The Battle of Granada
Thursday, August 20, 2020
When I was a boy, American schoolchildren were taught to recite a rhyme to help them remember the date in which Christopher Columbus "discovered" (some now say "invaded") the New World:
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
Never mind that our friends tried to confuse us by saying,
In 1493, Columbus sailed the deep blue sea!
It was indeed 1492. What they didn't teach us back in those bad old days is that, for nearly eight centuries prior, much of Spain--the country that sponsored Columbus's journeys, though he himself was Italian--had been occupied by the Moors, that is, Muslims.
During those centuries the Catholic Spaniards and the Muslim Moors fought many battles, but the final one was fought at Granada, in 1491--just one year before Columbus sailed. It's no wonder that many elements of Moorish culture--architecture, foods, music, and more--are found in the Spanish-speaking cultures of the Americas.
In that year, King Ferdinand of Castille--the same monarch who with his wife Isabella funded Columbus's adventure--laid siege to the Moorish city of Granada, the last Muslim stronghold Spain, held by the Moorish King Muhammed XI, known as Boabdil.
This Boabdil's father, Abu Hassan, had agreed to pay an annual tribute to the Castilians, but in 1478 he reneged on his pledge. At that time, Ferdinand was at war with Portugal, and wasn't able to turn his attention to Granada until 1481. During the delay, Abu Hassan prepared for war.
The Muslims struck the first blow; the Christians quickly countered. Abu Hassan retreated into Granada, where he was deposed by his son Boabdil. Thus the Muslims were divided into two factions, allowing the Christians to split the province in two.
Twice Boabdil was captured, and twice released on conditions which he soon broke. At last, Granada was besieged and, after a year and a half, capitulated. The keys of the city were turned over to the Christians on the first day of 1491; Columbus was to sail later that year.
After all those centuries of fighting, Spain had developed a powerful warrior culture. With the Muslims vanquished, those idle fighting men went to the Americas to battle with the natives there.