- Dar a conocer la evolución del pasado de Cantabria como región desde la Prehistoria hasta el presente.
- Explicar la principal razón de que Cantabria fuese propuesta como una comunidad autónoma independiente con el orto de la actual democracia: Cantabria es una región histórica, con un pasado propio dentro de la evolución de la historia de España.
- Valorar la importancia del pasado para explicar algunas decisiones tomadas en el presente.
- Adquirir unos conocimientos del pasado histórico y cultural de la región.
- Desarrollar el pensamiento crítico.
- Situar en el tiempo los distintos momentos históricos del pasado de Cantabria e identificar algunos restos de ese pasado, adscribiéndolos a un tiempo concreto de la historia de la región.
Breve reseña histórica del pasado de Cantabria desde la Prehistoria hasta el otorgamiento del Estatuto de Autonomía de 1981, haciendo un breve recorrido histórico por las Edades Antigua, Media y Moderna.
Un total de 9 imágenes que destacan los 9 momentos históricos del pasado de la región de mayor relevancia desde el punto de vista político. Inclusión de una línea del tiempo para realizar on-line, donde identificar cada imagen con el momento histórico del pasado de Cantabria a la que pertenece.
Realizar una lectura reflexiva del texto y situar en una línea del tiempo algunas imágenes del pasado histórico de Cantabria.
CANTABRIA IN HISTORY: A BRIEF POLITICAL BACKGROUND
In the present day region of Cantabria, the existence of people from a few hundred thousand years ago has been discovered. To date, little is known about the social and political organization they had during prehistoric times. However, vestiges of this past in deposits of this age and in caves where, as in Altamira, are pictorial remains of these early inhabitants.
Bison of Altamira. 15000 – 6000 B.C.
One must go back to ancient times, to the year 195 BC to hear the name of Cantabria for the first time in history, from the hands of the Roman historian Cato. He referred to it as the place where the river Ebro was born and from this moment on other Roman historians mention Cantabria, recognizing that society as a whole tribes of different names that lived between the Cantabrian and North Palencia, and between eastern Asturias and the current Castro Urdiales.
Pre-Roman Estela de Barros (Cantabria)
With the invasion of Asturias and Cantabria by the Romans between 29 and 19 B.C, the process of urbanization and Romanization of the region began. The conquered central and eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula came to be known as Tarraconensis.
Map of Cantabria during the Roman invasion
According to Braulio of Zaragoza, centuries later in the Middle Ages, after the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, Cantabria regained its independence until it was conquered again after the year 574 by the Visigoths, who took over the peninsula until the Arab invasion in 711. At this time the dukedom of Cantabria was created as a territory bordering the Basque region, which was in constant dispute with the Merovingian kings of France.
Map of the Dukedom of Cantabria. Visigoth Era.
After the Arab invasion of the peninsula, the north remained independent. Then, the Kingdom of Asturias was formed, which began the process of the well-known “Reconquista.” As of this moment, the region lost the name of Cantabria and shifted to having names by area, such as Asturias de Santillana, Asturias de Trasmiera and Asturias de Laredo.
Throughout the Middle Ages, this region was part of the Kingdoms of Castile and Leon. Although the exact date cannot be pinpointed, it was in this era when the region began to be referred to as The Mountain. Those who repopulated the new areas, little by little, were being taken to the Arabs, began to be called Foramontanos (out of the mountains) as a way to
Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana. Asturias de Santillana. S. VIII.
differentiate them from the Intramontanos(Highlanders)
This explains why, during the modern age, Cantabria was called the Mountain, as opposed to Castile, which then was called Plateau. This name continues to be used today.
Santander in the sixteenth century, according to Jorge Braun
During the reign of Philip II, in 1581, Cantabria became the province of the Nine Valleys of Asturias de Santillana. This consisted of the valleys of Lloredo Alfoz, Cabezon, Cabuérniga, Reocín, Piélagos, Camargo, Villaescusa, Penagos and Cayon. This new organization was strengthened in 1645, after the minister of King Philip IV confirmed total independence of the private dominion of the Marquis of Santillana. These valleys were joined by others making up the current Cantabria, to create the province of Cantabria in 1778
Map of the old, medieval merindades of Cantabria, which in 1778 became what we know as current day Cantabria.
It was finally in the modern age when the region became a definite province of Castilla and Leon, under the name Santander province. This name was used well into the twentieth century until after the new division of Javier de Burgos, 1833.
Provincial división of Spain according to Javier de Burgos. 1833
The regional division has continued this way until today. However, significant changes were made during the Transition, which is when Cantabria was formed into the autonomous community, as we know it today.
After the death of General Franco in 1975 and the implementation of the Constitution of 1978, on December 30, 1981 the drafting of a statute was approved, previously unknown by the old Mountain. It was based on the constitutional provision that opened the doors of self-government "provinces with historic regional status." Thus, the province of Santander split with its historic membership of Castilla and left the autonomic system of Castile and Leon in which it was in conjunction with the provinces of Avila, Burgos, León, Logroño, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora. On February 20, 1982 the first interim Regional Assembly (now Parliament) was established. Since then the name of Santander Province was replaced by that of Cantabria, thus regaining its historic name. The first regional elections were held in May 1983, leading to the first legislature. Currently Cantabria VIII walks by legislature.
Old Hospital of San Rafael. (1791) Current seat of the Parliment of Cantabria since 1983