Black Legend

The Black Legend (in {{ll|Spanish}}, leyenda negra) is the excessive depiction of Spain and the Spaniards as bloodthirsty and cruel, greedy and fanatical. The term was coined by Julián Juderías in his 1914 book La leyenda negra y la verdad histórica (The black legend and the historical truth). This is contrasted with the White Legend (in Spanish, leyenda rosa, which means rosy legend) which promoted an idealized view of Spaniards. Each term tends to satisfy a certain prejudice.

Origin

From the 13th century, the Crown of Aragon (then a kingdom including Catalonia, with Barcelona as the kingdom's leading city) dominated Naples and Sicily, laying the grounds for a hatred of Catalans. The Valencian pope Alexander VI became an almost mythical villain, and countless legends and traditions attached to his name. Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere called Pope Alexander VI "Catalan, marrano and circumcised". According to Sverker Arnoldsson, the Italians' criticisms of the Spaniards were cultural and racial, not only economic and political: "age-long mixture of Spanish with Oriental and African elements, plus the Jewish and Islamic influence upon Spanish culture; this motivated the view of the Spaniards as a people of inferior race and doubtful orthodoxy."

Related Topics:
13th century - Aragon - Catalonia - Barcelona - Naples - Sicily - Valencia - Alexander VI - Villain - Giuliano della Rovere - Marrano - Circumcised - Sverker Arnoldsson - Jew - Islam

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