Spain

When learning about the history of Europe in school, Spain always seemed to be marginalized.  Sure we learned a few things such as when the English beat the Spanish Armada and how the Christians threw the Moors out of Spain.  And of course we learned about Christopher Columbus and how he got permission from Ferdinand and Isabella to look for a new route to India.  And at that time I was pretty satisfied with my knowledge of Spain.  The French Revolution and William Wallace always seemed more interesting.

Then in the summer of 2009, I went to Spain for ten weeks for an REU program with seven other American students.  We were at the University of Cadiz in southern Spain working in the allelopathy lab.  When I was there, I realized that I really didn't know very much about Spain.  I guess I never read any books that were based in Spain.  Quite a few of the books I've read over the years were based in either Great Britain or France or written by English authors.  The Three Musketeers, Victor Hugo, George McDonald, C.S. Lewis to name a few.  Here I was in Spain and had very little context to put anything into.

So when I got back from Spain I registered for the History of the Middle Ages, partly because it satisfied a writing requirement for my school, but also because I thought I might learn something useful about Europe and Spain in particular.  Well, Spain still seemed to be marginalized, so I wrote my semester paper on the Muslim conquest of Spain in the 700s.  Then this fall I took History of the Renaissance and Reformation (again for the writing requirement).  Again, the class focused mainly on Italy and Germany, not so much on Spain.  So I am now writing a paper on Saint Teresa of Avila and the Catholic Reformation in Spain.