In the 400th Commemoration of the Spanish Inquisition massacre of the Spanish Muslims (moors) and their mass deportation.

Who were the Moors and what was their role in Spain? Tarik ibn Zeyad was a Moor who was instrumental in conquering Spain and honored by having the Rock of Gibraltar named after him The fact that people of African descent, or specifically the Moors were in western Europe from 710 AD until the late 1400’s is indisputable. It is noteworthy that these Moors were in Europe as conquerors and served as a “civilizing force,” as opposed to being enslaved by the Europeans. The Moors had a tremendously positive impact on European cultural, socio-economic and political institutions.
In his work, “The Moor: Light of Europe’s Dark Age,” Wayne B. Chandler offers the following definition of the Moors: “Although the term Moor has been put to diverse use, its roots are still traceable. Circa 46 B. C., the Roman army entered West Africa where they encountered black Africans whom they called ‘Maures’ from the Greek adjective mauros, meaning dark or black.” Traditionally, the Moors were the African people who occupied northwest Africa, or present-day Morocco and Mauritania. These same African people became converts to Islam in the seventh century and have since been mistakenly identified by western European scholars as Arabs, Mohammedans, Saracens, etc. W. E. B Dubois in his work, “The World and Africa,” wrote on this subject, “The Arabs brought the new religion of Mohammed into North Africa. During the seventh century, they did not migrate in great numbers. Spain was conquered not by Arabs, but by armies of Berbers and Negroids led by Arabs.” The truth is that the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, Spain and Portugal, was an African not an Arab conquest. The conquest of Spain and Portugal in the eighth century, and later the greater part of western Europe, was orchestrated by the Arabs who conquered North Africa; but the actual conquest was carried out by African adherents of Islam.
The Rock of Gibraltar is named for the Moor, Tarik ibn Zeyad. In 711 AD, Musa-ibn-Nusair commanded his leading Moorish general, Tarik ibn Zeyad to assemble an army of seven thousand men and ordered them to conquer Spain in the name of Islam. In that same year, General Tarik ibn Zeyad and his men, most of whom were Moors and Berbers, landed at the edge of an escarpment known then as “Mons Calpe.” Since King Roderick and most of his military forces were engaged in a battle with the Basques in the north of Spain, Tarik ibn Zeyad and his army had little opposition as they conquered all the small towns in close proximity to Mons Calpe. When King Roderick heard of the invasion of Spain by the Moors, he amassed an army six times that of Tarik ibn Zeyad’s and moved south to defend his kingdom. The two forces met in a fierce battle that lasted for an entire week. Greatly outnumbered, the Moors began to lose faith, but their leader, Tarik ibn Zeyad, was resolute and ordered them forward. King Roderick and his forces were routed and Roderick was killed in the fierce fighting. J. C. deGraft-Johnson describes the fight in his work, “African Glory:”
“The conflict was a bloody one, but Tarik was victorious and soon became master of Spain…. Tarik left a garrison at the foot of Mons Calpe, which the Africans renamed in a compliment to their general, Gebel Tarik — the Hill of Tarik — a name that was subsequently corrupted by the Spaniards into Gibraltar. ”
Gibraltar continued under Moorish dominion for over seven centuries, but was taken by Spain for a period of 24 years in the early 14th century. It was not until 1472 that the Spaniards finally re-captured The Rock. It remained a Spanish possession until the beginning of the 18th century when it fell to a combined Anglo-Dutch force. The Treaty of Utrecht ceded The Rock to the “Crown of Great Britain” in perpetuity.
The Moorish civilization enlightened Europe and brought it out of the dark ages to usher in the Renaissance period. The roots of European culture can be traced back to the Moors whose civilization was not only artistic, scientific and commercial, but also incredibly tolerant of other races and cultures. Many of the Moors’ cultural and intellectual influences are still in evidence today. The Rock of Gibraltar owes its name to a man of valor, Tarik ibn Zeyad, a man of extraordinary courage and a true leader.
The time line until 1609
1.
711 AD
711 AD – But first, a quick explanation of what “Moorish Spain” signifies. In 711 AD, the soldiers of Islam–the Moors–crossed the straits from North Africa. Sweeping across the Iberian peninsula, their Empire eventually stretched from Andalusia to Salamanca in Spain …

3.
1085 AD
1085 AD – The Sistema Central marked the frontier between Christian Spain and Moorish Spain until the fall of Toledo in the year 1085. The posterior Christian re-colonisation led to the establishment of the first stable settlements in the sunny areas and fertile plains, as …

5.
1212
1212 – The main boundaries of the piece of land that became the Valles Caldera National Preserve exist partially because of an historical event that happened in Spain in 1212 AD. During this time, Spain was at war with the Moors, and the Moors had blocked important …

7.
1330
1330 – It is asserted that Kenneth Moir was one of the brave soldiers who accompanied Lord James Dougias, or “The Good Sir James ” into Spain with the heart of King Robert the Bruce, about the year 1330, and when they landed, they engaged with Alonzo XI. of Spain …

..

8.
1492
1492 – Little by little the Spaniards reconquered their native land. In 1492 AD, Ferdinand and Isabella, sovereigns of Castile, Leon, and Aragon, conquered Granada; and with the fall of Granada ended the long rule of the Moors in Spain.

10.
1492 – It contains a full account of the Conquest of Spain by the Arabs, and of their wars with the Christians ; it gives ample details of their manners, trade, agriculture, commerce, and civil and religious institutions; as well as on the sciences cultivated by them; in …

12.
1492 – It was also the last city to fall to Ferdinand and Isabella (of Columbus fame), the Catholic Monarchs, who completed the reconquest of Spain from the Moors in 1492. For something like 780 years Granada was under Moorish (read Arabic) influence. That influence …

14.
1492 – Several centuries of struggle between Moors and Christians (striving for the Reconquista) followed. The Nasrid dynasty was the last Muslim dynasty in Spain, before all were finally expelled in 1492.

16.
Jan 2, 1492 – fell an easy prey. The Moors were beaten in battle ; their last ruler, Boabdil, formally resigned his king- dom to the Chris- tians, who, Jan. 2, 1492, entered the city of Granada. Thenceforward the kingdom formed part of Spain. See Alhambra ; Moors ; Spain …

18.
1609
1609 – MOORS, descendants of the Carthagenians and Arabs, who conquered, and for many centuries, possessed a considerable part of Spain. In the year 1609, Philip HI. at the instigation of the inquisition, issued an. MOORS. -251 edict, ordering all the Moors to leave the kingdom, within the space of thirty days, under the penalty of death. These remains of the ancient conquerors of Spain were chiefly employed in commerce and agriculture ; and the principal reason assigned for this …

Country Article / Postcards
Postcard
Granada: Tales from the Alhambra
Date: 09/04/2005

Dear International Living Reader,
I’ve nicked the “Tales from the Alhambra” title from Washington Irving. The American author (who also penned Rip van Winkle) spent three months in Granada in 1829. He lodged in the Alhambra palace, an architectural marvel that stands as a symbol of Moorish Spain’s glory days.
Meaning the “Red Fort,” the Alhambra’s name comes from the Arabic Al Qal’a al-Hamra. Along with the Generalife Gardens, it consists of an Alcazaba (fortress), an Alcazar (palace), and a small Medina (city). Allow at least a half-day to experience its grandeur, tragedy, and sheer romance.
But first, a quick explanation of what “Moorish Spain” signifies. In 711 AD, the soldiers of Islam–the Moors–crossed the straits from North Africa. Sweeping across the Iberian peninsula, their Empire eventually stretched from Andalusia to Salamanca in Spain’s north, Valencia in the east, and the Algarve in western Portugal. Moorish rule came to its final end with the fall of Granada in 1492.
The Alhambra serves as a peculiar reminder that the Western world once associated Islam–certainly European Islam–with luxury, hedonism, and decadent sultanas indulging in sexual hanky-panky with their lovers in moonlit gardens. The Nasrid palace is the undoubted highlight. In particular don’t miss Patio de los Leones (Lions’ Court) with its forest of slender marble pillars. The central fountain, supported by 12 lions, is a rarity; depicting animal or human life forms is forbidden in Islamic art.
Legends come thick and fast in the Lions’ Court. Irving tells of a faint tinkling, like the distant clank of chains: “These sounds were made by the spirits of the murdered Abencerrages, who nightly haunt the scene of their suffering and invoke the vengeance of Heaven on their destroyer.” Twelve Abencerrages (the sultan’s political rivals) apparently had their heads chopped off and piled into a font.
Irving fantasized that the Alhambra lay under magical enchantments. Its Moorish residents awoke each night to walk its courtyards, often searching for hidden treasures. All complete balderdash, of course, but it’s a great book for romantics to take along. You may even conjure up the youthful Moorish princess Zorahayda, who perished in a tower. Irving writes she was “often seen by moonlight seated beside the fountain in the hall, or moaning about the battlements…the notes of her silver lute heard at midnight by wayfarers passing along the glen.”
In Irving’s day the Alhambra was in a derelict state–a few years earlier Napoleon’s soldiers had used it as a barracks. Needless to say you can’t possibly take up lodgings here nowadays…and, despite what 19th-century travelers did, you can’t take a cooling dip in the pool of the Court of Myrtles either!
As only a certain number of visitors are allowed into the Alhambra each day, you should reserve your tickets in advance. I did it through www.alhambratickets.com. You pay €10.88 online versus €10 at the gate, but you avoid the lengthy queues.
Steenie Harvey
For International Living
One of the darker periods of Spanish history was the 350-year Spanish Inquition, the beginning of which overlapped with the final years of the Reconquest. It was an epoch of severe censorship, paranoia, torture, autos-da-fé, death and the general persecution of “heretics”- in other words, pretty much anybody who allegedly disagreed with the principles of the Catholic church.

Following their marriage, Fernando and Isabel had quite the project ahead of them. The unification of Aragón and Castilla was met with mixed opinions along with the imminent defeat of the Moors meant that the religious duo needed to take measures to manage, unite and strengthen their expanding and culturally diverse kingdom. The Inquisition began in 1480, aiming to establish religious purity and national unity by rooting out heretics. Fearing Jewish and Moorish revolts or reinforcements from abroad, non-Catholics were forced to choose between converting to national religion or facing expulsion from the country.

The Inquisition morphed into a paranoid witch hunt during the 16th century, as unfounded suspicions often led to the persecution and even execution of anyone suspected of practicing Protestantism, non-Catholic-approved sexual acts, black magic or pretty much anything else that the monarchy saw as a possible threat. Eventually, suspicions that Jews and Muslims continued to secretly practice in secret led to the expulsion of Spain’s conversos – or converts. In the 17th century, the expulsion of such a huge portion of the country’s talented populace backfired, as a huge gap in the labor force took its toll and yielded an enormous strain upon Spain’s resources.

For more information on Islamic civilization: www.muslimheritage.com  and www.1001inventions.com