Editing Menorca (section)

== History ==
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The island is known for its collection of [[European megalithic culture|megalithic]] stone monuments: [[naveta|''navetes'']], [[taula|''taules'']] and ''[[talaiot]]s'', which indicate very early [[prehistoric]] human activity. Some of the earliest culture on Menorca was influenced by other [[Mediterranean]] cultures, including the Greek [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]]s of [[ancient Crete]] (see also [[Gymnesian Islands]]). For example, the use of inverted plastered timber columns at [[Knossos]] is thought to have influenced early peoples of Menorca in imitating this practice.<ref>C. Michael Hogan (2007) [http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10854/knossos.html#fieldnotes ''Knossos fieldnotes'', The Modern Antiquarian]</ref>

The end of the [[Punic wars]] saw an increase in piracy in the western Mediterranean. The [[Roman Republic|Roman]] occupation of [[Hispania]] had meant a growth of maritime trade between the [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberian]] and [[Italian peninsula]]s. Pirates took advantage of the strategic location of the Balearic Islands to raid Roman commerce, using both Menorca and [[Mallorca]] as bases. In reaction to this, the Romans [[Invasion of Minorca|invaded Menorca]]. By 123 BC, both islands were fully under Roman control, later being incorporated into the province of [[Hispania Citerior]].

In 13 BC Roman emperor [[Augustus]] reorganised the provincial system and the [[Balearic Islands]] became part of the [[Tarraconensis]] imperial province. The ancient town of [[Mago, Minorca|Mago]] was transformed from a [[Ancient Carthage|Carthaginian]] town to a Roman town.<ref>[[Henry Christmas]], ''The Shores and Islands of the Mediterranean'', Published 1851, R. Bentley</ref>

=== Jews of Menorca ===
[[File:Minorca by Piri Reis.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Historic map of Minorca by [[Piri Reis]]]]
The island had a Jewish population.<ref name="Elukin, Jonathan M 2007">Elukin, Jonathan M. (2007). ''Living Together, Living Apart: Rethinking Jewish-Christian Relations in the Middle Ages''. Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the Ancient to the Modern World. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.</ref> The ''Letter on the Conversion of the Jews'' by a fifth-century bishop named [[Severus of Minorca|Severus]] tells of the [[converso|forced conversion]] of the island's 540 Jewish men and women in AD 418.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Bradbury |editor-first=Scott |date=1996 |title=Severus of Minorca: Letter on the Conversion of the Jews |series=Oxford Early Christian Texts |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/severus-of-minorca-letter-on-the-conversion-of-the-jews-9780198267645 |translator=Scott Bradbury |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=154 |isbn=978-0-19-826764-5}}</ref> Several Jews, including Theodore, a rich representative Jew who stood high in the estimation of his coreligionists and of Christians alike, underwent baptism. The act of conversion brought about, within a previously peaceful coexisting community, the expulsion of the ruling Jewish elite into the bleak hinterlands, the burning of synagogues, and the gradual reinstatement of certain Jewish families after the forced acceptance of Christianity, allowing the survival of those Jewish families who had not already perished.<ref name="Elukin, Jonathan M 2007"/> Many Jews secretly retained their Jewish faith while outwardly professing Christian beliefs. Some of these Jews form part of the [[Xueta]] community.

When Menorca became a British possession in 1713, they actively encouraged the immigration of foreign non-Catholics, which included Jews who were not accepted by the predominantly Christian inhabitants. When the Jewish community in Mahon requested the use of a room as a synagogue, their request was refused, and they were denounced by the clergy. In 1781, when [[Louis des Balbes de Berton de Crillon, duc de Mahon]] invaded Menorca, he ordered all Jews to leave in four days. At that time, the Jewish community consisted of about 500 people and they were transported from Menorca in four Spanish ships to the port of [[Marseille]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Gregory|first=Desmond|title=Minorca, the Illusory Prize: A History of the British Occupations of Minorca between 1708 and 1802|date=1990|publisher=Associated University Presses, Inc|location=Cranbury, New Jersey, US|isbn=0-8386-3389-7|page=132|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xPTtBRTfoNYC&q=Jews+of+Minorca&pg=PA132}}</ref>

=== Middle Ages ===
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The [[Vandals]] easily conquered the island in the fifth century. The [[Byzantine Empire]] recovered it in 534. Following the [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania]], Menorca was annexed to the [[Caliphate of Cordoba|Caliphate of Córdoba]] in 903, with many [[Muslim]]s emigrating to the island.

''Manûrqa'' ({{langx|ar|منورقة}}) was the Arabicized name given to the island by the [[Muslim]]s from its annexation to the [[Caliphate of Cordoba]] by 'Isâm al-Khawlânî in 903 until the rule of the last Muslim ra'îs, [[Abû 'Umar ibn Sa'îd]] in 1287. The only urban centre of the island was ''Madînat al Jazîra'' or ''al Manûrqa'' (modern [[Ciutadella de Menorca|Ciutadella]]). Most of the population lived in small farm communities organized under a [[tribe|tribal]] structure.

In 1231, after Christian forces took Mallorca, Menorca chose to become an independent Islamic state, albeit one tributary to King [[James I of Aragon]]. The island was ruled first by [[Abû 'Uthmân Sa'îd Hakam al Qurashi]] (1234–1282), and following his death by his son, [[Abû 'Umar ibn Sa'îd]] (1282–1287).

A [[Crown of Aragon|Catalan-Aragonese]] invasion, led by [[Alfonso III of Aragon|Alfonso III]] (also known as [[Count of Barcelona]] Alfons II), came on 17 January 1287; its anniversary is now celebrated as Menorca's national day. Once the island was captured, most of its Muslim inhabitants were enslaved and sold in the [[Slavery#Medieval Europe|slave]] markets of Eivissa, [[Valencia (city in Spain)|Valencia]] and [[Barcelona]], while others became Christians.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abulafia |first1=David |title=The Last Muslims in Italy |journal=Dante Studies, with the Annual Report of the Dante Society |date=2007 |volume=125 |issue=125 |pages=271–287 |jstor=40350668 }}</ref>

After the Christian conquest of 1287, the island was part of the [[Crown of Aragon]]. For some time it was ceded to the [[Kingdom of Mallorca]], a vassal state of the Crown, but it was retaken by the king of Aragon in 1343. Eventually the [[Crown of Aragon]] merged with the [[Crown of Castile]], and so Menorca became part of Spain.

During the 16th century, [[Ottoman Empire|Turkish]] naval attacks [[Sack of Mahón|destroyed Mahon]], and the then capital, [[Ciutadella de Menorca|Ciutadella]]. In Mahon, [[Barbary pirates]] from North Africa took considerable booty and as many as 6,000 slaves.<ref>{{cite book|author=M. Th. Houtsma|title=E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7CP7fYghBFQC&pg=PA872|year=1993|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-09790-2|page=872}}</ref> Various Spanish kings, including [[Philip III of Spain|Philip III]] and [[Philip IV of Spain|Philip IV]], styled themselves "King of Minorca" as a subsidiary title.

=== British rule ===
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[[File:Prise Port Mahon Minorque 20 mai 1756.jpg|thumb|Attack and [[Siege of Fort St Philip (1756)|capture of Fort St. Philip]], 29 June 1756]]
[[File:John Thomas Serres - Port Mahon, Minorca with British Men-of-War at Anchor - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Port Mahon, Minorca with British men-of-war at anchor after its capture in 1798. By [[John Thomas Serres]]]]
[[Capture of Minorca (1708)|Captured by Britain's Royal Navy in 1708]] during the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], Minorca became a British possession. It was formally ceded to [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] in 1713, under the terms of [[:s:Peace and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht between Spain and Great Britain#ARTICLE XI|Article XI]] of the [[Treaty of Utrecht]]. Under the governorship of [[Richard Kane|General Richard Kane]], this period saw the island's capital moved to [[Port Mahon]] and a naval base established in that town's harbour.

In 1756, during the [[Seven Years' War]], France captured the island after the [[Siege of Fort St Philip (1756)|Siege of Fort St Philip]] and a [[Battle of Minorca (1756)|failed British relief attempt]]. The 1763 [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] enabled the British to return to the island after [[Great Britain in the Seven Years' War|Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War]].  In 1781, during the [[American War of Independence]], the British were [[Invasion of Minorca (1781)|defeated for a second time]], in this instance by a combination of French and Spanish forces, and on 5 January 1782 the Spanish regained control of the island, after a long siege of [[St. Philip's Castle]] in Port Mahon. The British ceded the island back to Spain the next year in the [[Treaty of Versailles (1783)|Treaty of Versailles]]. Menorca was [[Capture of Minorca (1798)|invaded by the British once again in 1798]], during the [[French Revolutionary Wars]], but it was finally repossessed by Spain by the terms of the [[Treaty of Amiens]] in 1802. The British influence can still be seen in local architecture, with elements such as [[sash windows]].

===Renewed Spanish rule===

As with the rest of the Balearic Islands, Menorca was not occupied by the French during the [[Peninsular War]], as it was successfully protected by the Royal Navy, this time allied to Spain.

A quarantine station ([[lazaretto]]), Llatzaret (Catalan), was constructed from 1793 to 1807 next to the entrance to the Port Mahon. It served ships from North Africa wishing to reach the Iberian Peninsula or the ports of the Balearic Islands.  Lazarettos confined the crews of ships that were suspected of carrying infectious diseases, such as the plague. The crew needed to spend up to 40 days within its walls until it was clear there was no infection or until the sick recovered. It is now a national monument and can only be reached as part of an official tour.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llatzeret_(Maó) | title=Llatzeret (Maó) }}</ref>{{Circular reference|date=February 2025}}

From 1815 until the mid-19th century, the U.S. Navy developed its Mediterranean headquarters at Port Mahon,<ref>Dickon, Chris (2011). ''[https://play.google.com/store/books/details/The_Foreign_Burial_of_American_War_Dead_A_History?id=bxR--SO3UnEC&hl=en_US&gl=US The Foreign Burial of American War Dead]''. McFarland. ISBN 9780786446124, pp. 20–23</ref> leaving behind the [[English Cemetery, Menorca|English Cemetery]], which was restored by the [[Spanish government]] in 2008 and is maintained in the 21st century.

=== Since 1900 ===
During the [[Spanish Civil War]], Menorca stayed loyal to the [[Second Spanish Republic|Republican Spanish Government]], while the rest of the Balearic Islands supported the Spanish [[Nationalist Spain|Nationalists]]. The island did not see ground combat, but it was a target of aerial bombing by the pro-Nationalist Italians of the [[Corpo Truppe Volontarie]] Air Force. Many Menorcans were also killed when taking part in a failed [[Battle of Mallorca|invasion of Mallorca]]. During the Pedro Marqués Barber era (July–December 1936) some Mallorcans and a priest were executed on the island. After the Nationalist victory in the [[Battle of Minorca (1939)|Battle of Minorca]] in February 1939, the British Navy assisted in a [[peaceful transition of power|peaceful transfer of power]] in Menorca and the evacuation of some political refugees aboard {{HMS|Devonshire|39|6}}.

In October 1993, Menorca was designated by [[UNESCO]] as a [[biosphere reserve]]. In July 2005, the island's application to become the 25th member of the [[International Island Games Association]] was approved.