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This is something I've always been interested in but have not read much about. I'll bet Leo can give us quite a bit of information and maybe suggestions for good books about the era.
Not an area where I enjoy any expertise, but I do know one piece of interesting trivia. Were you aware that Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar....El Cid...the beloved Catholic hero of the Reconquista, spent a couple of years as a mercenary, fighting on behalf of the Muslims against the Catholics? His victory in the battle of Morella (1084) was a severe setback for the Christian forces.
Yes, I knew that..What I am confused about is the Muslim side. It seems thing went along pretty well.. Jews and Christians were not discriminated against, except for extra taxes. The trouble started when a new sect of Muslim came in. Also, when the Arabs finally left, they took any Christians and Jews who wanted to leave with them. I know there was one area that remained in Arab control quite a long time before being defeated.
The "Reconquista" started in 722 and finished in 1492. The "myth" says that it lasted 8 centuries, but it fact the Reconquista it was over by 1250.
Grenada, the last Islamic Kingdom, lasted until 1492 because they were some sort of Tax Haven and Banking Center, some sort of Monaco, with Jewish and Italian bankers. They paid 500 kilos of gold to Castilian kings, that generally were as poor as rats. They were a bunch of rascals for the most part.
There are many historians, Spanish, some British.
Spain, a History. Raymond Carr (popular in Spain)
Introduction to Medieval Spain, Gabriel Jackson
The rest of books in English deal with Muslim, Moriscos and Jews communities, that were razed and expelled during "Ethnic Cleasing", or that were ravaged by the "Holy Inquisition".
Nobody pays attention to the relationship of Spain with England during the Middle Ages, with quite interesting figures such as Lonora de Castilla, that married Henry I, she was a great promoter of vernacular English.
The "Holy Inquisition" seems to draw a lot of attention from Anglosaxon readers.
Thanks, Leo I will check out those books. I had forgotten about the "Moriscos"..They were the Jews who converted to Christianity to avoid 'problems'? It did not work, though, as they were always under suspicion by the church and accused of practicing their religion secretly.
Charlemagne was also involved in fighting the Arabs in Spain..the famous battle of the Roncevaux Pass that the Song of Roland came from.
Yes, the "Cid" ("sidi, the lord in Arabic) was a Castillian noblemen of Gothic ancestry that was expelled by his lord, Alfonso VI because he attacked muslim kingdoms under the protection of Alfonso VI.
He and his men, his "mesnada" became mercenaries for different "Taifas", independent Muslim Kings.
That was quite common at that time, since many Muslim leaders used Christians for their internal wars, since Christians were poor, and in fact, many of those "Muslims" were "turncoat" goths or Christians.
No, Moriscos were Islamic that became Christian. For the most part they were ethnic Spanish, but their religion and customs were Islamic. Most of them were expelled in the XVI century. It was a genocide, since many were killed and found themselves stranded in Northern Africa when in fact they were Spanish.
Mozarabes were Christians in Muslim territory.
Mudejares were Muslims in Christian territory. ("Tamed ones" in Arabic).
Jewish converts were "Marranos". Many of them were also expelled, but many stayed since they had important allies with Jewish blood. According to the presence of Sephardic DNA in Spain, it seems that most stayed in Spain.
Christians and Jews could live happily in the Muslim side (and sometimes in the Christian side, Toledo, for example). But that was during the initial centuries, when Islamic Fundamentalism and the Jihad appeared, with the invasion of ruthless berberiscs from North Africa called Almohads and Almoravids, Jews and Christians became the target of those fanatics.
Almohad were vanquished by a coalition of Christian Kingdoms in Navas de Tolosa in 1212. From then on, Muslims were practically vanquished.
Last edited by Leovigildo; 08-12-2009 at 09:32 AM..
Raymond Carr was a the most popular historian in Spain during Franco. He wrote many books about the Civil War that were forbidden, that had to be ordered illegally.
I just wanna know when the "Moslems" became the "Muslims"?
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I will check out those books. I had forgotten about the "Moriscos"..They were the Jews who converted to Christianity to avoid 'problems'? It did not work, though, as they were always under suspicion by the church and accused of practicing their religion secretly.
