of a Christian Commonwealth .” Commonwealth 119 (1992)  http://www.questia.com/.  

This article was written to explore three important events that occurred in 1492, the fall of Granada , the expulsion of the Jews, and the voyage of Christopher Columbus in order to show the development of a shared Christian commonwealth.  The author looks at the historical significance and the possible meaning of these events.  The author takes a position that supports these events, not necessarily everything that occurred, but the result of the events and the effect they had on the world, “many today bewail this history…It happened and we are its products and have to make the best of 1492’s consequences” (7,8).  The author states “The demand for the expulsion of the Jews in the 1490s was justified on grounds that as long as there were observant Jews around in Spain , converts to Christianity would be tempted to return secretly to their religion, would be corrupted in their faith and betray Christ” (4).  The author believed that Columbus ’s voyage was a direct result of the fall of Granada and the expulsion of the Jews.  Columbus was trying to override Muslim commercial wealth.  Also, “ Columbus ’s voyages were related also to the Jewish experience in Spain .  He too was descended from a Jewish convert family, as he indicated in his will” (6).  The author’s position is well defended by historical evidence and facts, and the argument is shaped by culture and literature.  Other views of these events can easily be formed, such as viewing the expulsion of the Jews as unfair and unjustified and viewing Columbus ’s actions as ruthless.    

This article is very well written with a thorough reference to the events of 1492 and is very in depth in the descriptions of the expulsion of the Jews and the voyage of Christopher Columbus.

 

Fletcher, Richard. “Christian-Muslim Understanding in the Later Middle Ages: Richard Fletcher Asks to What Extent Medieval Christians and Muslims Sought to Move Beyond Mutual Hostility.” History Today 53.4 (April 2003): 20+  http://www.questia.com  

Richard Fletcher discusses Christian-Muslim relationships throughout the development of Medieval Iberia.  Fletcher looks closely at works composed of by both Muslim and Christian writers and develops his argument that Christians continually grew more and more accepting of Islam, while Muslims weren’t so readily accepting of Christianity, even throughout the early stages of history.  Starting around the 13th century, a new opinion of Islam started to occur, for example, “Traditionally regarded as a deviant form of Christianity, a heresy which could be refuted, Islam could now be seen as a religion in its own right” (2).  Nicolas of Cusa in his work, Sieving the Koran, stated “if the Koran is intensively studied in the proper spirit (sieved) it will be found to be compatible with the teaching of the New Testament.  Beneath discrepancies and divergences there lay a shared basis of belief” (2,3).  Fletcher goes on to pose the question “Why was it that Islam, which had earlier been so receptive to the learning of the Hellenistic, Persian and Indian cultures and so original and resourceful in developing and building upon them, displayed so lamentably closed a mind to the technological, mercantile, and political advances which transformed Western Europe from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries?” (3,4)  Fletcher uses sociological criticism  in analyzing selected historical  works in order to show cultural influences.  There are other ways one could interpret this article, such as regarding the works as biased and rejecting the idea that the Christians acted peacefully.   

Overall, this article makes several good points and uses several different sources to defend the statements made.  It provides a lot of information on Muslim-Christian views towards each other.  This article was easy to read and comprehend

 

Green, Jennifer L. “The Development of Maritime Law in Medieval Spain : The Case of Castile and the Siete Partidas.” The Historian 58.3 (1996) http://www.questia.com  

Jennifer Green discusses the first written code of maritime law, which is included in the Siete Partidas,  the law code created during the reign of Alfonso X.  Before the development of the Siete Partidas, the only maritime law that applied to Castile was Visigothic maritime law. Green forms the argument that “although the influence of Roman law on both the naval and commercial maritime regulations in the Partidas is clear, the customary law influence is also strong, and might even be said to be stronger” (14).  Green says the influence of customary law is more evident in what the laws do not say, not in what they actually say.  For example, Green states, “The vagueness of many of the laws (e.g., the lack of details explaining exactly how ships were to be run, trade was to be carried out, or disputes were to be resolved) reveals the extent to which customary law was tacitly accepted by the Partidas in maritime matters” (14).  Before stating her opinion, Green uses the main portion of this article to go through the naval law section of the Partidas.  It consist of 10 laws of maritime warfare, and includes punishments for not obeying orders, descriptions of officers and sailors and their duties, and descriptions of the vessels and their cargo.  It concludes by emphasizing the dangers of war by sea, not only enemies, but shipwreck and drowning as well.  There are also 18 more laws included which deal with shipping.  I agree with Green, and her belief that customary law had more of an effect on the Partidas.  Castile had little experience with maritime law, and was not prepared to form a detailed law code.   

This article was easy to read and was a great source of information on the development of maritime law in Castile .  The article begins by describing, in detail, all of the aspects of maritime law included in the Siete Partidas. The author ends by forming her argument and defending it well by returning to the information she stated in the earlier portions of the article.

 

Lemieux, Simon. “The Spanish Inquisition: Simon Lemieux Examines the Hard Facts About the Inquisition and Counters the Common Caricature.” History Review (2002) http://www.questia.com  

The focus of this article is summed up in the first paragraph by the author, Simon Lemieux.  He states “This article aims to place the Spanish Inquisition in its correct historical context.  To do this, there follows firstly an outline of its main aims, methods of operation and historical development, secondly an overview of historiography of the institution, and finally an examination of the ways in which one can view the Inquisition.” (1)  This article uses a historical critical approach by examining the existing records of the Inquisition.   The records helped to evaluate the purpose, method, development, and history of the Inquisition.  Lemieux tries to portray the Inquisition as less harsh than many people believe it was.  He makes some good points and has historical evidence to support his proclamations.  The works of Henry Kamen, Contreras, and Henningsen put forth a softer view of the Inquisition.  Kamen stated “For most of its existence the Inquisition was far from being a juggernaut of death” (5).  The central aim of the Inquisition was to impose religious uniformity on Spain ’s people and prevent Protestant heresy and insincere conversions.  The main findings of Kamen, Contreras, and Henningsen state that the number of those executed was relatively small and also few places in Europe could be described as religiously tolerant in this period.   

Although Lemieux presents a strong argument, I still view the Inquisition in a way in which the author describes “as a ruthless mechanism for imposing religious uniformity and eradicating any traces of heresy from Spain ” (6).  The Inquisition can be viewed in several other ways including “as a part of the apparatus for strengthening royal power; as a didactic and educational tool for Spain’s Catholic subjects; as a factor for cultural decay; and finally as a power base in its own right” (6).  Overall this article reads easily, is organized well and clearly represents the author’s thinking.  It provides an interesting and strongly supported argument that constructs itsview of the Inquisition.  This article is also a great source to understand the Inquisition’s main goals, methods of operation, and historical development.

 

Totaro, Rebecca. “English Plague and New World Promise.” Utopian Studies 10.1 (1999) http://www.questia.com  

The focus of this article by Rebecca Totaro is the utopian literary works of Sir Thomas More, Francis Bacon, Margaret Cavendish, and Cotton Mather, and their efforts to contain and prevent plague in their utopias.  Each author’s work consists of a utopian setting and attempts to eliminate plague from their area.  Since no author believed a cure was possible the utopias relied on several new methods or improvements to control the plague.  Totaro uses a historical criticical approach to the works discussed in this article.  The texts are analyzed based on the social and cultural influences of the time, and mainly, the obvious influence the plague had on most writings of this era.  Totaro accurately analyzes the works in her article and portrays the beliefs of the citizens of this time.  Citizens believed the plague was the wrath of God.  For example, “failing to acknowledge and uphold God’s law leads directly to God’s wrath delivered in the form of plague” (2).  Also citizens felt hopeless in finding a cure and they knew no one could escape it.  This is shown in John Davies poem, The Picture of the Plague According to the Life as it was in Anno Domini 1603, where he states “Its hard with Subjects when the Soveraigne Hath no place free from plagues, his head to hide; And hardly can we say the King doth raigne, That no where, for just feare, can well abide.  For, no where comes He but Death followes him Hard at the Heeles, and reacheth at his head” (2).  Sir Thomas More possessed some medical knowledge and was put in charge of health issues including water quality issues, pollution, hospital improvements, and other plague prevention methods.  Totaro argues for the importance of these authors in improving much of the standard of living during the plague and gives several excerpts from their works that describe what measures were taken to decrease the spread of plague.  I agree with Totaro and her opinion that More, Bacon, Cavendish, and Mather contributed important ideas on improving life and health in the plague era.  

This article was easy to read and the facts and information were straight forward.  It was organized well, according to the chronological order of the literature, which developed from year to year.  This article is a very good source for the history of the plague and prevention methods through analysis of literary works of the plague era.  It also helps the reader to get a sense of how citizens dealt with the plague and a sense of what it was like to live during that time.