«Reconquista», a tendentious and simplistic concept
July 25, 2024 4:40 AM Subscribe
Al-Andalus y la Historia [English] focuses on the history of Muslim Iberia/al-Andalus/Andalusia c. 711-1609. A public-facing site, it features accessible articles by scholars working on the region and sprang from a topical 2016 seminar. Sample articles cover new research on and approaches to Vikings in al-Andalus and the Maghreb, the Reconquista, and El Cid Campeador.
Fascinating! The piece on El Cid gave me a more nuanced picture than I knew of.
posted by Wretch729 at 6:50 AM on July 25 [1 favorite]
posted by Wretch729 at 6:50 AM on July 25 [1 favorite]
Note the Reconquista's essay's discussion of the "burden of poisonous Catholic Nationalist ideology". I visited northern Spain recently. Lovely place! Also drenched in Reconquista history and some quite bloodthirsty honoring of the driving the Muslims out of the Iberian peninsula.
I was particularly struck by a statue of Pelayo, an 8th century leader in Asturias. The explanatory text I read was unreformed Catholic chauvinism. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, the reconquista is such a key part of Spanish identity and that era in Europe was ugly pretty much everywhere. But I can't help but think maybe there was a more interesting story than "Catholics good Moors bad".
I was also struck by all the monuments to Santiago Matamoros, aka "Saint James the Moor Killer", while visiting Santiago de Compostela. That's an intensely Catholic pilgrimage town, so again I wasn't exactly surprised, but I wonder if contemporary Spaniards find it all a bit cringe.
posted by Nelson at 7:36 AM on July 25 [6 favorites]
I was particularly struck by a statue of Pelayo, an 8th century leader in Asturias. The explanatory text I read was unreformed Catholic chauvinism. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, the reconquista is such a key part of Spanish identity and that era in Europe was ugly pretty much everywhere. But I can't help but think maybe there was a more interesting story than "Catholics good Moors bad".
I was also struck by all the monuments to Santiago Matamoros, aka "Saint James the Moor Killer", while visiting Santiago de Compostela. That's an intensely Catholic pilgrimage town, so again I wasn't exactly surprised, but I wonder if contemporary Spaniards find it all a bit cringe.
posted by Nelson at 7:36 AM on July 25 [6 favorites]
Oh yes, we do, excepting the guys on the far right who vote Vox. Those assholes aren't terribly religious, but are really keen on national military glories and the expelling the muslims part of it.
posted by sukeban at 8:11 AM on July 25 [9 favorites]
posted by sukeban at 8:11 AM on July 25 [9 favorites]
Nelson and sukeban, thank you for sharing your perspectives! I was hoping to hear from folks who've lived or been there (travel, make pilgrimages, etc.).
posted by cupcakeninja at 8:13 AM on July 25
posted by cupcakeninja at 8:13 AM on July 25
Tbf, I haven't been to Covadonga because... well, like Cuelgamuros, the church isn't that interesting in itself (and we got our own royal medieval pantheon hewn in a rock face at home anyway), Pelayo and the battle of Covadonga are semilegendary and there's only fascists visiting.
posted by sukeban at 8:22 AM on July 25 [5 favorites]
posted by sukeban at 8:22 AM on July 25 [5 favorites]
Cádiz, salada claridad; Granada,
agua oculta que llora.
Romana y mora, Córdoba callada.
Málaga cantaora.
Almería dorada.
Plateado Jaén. Huelva, la orilla
de las Tres Carabelas...
y Sevilla.
--Antonio Machado, Canto a Andalucía
posted by fuse theorem at 8:54 AM on July 25 [3 favorites]
agua oculta que llora.
Romana y mora, Córdoba callada.
Málaga cantaora.
Almería dorada.
Plateado Jaén. Huelva, la orilla
de las Tres Carabelas...
y Sevilla.
--Antonio Machado, Canto a Andalucía
posted by fuse theorem at 8:54 AM on July 25 [3 favorites]
Thanks for your perspective sukeban! I was in northern Spain as a tourist on the Transcantabrico, sort of like taking a cruise only on a train. Lots of interesting slow travel to little places I would never have gotten to on my own. It was great! I enjoyed visiting Covadonga but for, like, 30 minutes for some quick snaps. Potes was more interesting to me, particularly for the Santo Toribio de Liébana monastery and its own role in early Catholic Spain. In the 8th century the monk Beatus lived there and produced a famous early map of the world.
Apologies for going on about Asturias in a post about Anadalus! Down south the Muslim history seemed much more visible and celebrated. At least as a tourist, what I saw was preserved palaces and mosques and not just Catholic chauvinism. Alhambra is what I most remember visiting. The linked site doesn't seem to have much in English about it. I could have spent a whole day just admiring the calligraphy carved into the walls.
posted by Nelson at 9:01 AM on July 25 [2 favorites]
Apologies for going on about Asturias in a post about Anadalus! Down south the Muslim history seemed much more visible and celebrated. At least as a tourist, what I saw was preserved palaces and mosques and not just Catholic chauvinism. Alhambra is what I most remember visiting. The linked site doesn't seem to have much in English about it. I could have spent a whole day just admiring the calligraphy carved into the walls.
posted by Nelson at 9:01 AM on July 25 [2 favorites]
Don't worry, the historiography of the Reconquista is an ongoing concern.
posted by sukeban at 9:24 AM on July 25 [1 favorite]
posted by sukeban at 9:24 AM on July 25 [1 favorite]
Oh hai, I live in Andalucia and I'm Muslim!
I wish I saw more Arabic names in the list of authors on that site. A Muslim perspective on the history of the Islamic world is still sadly rare.
That being said, I listen to a ton of podcasts about academic work in Islamic studies, by non-Muslims and Muslims, and there is truly a lot of good work being done to clear the fog of Orientalism and Islamophobia from English language materials about the Muslim world then and now.
Should you ever want a tour of cities like Granada, Sevilla, Córdoba, and so on, lmk. I know some spectacular Muslim tour guides.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 10:04 AM on July 25 [13 favorites]
I wish I saw more Arabic names in the list of authors on that site. A Muslim perspective on the history of the Islamic world is still sadly rare.
That being said, I listen to a ton of podcasts about academic work in Islamic studies, by non-Muslims and Muslims, and there is truly a lot of good work being done to clear the fog of Orientalism and Islamophobia from English language materials about the Muslim world then and now.
Should you ever want a tour of cities like Granada, Sevilla, Córdoba, and so on, lmk. I know some spectacular Muslim tour guides.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 10:04 AM on July 25 [13 favorites]
My home for 30 years.
Majorca's Moorish Memories
posted by adamvasco at 9:07 AM on July 26 [1 favorite]
Majorca's Moorish Memories
posted by adamvasco at 9:07 AM on July 26 [1 favorite]
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From the vast and complex story behind the name al-Andalus, Syrians and North Africans draw their own connections to history’s ruling dynasties. Palestinians can imagine themselves as “Moriscos,” descended from Spanish Muslims forced to hide their identities. A Palestinian flamenco musician in Chicago, no less than a Saudi women’s rights activist, can take inspiration from al-Andalus. These diverse relationships to the same past may be imagined, but the present-day communities and future visions those relationships foster are real.
posted by mdonley at 6:36 AM on July 25 [2 favorites]