Name of peace, I think that's important about Burgos in the Castilians is to kind of appreciate this long-standing relationship that it has with Judaism and Islam. So, Judaism, the first kind of Jewish émigrés coming here, probably as early as with the Phoenicians. So then, later on with the exodus under Rome in 70 AD, and then also then in 711 AD or CE, we find Muslims coming in through the invasion of the south and then occupying, or living here, or residing here, or calling this home for roughly almost 800 years. So in that respect, Castilian has this really interesting dynamic, not only with its other Christian counterparts. So, whether that's the Kingdom of Navarre or the kingdom of Aragón, that's a relationship to the south with the different kingdoms, the Islamic kingdoms. Now, we do know that they consolidated at one period under the Caliphate or the Umayyad Caliphate, and Abd-ar-Rahman III was the most celebrated one in the 900s. But then, it broke apart into different miniature kingdoms called Taifas. So, and now where we find during the middle of Middle Ages, we have lots of little Christian kingdoms to the north, lots of little Islamic units to the south, and then Castile has relationship with all of those. And Castile and Burgos détentes become the most important one, at least in the trajectory of Spanish history, because it will be the homeland of where Isabel will come from, and she'll be one of the primary partners alongside of Ferdinand of Aragon to create the Spanish State in the late 1400s and early 1500s. So in this respect, Castile is this one kind of driving point through Spanish history that will kind of capture what it means to be Spanish. And in many ways we can think about even modern issues, whether the choice of speaking Castilian Spanish versus other variants of Spanish, or choosing to speak Castilian Spanish versus, maybe, Catalan. These are all kind of cultural domination kind of issues, not necessarily in a negative or in a positive way, it just shows you the extent to which the Castilians had a tremendous impact on the rest of Iberia and up until this present day. So, we'll be studying Burgos really intensively so that we can understand its place and relationship to all these different places. And I think about the Jewish and Muslim populations as well because we tend to think of, I think of Castile as this counterpoint to Islam and this clash of civilizations, and that's not necessarily the case. In fact, we see Christians and Muslims interacting both positively and negatively in the political realm as well as the religious realm, economically, trade relations. So we see those things. So, there's definitely that piece. And then, there's also this incredible appreciation, I think, for the Islamic arts and culture. So for instance, you can go visit lots of the different locations inside of Burgos, and we'll show you some of these, where they're clearly Christian institutions like El Monasterio de las Huelgas. And we can see, embedded into the architecture, all types of Islamic motifs, whether those are vegetative motifs, or script, or just geometric patterns. Now, in this case where we see those geometric patterns, those Islamic influences, we consider them "Mudéjar," or like they are Christian imitation of Islamic elements. And in some cases, like we'll see, Muslim artisans are brought from the south or come from the south and helped to create these institutions, Christians, and institutions up here in the north. But it shows you that exchange which is really fascinating, which is, even though we've kind of conceived of it as this clash of civilizations, right, running into each other, yes and no. Because then, we see clearly Christians appreciating Islamic arts and architecture. And to some extent I think there's this pass back and forth, and the other way as well. Lastly, I think we can think about the Jewish community here because it was extremely vibrant during the Middle Ages. One of the most important Judería or Jewish quarters in all of that of Iberia alongside of Toledo. And what we want to appreciate also is the way that this particular Jewish community as well as many other Jewish communities transformed after the 1300s. And specifically after we have the plague in the mid 1300s when it first arrives, this horrible civil war between King Enrique and King Pedro, and I'm calling one king and king like that because Pedro was the king and then his half brother Enrique de Trastamara challenged him for the crown, and in the end, it ends that Pedro is killed by his brother and now we have a new king. But under this kind of civil war in all those transitions, and finally during the 1390s when we have these horrible anti-Jewish riots, where many Jews are killed, or convert under pressure, or under choices, well, it depends on the circumstances. And other Jews that are leaving the northern sections of Spain from Christian killings and moving south, or even to the Mediterranean world, we see this kind of this crescendo of Jewish activity where at the 1390s there's a huge crash, a huge pressure that fragments the Jewish community and creates this new community of individuals, known as the conversos or the Jewish converts to Christianity. And it's in this particular location of Burgos, that there's this very sort of hidden history that we really don't talk about too much in Spain because it doesn't fit the classical historical narrative that we might want to hear if you're very Castilian minded. And that narrative that I'm always trying to share, which is part of, in some ways, my appreciation of this history, is the role that conversos, Jewish converts to Christianity, had in the creation of the Castilian State during the late 1300s and early 1400s, and ultimately into its rise as this incredible imperial power during the early 1500s. And in this respect, we can think about persons like Solomon Ha-Levi, who is a rabbi here in Burgos, who converted in the late 1300s, in the 1390s, to Christianity, and later become the Bishop of Burgos here in the Cathedral. And what's very interesting about him is as a rabbi, he had children. Two of his sons went on to become bishops themselves. Bishop Alonso de Cartagena, who took his name from Cartagena where he was a bishop, but also returned to Burgos, and then his other son, Gonzalo Garcia de Santa Maria, who went on to Plasencia, and that's what our other Moock on deciphering cifras is on, the first Moock is on Plasencia and following those conversos. But what's really intriguing at that level is to appreciate, we had a rabbi who converts to Christianity, now becomes the head of the Christian community as Bishop, but then his children become very important parts of the institutions that are forming Spain. So, whether those are his two Bishop sons in different prominent cities in Spain as well as his other sons who are historians and royal bureaucrats inside the Castilian Kingdom. But, they're just one family of many families that started to transform Castile into this very much a hybridised state, where you have individuals that come from different religions moving together to create something new. It's really complicated, right? Is it good that they converted? Is it bad that they converted? I'm not here to make any judgments about that, I'm just saying that they converted, and in that process they were able to ascend inside of the Castilian society. So, in this respect, that's why Burgos, I think, is so important, is that we can start to appreciate its place in the trajectory of Spanish history. One, again, that it is one of many different kind of cultural and ethnic groups inside of Spain. But as one individual one, it's particularly important in terms of the development of a Spain. And that's precisely because, one, Isabelle and her role in her marriage with Ferdinand but as well as the role of these individuals who are starting to create the Castilian State, which are the conversos. And that's always in relationship, these really difficult complications, which are complications of Black Death. It's difficult to describe it this way, but the complication of anti-Jewish riots, the complications of murder and execution of people and driving people out. I mean, that's more than a complication, that's something horribly tragic. So, all those things mix together, I think, to give us a more complicated picture of history, and that's what we want ultimately, I think all of us, is to have a better understanding of history based on all the details. Yes, we might want to have particular narratives that we might lean towards, and that's fine. But the most important thing is, I think, is to take in all the information and to be a judge yourself, to decide for yourself, what do you make of it.
