La Reconquista
I probably should re-read the histories, and the legends and myths and magical stories. surely in a real world it can't have happened like I understand it. surely this is a romantic little boy's understanding. once upon a time in about 800 AD, something like 750 Moors invaded the Iberian peninsula and took over Spain and Portugal. quietly. without a single romantic story to escape into pseudo-history. it's kinda as if William the Conqueror had slipped into England and taken all of England over without even a Hastings! (for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, in 1066 William of Normandy invaded England, fought one battle, at Hastings, and then in two years took over England one little skirmish at a time.) but back to the Moors, how could it have been that easy? the Moors almost sneaked in, took over, then ruled Spain and Portugal for 700 years, still without a romantic story escaping into pseudo-history except for when the French invaded and left Roland at Roncesvalles. and then along came Ferdinand and Isabella at nearly 1500, who suddenly somehow had scads of money and bought a thousand cannon. really? a thousand cannon? that's what I remember. and crumbled every fortress the Moors tried to hold against them. they did leave behind romantic stories. this was The Reconquest, La Reconquista, El Cid makes a gallant appearance. the story of the hawk and the wolf shows up. the dreamy mystery of the Moors' last stand at Alhambra. but even with those La Reconquista is as strange as the original conquest of Spain and Portugal. in 800 the Moors came and in 1500 they left, having permanently affected both languages (Spanish and Portuguese). an amazing story. maybe I'm old enough now to read a real history of those times, but even with the make-believe history I have, I appreciate La Reconquista. as I understand it, Ferdinand had exactly enough charisma to woo and win Isabella, then she had enough charisma to enlist the armies they needed for La Reconquista and enough vision to buy the cannon and cannon balls they'd need to wear down the fortress walls. she also had the wit and wisdom to send the pirate Columbus off to find a new route to India. as I understand it, Ferdinand was a great king because he was smart enough to stay out of Isabella's way. and they were smart enough to leave Portugal to itself, and to contend with it for the new empires that the two countries built in the new world that wasn't India at all! viva La Reconquista! in many ways, it shaped our world.
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