Catholicism in Spain

The first thing that I think of when I think about Spain is beautiful cathedrals with ancient architecture. Most of this architecture was influenced by the major religions in Spain. The most widely practiced religion in Spain is Catholicism. Starting in the 1400’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella declared that all Spaniards were required to be Roman Catholic. At this time, there were a large number of Jewish people and Muslims living in Spain. This was a cruel time period in history and therefore the Jews and the Muslims were forced to convert to Catholicism or leave the country. Even though they were forced to leave the country, they were around long enough before this ruling and after it to affect many of much of the Spanish architecture. Now, the Jews and the Muslims are able to live in peace in Spain. Today the headquarters of the Catholic Church are located in Toledo; no this is not Toledo, Iowa but rather Toledo, Spain. Toledo more specifically is found in the province of Castilla La Mancha, located almost in the center of the country. If the name Toledo sounds familiar, it is probably because Toledo is known around the world for its fancy jewelry and expensive swords. Toledo is a very important city to most Spaniards because 97% of their population is Roman Catholic.

Although the Catholic religion is very prominent in Spain, it is not the official religion of Spain because Spain has a secular government. Even though it cannot be the official language of Spain, it receives special privileges including money from the government which the other religions in Spain don’t receive. Each year, many Catholics from around the world make a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Northwestern Spain to visit a cathedral where a saint is believed to have been buried.

One of the most famous Catholic cathedrals in Spain is found in the heart of Catholic Spain, Toledo. A lot of the architecture of this cathedral was influenced by the Gothic cathedrals of France. This is a huge cathedral standing 295 feet high. It was built from 1380-1440 which was around the time the Jews and Muslims were being expelled from Spain and other parts of Europe. The Transfiguration is a famous carving found in this cathedral. There isn’t much information about this carving that I found but I thought it was interesting because it was the title of the first essay we read by Annie Dillard.