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| When you first see the Rock of Gibraltar,
whether it is from the air, from the sea or from the Costa del Sol , it is its impressive
stature, towering isolated above the surrounding countryside, that causes the greatest
impact. It has had this effect on people for many thousands of years. Gibraltar is a
beacon which signals the position of the Strait of Gibraltar, the narrow neck which
separates Europe from Africa and provides the only link between the Atlantic Ocean and the
Mediterranean Sea. Through the following text you will be given a dated account of all the
historical moments of importance involving Gibraltar. |
| Pre History |
|
 The African
Plate collided tightly with Europe some 55 million years ago. The Mediterranean became a
lake which, in the course of time, dried up until 5 million years ago when the Atlantic
broke through the Strait of Gibraltar and flooded it again, isolating the Rock of Jurassic
limestone. |
| 940 BC |
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| The Phoenicians follow other navigators from
the eastern Mediterranean in visiting the Strait and found the city Carteia at the head of
the Bay of Gibraltar. The Rock becomes a place of worship where sailors sacrifice to the
gods before entering the Atlantic. |
| 711 AD |
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It happened in the month
of April in the year 711 AD. Following the death of the prophet Mohammed a wave of Islamic
conquest overran North Africa from Arabia. By 710 AD it had reached the shores of the
Strait and Europe was poised for the Islamic conquest. There are various versions of the
events but one thing is clear - the Visgoths who had deposed the Romans and ruled Spain
were weak and divided. The Visgothic Count Julian who ruled over Ceuta in North Africa was
surrounded and he had a score to settle with his compatriots on the other side of the
Strait. So, to divert the Muslims, he offered to assist them in the conquest of Spain.
The assault was down to a Berber chief, Tarik-ibn-Ziyad, the Governor
of Tangier. He sailed across the Strait by night, from Ceuta not Tangier so as not to
arouse suspicion and used Visgothic ships. His first attempt on Algeciras failed but he
was successful in landing undetected on Gibraltar.
Following the Moslem General Tarik successful landing on the Rock, he assembles his
forces before defeating the Gothic King Roderick, and entering into the conquest of Spain.
Gibraltar becomes known as Jebal Tarik (Mountain of Tarik) from which it takes its present
name.
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| 1160 AD |
|
 By the 11th
Century AD Gibraltar is part of the Arab kingdom of Seville except for a short period when
it comes under Berber rule from Malaga. The mounting threat of invasion by North Africa
sects forces the Arab Governor of Algeciras to order in 1068 the building of a fort in
Gibraltar. Spain is eventually overrun by another North African sect, the Almohads, and it
was their leader, Abd-ad-Mummin, who commanded the building of the first city in Gibraltar
- the Medinat al-Fath, the City of Victory. It was by all accounts, an impressive city and
its foundations were laid on the 19th May 1160 AD. On completion of the works
Al - Mummin personally crossed the Strait to inspect the works and stayed in Gibraltar for
two months, inviting all his subordinate kings to see his works. It is said that Al -
Mummin was especially impressed by a large windmill which had been built on top of the
hill (Windmill Hill). |
| 1309 AD |
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| Skirmishing and fighting continued between
1160 and 1300, among Muslims or between Muslims and Christians. 1252 left only two Islamic
kingdoms in Spain, in Murcia and Granada. By the year 1309, King Ferdinand IV had laid
siege on Algeciras and, learning of Arab weaknesses on the Rock sent Alonso Perez de
Guzman to capture it. Thus Gibraltar endured its first siege. The Spaniards took the Upper
Rock from where they bombarded the town using cannons. The garrison surrendered after one
month. Gibraltar then had 1500 inhabitants and they were allowed to leave for North
Africa. |
| 1333 AD |
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| The Spaniards set to repair the
fortifications and shipyard but few people wanted to settle in Gibraltar, which was
considered to be a high risk town. This forced Ferdinand to offer freedom from justice to
anyone who lived in Gibraltar for one year and one day. By 1333 Gibraltar was once more in
Muslim hands as Abdul Malik, son of the King of Morocco, laid siege. The garrison
surrendered after four and a half months of siege. |
| 1374 AD |
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| Gibraltar becomes part of the Muslim Kingdom
of Granada. |
| 1462 AD |
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| Gibraltar is recaptured by Castille and
became part of the estates of the Duke of Medina Sidonia. |
| 1492 AD |
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| The Catholic King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella conquer Granada, the last vestige of the Muslim domination of Spain. The Jews are
expelled from Spain and many pass through Gibraltar on their way into exile in North
Africa. |
| 1501 AD |
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| It was Queen Isabella who, tired of the petty
squabbling among her nobility, issued a decree on the 2nd December 1501 AD,
making Gibraltar, Spanish crown property. |
| 1502 AD |
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| Queen Isabella grants Gibraltar a coat of
arms consisting of a castle, which symbolises its importance as a fortress, and a key
which highlights its reputation as the key to Spain, which it has held since the time of
Moslem conquest. |
| 1540 AD |
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| By the middle of the sixteenth century a new
kind of conflict had arisen as Corsairs from the coast of Barbary, under their infamous
leader Barbarossa, hounded the zone. In the summer of 1540 a large fleet of pirates
assembled and raided the poorly defended Gibraltar. Years later, after mounting pressure
from the inhabitants of Gibraltar, the Emperor Charles V ordered the Italian engineer
Calvi to build a protective wall. This wall was extended to reach the top of the Rock in
the reign of Philip II some years later. |
| 1606 AD |
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| The Moriscos (the descendants of the Moslem
inhabitants in Spain) are expelled and many pass through Gibraltar on their way into exile
in North Africa. |
| 1704 AD |
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Life continued at a slow
pace until the beginning of the eighteenth century. Then, on the 17th July
1704, a council of war was held aboard the English warship Royal Catherine off the North
African town of Tetuan. Four days later the English fleet, under Admiral Sir George Rooke,
entered the Gibraltar Bay. At 3pm 1,800 English and Dutch marines were landed  on the isthmus with the Dutch Prince Hesse at the head. Gibraltar
was cut off but the Governor of Gibraltar refused to surrender. The days that followed saw
a massive bombardment of the town by the English fleet on the morning of the 23rd,
1,500 shots were fired in 5-6 hours against the town. Landings took place in the south and
in the morning of the 24th, the Governor capitulated.
So in this way a joint Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar, on behalf of Charles of
Austria who was pretender to the throne of Spain. Things took a while to settle down.
Shortly after the capture a Spanish goatherd, Simon Susarte, led 500 Spanish troops to
Europa Advance on the south-eastern side of the Rock and then killed the guard. They moved
to the Upper Rock and spent the night in St Michael's Cave. The next morning they attacked
the Signal Station but the alarm was raised and the English counter-attacked. 160
prisoners were taken including a colonel and thirty other officers; the rest were killed
trying to escape.
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| 1705 AD |
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| Gibraltar is declared a 'free port', which
leads to its development as an important international trading centre. |
| 1707 AD |
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| The first British Governor is appointed and
takes up residence in the Convent of the Franciscan Friars. |
| 1713 AD |
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| Spain under the Terms of the Treaty of
Utrecht cedes Gibraltar to Britain in perpetuity. |
| 1727 AD |
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| Skirmishes and attacks continued for a while.
By 1726 trading between Gibraltar and Spain had resumed. Then, early in 1727 the Spaniards
laid the 13th siege on the Rock but after several unsuccessful and costly
attempts gave up in June of the same year. |
| 1779 AD to 1783 AD
|
|
 The final military
siege on Gibraltar followed many years later, in 1779. On this occasion the Spaniards and
French combined forces and launched a massive onslaught, which was to last close to four
years. It was a siege, known as the Great Siege,
which was to test the ingenuity and will to survive of the garrison. The galleries were
dug during this time, as Sergeant Major Ince attempted to drill a tunnel to place a gun in
a vantage point on the Rock. On tunnelling sideways to make ventilations he realised that
these exits would make perfect gun positions. Later, a Lieutenant Koehler designed a
carriage, which allowed guns on the cliffs to be directly pointed down at the enemy.
Accounts of the siege are full of vivid stories of survival and daring. On the 21st
November, 1781, the defenders of the garrison took the offensive and caught the enemy
batteries on the isthmus by surprise, destroying them and setting back their progress:
this event is commemorated as the Sortie. |
| 1782 AD |
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| Work starts on the Great Siege Tunnels which
became the great and complex system of underground fortifications which today criss-cross
the inside of the Rock. After the Siege, the fortifications were rebuilt and, in the
following century, the walls were lined with Portland stone which gives them their present
white appearance. |
| 1784 AD |
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| The war with Spain ends after the Treaty of
Versailles is signed. |
| 1793 AD to 1815 AD
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| The French revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
lead to a big increase in the trade, prosperity and population of Gibraltar. The town,
which had been destroyed in the Great Siege, is rebuilt. |
| 1805 AD |
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| The great yellow fever epidemic, over a third
of the civilian population die. |
| 1810 AD |
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| The Spanish fortifications at the frontier
are demolished as Britain and Spain are allies in the War against Napoleon. Free access
across the frontier is established. |
| 1830 AD |
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| Gibraltar is declared a Crown Colony. The
Royal Gibraltar Police is established. |
| 1848 AD |
|
| A skull was found in the Forbes's Quarry at
the foot of the sheer north face of the Rock of Gibraltar. Nobody knew it at the time but
it belonged not to a modern human, like us, but to a prehistoric form. It was sent to the
UK where it was conserved. Eight years later in the Neander Valley near Dusseldorf in
Germany another was found giving this human its name - instead of Gibraltar Man it became
Neanderthal Man. |
| 1894 AD |
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The construction of the dockyards commences.
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| 1922 AD |
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| The City Council is established and the first
elections are held in Gibraltar. |
| 1940 AD |
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| As a consequence of the Second World War,
which broke out in 1939, the civilian population is evacuated to Britain, Jamaica and
Madeira, in order for Gibraltar to be fortified against the possibility of a German
attack. By 1942 there are over 30,000 British soldiers, sailors and airmen on the Rock.
The repatriation of the civilians started in 1944 and proceeded for some six years
although the majority had returned by 1946 |
| 1950 AD |
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| Gibraltar's first Legislative Council is
opened. |
| 1967 AD |
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| A referendum is held and the Gibraltarians
overwhelmingly vote for continuing their association with Britain. |
| 1969 AD |
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| Franco closes the Frontier in pursuit of his
claim for Gibraltar. |
| 1982 AD |
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| In 1982, ships were refitted for the
Falklands campaign and Gibraltar became a stopover for ships and troops. |
| 1983 AD |
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| Spain reopens the frontier for pedestrians
only. |
| 1985 AD |
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| The frontier with Spain is opened fully.
Gibraltar's trade and population thrive. Its inhabitants live harmoniously in a peaceful
and unique multi-cultural society |
| 1991 AD |
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| As in 1982, Gibraltar served a similar
function during the Gulf War. The Rock, the beacon which attracted the Gibraltarians over
the ages, retains its power and charms as it looks towards the 21st Century. |
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| Last
Revised : 21 February 2000 |
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