Christian Spain fought a 700-year religious war against Islam going back to the Moorish Conquestion in the 8th century. The country was only a year past the final end of that war when Columbus set sail. Spain was commonly considered the most backward country in Europe at the time, since the influence of none of the modernizing events tha…
Christian Spain fought a 700-year religious war against Islam going back to the Moorish Conquestion in the 8th century. The country was only a year past the final end of that war when Columbus set sail. Spain was commonly considered the most backward country in Europe at the time, since the influence of none of the modernizing events that happened in the rest of Europe over those seven centuries managed penetrate Spanish society. The Islamic society that was overthrown was far more advanced politically, socially and scientifically than the Christian society that won out. Spain has only recently in the past 50 years managed to get past that built-in backwardness - and there is still a significant part of the population who want to return to the bad old ways.
Christian Spain fought a 700-year religious war against Islam going back to the Moorish Conquestion in the 8th century. The country was only a year past the final end of that war when Columbus set sail. Spain was commonly considered the most backward country in Europe at the time, since the influence of none of the modernizing events that happened in the rest of Europe over those seven centuries managed penetrate Spanish society. The Islamic society that was overthrown was far more advanced politically, socially and scientifically than the Christian society that won out. Spain has only recently in the past 50 years managed to get past that built-in backwardness - and there is still a significant part of the population who want to return to the bad old ways.