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Slavery in Plantation Agriculture
The first plantations in the Americas of sugar cane, cocoa, tobacco, and cotton were maintained and harvested by African slaves controlled by European masters. When African slavery was largely abolished in the mid-1800s, the center of plantation...
Article
Eyes on the East: Chronicles of the Indian Ocean Spice Trade
As the 15th century ended, Europeans were still mostly in the dark about the Eastern world. Early travelers like Marco Polo had given the West tidbits of information, but these accounts were too highly colored and fragmentary to provide a...
Interview
Interview: Living in Silverado: Secret Jews in the Silver Mining Towns of Colonial Mexico
Professor Emeritus David Gitlitz is one of the world’s leading experts on Jewish-Catholic interactions in Iberia and the Americas. While initially drawn to the literature of the Spanish Golden Age as a student at Oberlin and Harvard, the...
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Statues of the Apostles
Sculptures of the twelve apostles at Evora Cathedral, Portugal - attributed to Pero and Telo de Garcia (Spanish sculptors of the 14th century CE). Photo take 2006 CE.
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The Chicken's Wedding Panel
The Chicken’s Wedding panel (1660-1667 CE) is an azulejo (glazed ceramic tile) from the 17th century CE. A chicken is conveyed in a carriage that is escorted by a cortege of monkeys playing musical instruments. Singerie (French for “Monkey...
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Portuguese Ceramic Tiles
Azulejos (glazed ceramic tiles) on a building in Lisbon, Portugal. Date of photo unknown.
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Capela dos Ossos (The Chapel of Bones)
Capela dos Ossos (The Chapel of Bones) attached to the Igreja de São Francisco, Evora, Portugal. The Chapel of Bones was constructed by Franciscan monks in the late 16th century CE. Photo taken 2009 CE.
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Retábulo de Nossa Senhora da Vida
Retábulo de Nossa Senhora da Vida (1580 CE) or Our Lady of Life is Portugal’s oldest azulejo (glazed ceramic tile) and is an important piece of 16th century CE Portuguese tile production. It is on display at the National Tile Museum in Lisbon...
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Invitation Figure
The Baroque (c. 1600-1750 CE) and Rococo (c. 1700-1800) movements led to a style of azulejos (glazed ceramic tile) that is unique to Portugal – figuras de convite or invitation figures. These were ornate life-size figures, usually a finely...
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Capela dos Ossos, Skeleton Wall
Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones) Evora, Portugal showing hanging skeleton. Photo taken 2015 CE.
