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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 75 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Spanish
| On which day did the Spanish rise up against the French in Madrid, sparking the 6 year-long Peninsular War? | Spanish History #1
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May 2 1808. The rumour spread that the French were planning on taking Spain's crown prince out of the country. The uprising as a result was very bloody - 600 Spaniards and 400 Frenchmen and Polish Lancers died.
| The Constitution of 1812, drafted during the Peninsular War, was a model of liberalism. In which city was it drafted? | Spanish History #1
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| Beginning in 1833, Spain was torn by this series of wars that pitted those supporters of Ferdinand VII's brother, Don Carlos, and those who supported Ferdinand's daughter, Isabella II, as rightful heirs to the throne. What was this series of wars know as? | Spanish History #1
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February 1873. After young king Amadeo's political adviser, Juan Prim y Prat, was assassinated, he was left to rule alone. This was beyond his abilities, so he abdicated and left Spain. The Parliament abolished the monarchy and proclaimed Spain a Republic.
| Which King's abdication created the power vacuum that was the immediate cause of the First Republic being established? | Spanish History #2
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| This man led a naval mutiny in Cadiz, and went on to lead the new, liberal government that was established immediately afterward, until 1823? | Spanish History #2
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Colonel Rafael Riego. The mutiny began among disgruntled troops waiting to embark for the colonial war in Latin {America;} the Army refused to put the mutiny down, which was why it succeeded. Riego's action set the pattern for the many military revolts of the next two decades!
| Spain had three colonies in Africa. Spanish Morocco was one of them, but what was its capital? | Spanish Colonial Empire
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Tétouan. Spain controlled Northern Morocco, while France controlled the southern part.
| These two cities in North Africa (and some small islands) are the only remains of the Spanish colonial empire. What are the cities called? | Spanish Colonial Empire
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Azana. Azana was a middle-class intellectual with humane instincts. A democratic Liberal as well as a gifted orator and thinker, he vainly attempted conciliation between the disparate elements of the Left (including the Anarchists).
The Canary Islands. Although Franco chose exile and set up HQ in the Canaries initially, his best troops were Moroccans (Moors and Spaniards).
Durruti. Durruti was an idealist who thought the Anarchist could outwit and outmuscle Stalin's NKVD and Russian operations in the Spanish Left.
black and red. Red were Communists.
Falange. The phalanx was the standard Greek hoplite unit in antiquity, reputed for the fact that its cohesion seldom was torn asunder.
POUM - a small Trotskyite organization. The author of "1984" (written in 1943-48) was a anti-Stalinist socialist. Read "Homage to Catalonia" and find out about his experiences.
| German bombers of the Condor Legion bombed the village of Guernica into oblivion. Which artist immortalized this catastrophe in a mural? | The Spanish Civil War
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Picasso. Picasso refused to set foot in Spain until after Franco's death in 1975.
| Whom did Franco regard as being "a gentleman" for his refusal to take sides in the Spanish Civil War? | The Spanish Civil War
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FDR. FDR was struggling with implementing his New Deal. Blum had overt Republican sympathies, Chamberlain was an appeaser of Fascism, and Stalin provided the Republicans with some weapons and military counsel.
El Rey Juan-Carlos. A Bourbon!
| King Ferdinand and his wife, Isabella of Castille, were the sovereigns of Spain during the Inquisition. Which man, who was also Isabella's confessor, convinced her to revive the Inquisition in a specifically Spanish form? | The Spanish Inquisition
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Thomas of Torquemada. The Inquisition was a religious court that punished people who were convicted of heresy, and the people who questioned the suspected heretics were called Inquisitors. When people were arrested to be questioned, it was called "being put to the question" - in other words, tortured.
All of these (Converts from Islam, Converts from Judaism, Those who appeared to question the authority of the Church). Both Ferdinand and Isabella were "devout" - or rather, utterly fanatical. They not only encouraged the Spanish Inquisition, but in 1492 they also expelled all "Moors" (that is, Muslims) and Jews from Spain unless they converted to Catholicism. Converts were closely watched by the Inquisition, which suspected that some were still secret Muslims or Jews. To question the authority of the Church was a form of heresy and often resulted in prolonged spells in the Inquisition's torture-chambers.
It was confiscated completely. The Inquisitors got to keep a portion of the land, and the rest become the property of Pope Innocent VIII, who originally came up with the idea of an Inquisition.
Burning at the stake or a very heavy fine. Disemboweling was not introduced until the time of Phillip II.
He would not be permitted to attend mass. However, if a priest swore profanely, he would be fined, but the public would not hear about it.
They wanted to eradicate Islam, Judaism and heresy from Spain. They thought that if everyone in Spain was the same religion, they would become united. However, it is believed that Ferdinand and Torquemada wanted an Inquisition because they would accumulate the property of the "heretics".
1478. As soon as Isabella and Ferdinand became Spain's sovereigns, they set up the Inquisition. Thank you for playing my quiz, and please rate it.
reconquista. "Guerra de la independencia" refers to the Peninsular War (1808-1814). "Conquista" is usually applied to the conquest of the New World. "Campeador" (master of strategy) was El Cid's honorific title.
mozárabes. "Marranos" was a pejorative term used by non-converted Jews to describe Spanish Jewish converts to Christianity. "Dhimmis" signified "the people of the book" (in this case, Jews and Christians) living under Islamic rule (but not only in Spain.) "Tercio" is roughly an equivalent of the English "regiment" or "battalion".
mudéjares. "Mujeres" means "women", "conversos" was the official name for the baptized Jews (used very seldom for Muslim converts), and "musulmanes" simply means "Muslims".
limpieza de sangre. "Pureza de raza" = purity of race (I just made it up); "pollo con arroz" = rice with chicken; "sangre y oro" - the affectionate nickname for the Spanish flag (literally "blood and gold").
"Limpieza de sangre" was first formulated in the 1447 statutes of Toledo, although the concept itself owed much to the Basque idea of collective nobility and, ironically, to the Sephardic Jewish ethnic exclusivity. The laws of "pure blood" prevented the so-called New Christians (mostly Jewish converts) from holding state offices and many government positions.
auto de fe. The commonly, but erroneously, used term is the Portuguese phrase "auto da fe", while the correct Spanish term is "auto de fe".
"Autopista" is "highway", and "quemadura" means "burning".
alumbrados. "Gnósticos" means "gnostics" (a seemingly good choice but no cigar); "alumnos" = students, pupils; "ladrones" = thieves.
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