From TheBestLinks.com
The Reconquista (Spanish and Portuguese for reconquest) was the conquest of the Moorish kingdoms of Spain by Christian rulers, culminating on January 2, 1492 when Ferdinand and Isabella, Los Reyes Catolicos ("The Catholic Monarchs"), expelled the last of the Moorish rulers, Boabdil of Granada, from the Iberian Peninsula, uniting most of what is now Spain under their rule (Navarre was not incorporated until 1512).
After the Muslim invasion of Iberia in 711 and the Battle of Guadalete the Moors had conquered most of Iberia within five years. The reconquest began in 718 with the defeat of the Muslim army at Alcama by the Visigoth Pelayo.
It was not until later centuries that the Christians started to see their conquests as part of a secular effort to restore the unity of the Visigothic kingdom.
The battle against Moors did not keep the Christian kingdoms from battling among themselves or allying with Islamic kings. For example, the earlier kings of Navarre were family of the Banu Qasi of Tudela. The Moorish kings often had wives or mothers born Christians. Also Christian champions like El Cid were contracted by Taifa kings to fight against their neighbours.
In the late years of Al-Andalus, Castile had the military power to conquer the remains of the kingdom of Granada, but the kings preferred to claim the tribute of the parias. The commerce of Granadan goods and the parias were a main way for the African gold to enter medieval Europe.
In the High Middle Ages, the fight against the Moors in Iberia was linked to the fight of the whole of Christendom. Military orders like the order of Santiago, Montesa and the Temple Knights were founded or called to fight in Iberia. The Popes called the knights of Europe to the Crusades in the peninsula. French, Navarrese, Castilian and Aragonese armies united in the massive battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212).
The Christians called Saint James their protector saint (today he is still the patron of Spain) under the rubric of Santiago Matamoros ("St. James the Moor-killer").
The big territories awarded to military orders and nobles were the origin of the latifundia in today's Andalusia and Extremadura.
The mixing of Christians, Muslims and Jews was later officially ended by the limpieza de sangre rules of ethnic purity of the Modern Ages.
Cultural influence
Real or imaginary episodes of the Reconquista are the subject of much of Medioeval Spanish- and Catalan-language literature, such as the cantar de gesta.
Modern Views
Modern historical theories refuse the idea that the reconquest was a war of christians versus muslims. These theories claim that the muslims had occupied the Iberian Peninsula for eight centuries, within which it would had been impossible to keep separated ethnic groups. More evidence supporting those theories is that Spanish language, Castilian itself, has a high number of words of arabic origin. Instead of the term reconquest, the concept of a civil war has been proposed, although it is not widely accepted due to sociopolitical reasons.
It has also been proposed that the war left the kingdom with a deep economical crisis, which would be the reason behind expelling the jews (who had lived in the Iberian Peninsula for over ten centuries) in order to confiscate its funds and property.
Social types under the Reconquista
The advances and retreats created several social types:
- the Mozarabs: Descendants of Visigothic or Romanic dwellers who did not convert to Islam. Some of them migrated to the North in times of persecution.
- the Muladi: Christians who converted to Islam after the invasion.
- the Renegade: Christian individuals who embraced Islam and often fought against their former compatriots.
- the Jewish conversos: First Jews who were forced to become Christians yet they kept on practicing Judaism and then eventually all Jews became victims of the Spanish Inquisition and were forced to leave Spain in 1492 by Ferdinand and Isabella.
- the Mudejar: Muslims dwelling in land conquered by the Christians. They were usually peasants. Their characteristic architecture of adobe bricks was frequently employed in churches commissioned by the new lords. Their descendants after 1492 were called Moriscos
Currently, along the Mediterranean coast, the festivals of moros y cristianos ("Moors and Christians") recreate the fights as colourful parades with elaborate garments and lots of fireworks.
Modern Uses of the Term
There has also, of late, been a movement in the United States to term some pro-immigration Latino politicians as reconquistas. Largely this is used as a derogatory term, alleging that these politicians are actually part of a movement to re-conquer the United States for Mexico.
External Link
de:Reconquista
nl:Reconquista
es:Reconquista
fi:Reconquista
fr:Reconquista
it:Reconquista
ja:レコンキスタ
pl:Rekonkwista
Related links
Top visited
0 of
0 links
[no links posted yet]
>> place link >>
Discussion
Last posted
0 of
0 messages
[no messages posted yet]
>> post message >>
Watch
You can
add this article to your own "watchlist" and receive e-mail notification about all changes in this page.
