Gibraltar...

This may well be a stupid question, but would Gibraltar have mattered from a trading perspective in medieval Europe? Would Mediterranean countries (assuming they existed) have vied to control it?
 

Delvestius

Banned
Not so much during Medieval Europe. Substancial sea trade only existed in the Baltic and Mediterranean, with the Atlantic rarely being a main trading body.

EDIT: One must only look at the prosperity of the Italian States; Spanish/Muslim control over Gibralter had little to no effect on trade until the route to India around the Cape of Good Hope was created by De Gama.
 
I don't believe Gibraltar ever had a large city in that time. It didn't serve as an entrepot and therefore didn't control any trade. Therefore, despite its geographical advantages, I don't think there was any reason to really control it. Ceuta and Tangiers would be the real targets if someone wanted to control trade in the area.
 
I think that the only way it would have mattered is for non Mediterranean powers to secure access into the Med. Even then, they would have to do more to force their way into Italian dominated trading zones, but it would be important as a supply base in any attempt to do so and would make them harder to just shut out of the region entirely.
 
I think that the only way it would have mattered is for non Mediterranean powers to secure access into the Med. Even then, they would have to do more to force their way into Italian dominated trading zones, but it would be important as a supply base in any attempt to do so and would make them harder to just shut out of the region entirely.

What he said. Gibraltar did not reach any importance until Britan got hold on it. Castille -and the muslims before then- had better positions on the straits, including the city of Algeciras, just two kilometers across the bay. If it had remained Spanish, it probably would not even be a city.
 
I don't claim to be an expert on Algeciras, but I did visit there last year, along with Gibraltar and the Guide Books and now Wiki/Britannia/Andalucia Tourism Website all seem to be of the opinion that the city, while of ancient origin, was only refounded/resettled with the British seizure of Gibraltar, as the site had been abandoned for some centuries prior to that.
 
What he said. Gibraltar did not reach any importance until Britan got hold on it. Castille -and the muslims before then- had better positions on the straits, including the city of Algeciras, just two kilometers across the bay. If it had remained Spanish, it probably would not even be a city.

I agree...
 

archaeogeek

Banned
What he said. Gibraltar did not reach any importance until Britan got hold on it. Castille -and the muslims before then- had better positions on the straits, including the city of Algeciras, just two kilometers across the bay. If it had remained Spanish, it probably would not even be a city.

It barely even is a city today, with only about 50.000 inhabitants and its only claim to city-hood being the episcopal see of "Gibraltar and Europe" :p
 
Algeciras has about 100,000 people and is a 17th century refoundation on the same site as previous cities or towns from previous peoples who occupied that part of Spain. Sure, it may have become a city or town without British control of Gibraltar, but it also may not have

La Linea has 64,000 and is a mid 17th century creation but apparently was not a proper settlement till the 19th century. Same point as for Algeciras, but more so, as the settlement was created to bolster Spanish defences and claim on the territory.

Gibraltar has about 30,000 by comparison.

I personally like all three towns, although Algeciras certainly is the most industrial of the three
 
Well technically there's no actual definition of what grants city status in the UK. As archaeogeek alluded to one of the main ways of being classed as a city is to have a diocesan cathedral in it, in Gibraltar's case the Anglican Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe. Other than that it's at the perogative of The Crown. That's why we still have towns with 200,000+ populations that are still not classed as a city.
 
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