Image: The Strait of Gibraltar viewed from the space, with
Jebel Tariq on the port side and Jebel Musa to the starboard
Courtesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Gibraltar#/media/File:STS059-238-074_Strait_of_Gibraltar.jpg
I have written the first draft of my new research which deals with the 'opening' of the Strait of Gibraltar for Christian vessels at the end of the thirteenth century. This topic alludes to one of the chapters of the Reconquista, especially the struggle for the domination of the three ports which served the vessels wishing to enter the Strait: Tarifa, Algeciras, and Gibraltar.
My paper includes four parts. Part 1, The Evil Omen, refers to the ancient spell laid on the crossing of the Pillars of Hercules by poets and historians. However, it did not prevent ancient or medieval Mediterranean mariners from venturing into the Atlantic.
Part 2, Passing through the Eye of the Needle, discusses some weather vagaries and navigation hazards which made it difficult to transit the Strait, especially for sailing ships.
Part 3, Locking Horns in the Unceasing Crusade, points to the main reason why it took so long for the Christian vessels to unlock the maritime route across Western Europe: the presence of the Muslim fleet and the ban on docking in the ports of Al-Andalus. The Castilian crusade, which took about one hundred years, led to the Christian control over large swaths of former Muslim territories of southern Iberia and the opening of the havens for free trade and shipping.
Part 4 called "The Mediterranean Breakout", sums up the article, showing the main maritime route of European sailors through the Strait to Flanders and England, as well as the ancillary course to the Moroccan Atlantic havens. The champions of these ventures were the Genoese and the Venetians seaman, with the rest playing the second fiddle. In my view, the 'opening' of the Strait at the close of the thirteenth century served as a springboard for spectacular voyages of European mariners in the Atlantic throughout the fourteenth century, the period which I call 'The Little Age of Discovery'.
My paper includes four parts. Part 1, The Evil Omen, refers to the ancient spell laid on the crossing of the Pillars of Hercules by poets and historians. However, it did not prevent ancient or medieval Mediterranean mariners from venturing into the Atlantic.
Part 2, Passing through the Eye of the Needle, discusses some weather vagaries and navigation hazards which made it difficult to transit the Strait, especially for sailing ships.
Part 3, Locking Horns in the Unceasing Crusade, points to the main reason why it took so long for the Christian vessels to unlock the maritime route across Western Europe: the presence of the Muslim fleet and the ban on docking in the ports of Al-Andalus. The Castilian crusade, which took about one hundred years, led to the Christian control over large swaths of former Muslim territories of southern Iberia and the opening of the havens for free trade and shipping.
Part 4 called "The Mediterranean Breakout", sums up the article, showing the main maritime route of European sailors through the Strait to Flanders and England, as well as the ancillary course to the Moroccan Atlantic havens. The champions of these ventures were the Genoese and the Venetians seaman, with the rest playing the second fiddle. In my view, the 'opening' of the Strait at the close of the thirteenth century served as a springboard for spectacular voyages of European mariners in the Atlantic throughout the fourteenth century, the period which I call 'The Little Age of Discovery'.
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