LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Iberian Peninsula: North Africa
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The concentration of the best courses on The Iberian Peninsula, very much follows its southerly coastline. Starting from Portugal's enchanting capital city of Lisbon, following the Atlantic shore south to The Algarve, then crossing into Spain and continuing into The Mediterranean Sea to the Costa del Sol. From here Iberia's golf trail continues north easterly, hugging the Mediterranean shore to Barcelona and onward to the French border.
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The Iberian Peninsula makes up what is now Spain and Portugal. The peninsula was north of the only waterway into the Mediterranean Sea. Because of its ideal trading location, many countries tried to take possession of this land, so constant warfare and fighting were common.
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The Iberian Studies Program is an interdisciplinary initiative to promote relational knowledge of the various cultures of the Iberian Peninsula. Eschewing the narrowly national focus on state cultures, this initiative privileges the relations between those cultures and the territorial cultures which the nation-building process once demoted to regional status. In the modern period, no less than in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the Basque, the Catalan, and the Galician, have been major players, along with the Portuguese and the Castilian, in the consolidation of Iberia's position in modern Europe. With inchoate nation-building projects of their own, some of these "regional" cultures have been catalysts of Spain's modernization, democratization, and Europeanization. Today the Peninsula's historical function as a continental crossroads between Africa, Europe, and the Americas resurfaces in the wake of globalization, reactivating the political and cultural significance of its inhabitants' secular diversity. At the same time, the political articulation of this diversity (as in the case of the Euzkadi and Catalonia) interrogates the European Community about the nature of its political bond and about issues of membership, representation, inclusiveness, and subsidiarity.
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From the 8th to the 15th centuries, parts of the Iberian peninsula were ruled by the Moors (mainly Berber with some Arab) who had crossed over from North Africa. Many of the ousted Gothic nobles took refuge in the unconquered north Asturian highlands. From there they aimed to reconquer their lands from the Moors: this war of reconquest is known as the Reconquista. Christian and Muslim kingdoms fought and allied among themselves. The Muslim taifa kings competed in patronage of the arts, the Way of Saint James attracted pilgrims from all Western Europe and the Jewish population of Iberia set the basis of Sephardic culture.
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Evidence of the Andalusian dates back to prehistoric times, cave paintings of horses have been discovered on the Iberian Peninsula in southern Spain dating to 20,000 to 30,000 BC. These prehistoric horses are considered the foundation of the Andalusian. Many experts agree that the breed was sculpted over the centuries by the various people and cultures who occupied Spain throughout its long history. Throughout the centuries, the Iberian horse has been influenced by the horses brought to the Iberian Peninsula by various groups like the Celts of France, the Carthaginians from North Africa, the Romans, various Germanic tribes and the Moors. By the 15th century, the Andalusian itself began to influence various other breeds. Renowned as one of the world's premier war horses, the ancestors of today's Andalusian played prominent roles in the service of some of history's greatest warriors.
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When the Roman Empire collapsed the Visigoths created a kingdom of their own on the Iberian Peninsula. The Arabs conquered that kingdom in the beginning of the 8th century but resistance against the Muslim invaders continued in the north and several Christian petty kingdoms were created. These kingdoms were often merged together to form larger kingdoms while they ... re-conquered the lands controlled by the Muslims (the Reconquista). Aragon and Castile were the most important kingdoms and when they were united 1479 by Isabel and Fernando’s the kingdom of Spain was created. 1492 was the last Muslim state, Granada, conquered. Portugal and Navarre were unified with Spain during the 16th century but Portugal regained its independence after a rebellion 1640.
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