Picto Diary - 03 October 2018 - 1492 (The Alhambra)

Stephen D. Taylor is with Margaret Taylor in Alhambra. Granada, Spain.

October 3 at 12:01 PM ·
Room in which the American empire was born. TIMDT in tell tale blue hat. Here, in this room (see image above), in early 1492, Christopher Columbus met Isabella of Castilla, and obtained the funding for his first expedition to "India."

1942 was a year of great significance for Spain, not to mention Western Civilization.

In 1492 Isabella and Ferdinand of Aragon cemented their ten year alliance by getting married. In 1492, the combined forces of the two monarchs ousted the Moors (Muslims) from their last remaining stronghold, Granada, on the Iberian Peninsula.

The Alhambra was occupied for a short period by Ferdinand and Isabella.

For ten years previous to 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella had worked to oust the Jews from the Iberian Peninsula. Per Ferdinand and Isabella's anti Jewish edict, Jews could stay in Iberia if they force converted to Christianity, and many did "convert". But, locals didn't trust these "conversions." Surely those dastardly Jews were secretly practicing their Jewish beliefs behind closed doors! Ferdinand and Isabella appointed Torquemada to deal with the "problem" and, so, was born, the Spanish Inquisition. After the Moors were expunged from Granada in 1492, Jews in that city lost their protectors. A few years later, Spain was created out the twin kingdoms of Castilla (Isabella) and Aragon (Ferdinand)...and, by then, Spain was "purified" of all non Catholic pollutants ie. Muslims and Jews.

Columbus died in 1506 never knowing that he had "discovered" something other than India.

Columbus' "discovery" sparked more discoveries in the new world, For the next ninety years Spain became rich and powerful off of new world spoils... and perhaps a little over confident and lazy.

In 1588, Spain sent her armada of 150 ships north to destroy the English fleet. With the help of Admiral Nelson and some fortuitous winds, most of the Spanish fleet was destroyed.

Spain then entered a long, multi century period of decline with European powers periodically (Napoleon in the 1820's) picking away at them.

Some Spaniards were not happy with Spain's decline. "Don Quixote," a novel by Cervantes and set in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, is the story of a hapless, delusional character, unhappy with Spain's decline. He wants to fight. Delusional as he is, he "fights" the windmills of La Mancha, where we were yesterday.

It is a source of bemusement to me that "progressive elements" of modern culture debase Columbus contribution of having unlocked the door of discovery of the Americas. They base their objections on the fact that indigenous peoples were unjustly persecuted in land that belonged to them.

But, culture is important. If wealth per capita, individual freedom, and safety are important values, Western Culture established those values in America where indigenous cultures did not.

Indigenous culture was rife with inter tribal warfare, slavery, genocide, human sacrifice, and cannibalism. Fortunately, Western Culture, admittedly not without its own faults, succeeded in suppressing the worst of these practices. And for this, civilized people owe a debt of gratitude to Columbus.

The film, "Apocalypto," and Stephen Ambrose's book, "Custer and Crazy Horse," are both good at providing descriptions of the baseness of indigenous culture in the Americas.

Above: Court of the Lions. The Alhambra. Granada, Spain. 03 October 2018.

Twelve marble lions hold a marble fountain on their backs.

I purchased a copy of Washington Irvings, "Tales of the Alhambra" while visiting the palace.

Irving, in 1829, a roving correspondent for American publications, came to Granada. On a lark, he told the administering authority of the Alhambra in Granada, "gee, wouldn't it be great to live in a palace like the Alhambra... to channel the ghosts and the history there.!? "Done," said the administrator.

Irving lived in an apartment in the palace for several months. He wandered the palace at all hours... searched out its stories and its secrets, its ghosts, and wrote a wonderfully descriptive book about his experience. Irving's book has a chapter on Court of the Lions, which, according to most accounts, is the most impressive part of the palace.

Some observers are not impressed with the lion sculptures. Though each lion, has a different, carved, motif, the putative simplicity of the carving suggests to some that the artisans who made the lions were probably just low skilled Christian slaves. Whatever. The overall effect of the fountain, its courtyard, and the adjacent sleeping rooms of the royalty is one of symmetrical magnificence.

I'm half way through reading Washington Irving's book as I write here. Irving: "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Same Irving.

Washington Irving returned to Spain in the 1840's to be American Ambassador.

Above: TIMDT surveys the palace. The Alhambra, Granada, Spain. 03 October 2018.

View of palace from palace gardens.

The Moors. The builders of the magnificent Alhambra Palace.

The time of the Moors: a strange interlude of history. An errant caliph pretender was chased out of Baghdad. Over a six year period he worked his way across north Africa, amassed a movement of 10K scattered Arabs and Berber tribesmen, and crossed the Gibralter Straits, in 711, into Spain. After marching as far as the Loire River in France, where they were rebuffed by Charles Martel at the Gates of Tour, the Moor invaders returned to Spain where they more or less ruled for nearly 700 years. 700 hundred years! The United States is shy of 250 years old!

During the their ascendancy, while Christian Europe was in the Dark Ages, the Moors advanced learning, art, and tolerance. Jews and Christians were treated with equanimity by the Moors, though (cough) they had to pay a higher tax than Muslims. Yet... they could all get along.... more or less! But, at least as far as the Moors were concerned, don't let it be said that Muslims weren't tolerant of other faiths.

Almost from the beginning of the Moor conquest, Christian rulers fought to take back their lands. The Christian, insurgent movement was called the "Reconquista." The "Reconquista" coincided with the Crusades, a companion effort, in the Holy Land, by Christians to push back against Muslim hegemony. By 1250 AD Cordoba and Seville had been retaken by the Christians. But the Moors hung on in Granada until 1492.

After the Moors were finally expelled in 1492 by the forces of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, they more or less disappeared from the face of the earth as an organized people. At one time, Cordoba was the equal of Baghdad and Constantinople. The Moors had even declared themselves a caliphate to rival that of Baghdad.

Tapas. Fried aubergine with honey. — eating tapas lunch at Tinta Fina. Granada, Spain. 03 October 2018.

TIMDT went crazy over the pictured dish. Not shown. Prawns, calamari...

More superior dining, a hallmark of this trip.

After lunch we drove, two hours, through the mountains, to Malaga, on the Mediterranean coast of southern Spain.

Stephen D. Taylor is with Margaret Taylor at AC Hotel Málaga Palacio.

October 3 at 9:11 PM · Málaga, Spain ·
Mirador Princess Ferris wheel can be barely discerned at center of the image. A ride on this Ferris wheel is in the offing tomorrow, Eton Mum's birthday present to el Contador.

Above: Mirador Princess Ferris Wheel. Malaga, Spain. 03 October 2018.

Image from AC Hotel Malaga Palacio. Pool/restaurant deck.