Editing Reconquista (section)

==Legacy==
{{See also|History of Spain|History of Portugal|Portugal in the period of discoveries}}

Since the 19th century, traditional Western and especially Iberian [[historiography]] has stressed the existence of the ''Reconquista'',<ref name=":3">{{harvnb|García Fitz|2009|p=146}} "Queda claro, pues, que el concepto de Reconquista, tal como surgió en el siglo XIX y se consolidó en la historiografía de la primera mitad del XX, se convirtió en uno de los principales mitos originarios alumbrados por el nacionalismo español. [It is clear, then, that the concept of Reconquista, as it emerged in the 19th century and was consolidated in the historiography of the first half of the 20th, became one of the principal origin myths illuminated by Spanish nationalism.]"</ref> a continual phenomenon by which the Christian Iberian kingdoms opposed and conquered the Muslim kingdoms, understood as a common enemy who had militarily seized territory from native Iberian Christians.<ref name="O'Callaghan2013" /> However, modern scholarship has challenged this concept of a "reconquista" as a [[national myth]] tied to Spanish nationalism.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Federico. |first=Ríos Saloma, Martín |title=La reconquista: una construcción historiográfica: siglos XVI–XIX |year=2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVpor72daAEC&pg=PA26 |isbn=978-84-92820-47-4 |oclc=800884696 |page=26|publisher=Marcial Pons Historia }}</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last1=Escalona |first1=Julio |last2= Viso |first2=Iñaki Martín |editor1-last= Barton |editor1-first=Simon |editor2-last=Portass |editor2-first=Robert |year=2020 |title=Beyond the Reconquista: New Directions in the History of Medieval Iberia (711–1085)|chapter=The Life and Death of an Historiographical Folly: The Early Medieval Depopulation and Repopulation of the Duero Basin |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uPDcDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 |publisher=Brill |page=21|isbn=978-9004423879 }}</ref> The concept has served the idea "that Spain is a nation shaped against Islam", contributing to "a largely biased and distorted vision of the Iberian medieval past, aimed at delegitimizing the Islamic presence (al-Andalus) and therefore at legitimizing the Christian conquest of the Muslim territory."<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=García Sanjuán |first=Alejandro |date=2020 |title=Weaponizing Historical Knowledge: the Notion of Reconquista in Spanish Nationalism |url=https://repositori.udl.cat/handle/10459.1/69327 |doi=10.21001/itma.2020.14.04 |s2cid=226491379 |issn=1888-3931|doi-access=free |hdl=10272/19498 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Among other arguments, one of those advanced by scholars is that "no military campaign lasts eight centuries."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Querol |first=Ricardo de |date=28 February 2020 |title=There was no Reconquest. No military campaign lasts eight centuries' |url=https://english.elpais.com/arts/2020-02-28/henry-kamen-there-was-no-reconquest-no-military-campaign-lasts-eight-centuries.html |access-date=19 May 2022 |website=El País English Edition |language=en-us}}</ref> The term "reconquista" in this sense first appeared in the 19th century, and only entered the dictionary of the [[Royal Spanish Academy]] in 1936, with the rise of [[Francisco Franco]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vox reinvents history to claim 'Reconquista' of Spain {{!}} Francis Ghiles |url=https://thearabweekly.com/vox-reinvents-history-claim-reconquista-spain |access-date=21 May 2022 |website=AW |language=en}}</ref> The concept of the reconquista continues to have significance and has even experienced a resurgence in modern politics—especially for the extreme right Spanish party [[Vox (political party)|Vox]], but also more broadly among [[Xenophobia|xenophobic]] and especially [[Islamophobia|Islamophobic]] conservatives in the West, with the influence of the doctrine of a "''[[Clash of Civilizations]]''".<ref name=":4" />

Real, legendary, and fictional episodes from the ''Reconquista'' are the subject of much of medieval [[Galician-Portuguese]], [[Spanish literature|Spanish]], and [[Catalan literature]] such as the ''[[cantar de gesta]]''.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Itin mertola.jpg|right|thumb|Old Mosque in [[Mértola]], Portugal, converted into a [[Church of Nossa Senhora da Anunciação|church.]]]]
Some noble [[genealogy|genealogies]] show the close, though not numerous, relations between Muslims and Christians. For example, [[Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir]], whose rule is considered to have marked the peak of power for Moorish ''al-Andalus'' Hispania, married Abda, daughter of [[Sancho II of Navarra|Sancho Garcés II]] of [[Navarra]], who bore him a son, named Abd al-Rahman and commonly known in a pejorative sense as [[Sanchuelo]] (''Little Sancho''; in Arabic: ''Shanjoul'').{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

After his father's death, Sanchuelo/Abd al-Rahman, as a son of a Christian princess, was a strong contender to take over the ultimate power in Muslim al-Andalus. A hundred years later, King [[Alfonso VI of Castile]], regarded as one of the greatest medieval Spanish kings, designated his son (also named Sancho) by the Muslim princess refugee [[Zaida of Seville]], as his heir.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

The ''Reconquista'' was a war with long periods of respite between the adversaries, partly for pragmatic reasons and also due to infighting among the Christian kingdoms of the North spanning over seven centuries. Some populations practiced Islam or Christianity as their own religion during these centuries, so the identity of contenders changed over time.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

It is noteworthy that the popular hero [[El Cid]], whose name is very much associated with the Reconquista, had at one part of his career actually fought  for the Muslim rulers of [[Taifa of Zaragoza|Zaragoza]], whom he defended from its traditional enemy, the Christian [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragon]]. The most important achievement of El Cid's career, the conquest of the [[Taifa of Valencia|kingdom-city of Valencia]], was actually achieved in close alliance with the [[Banu Hud]] and other Muslim dynasties opposed to the [[Almoravids]].<ref name="Quest">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-MIChVmZwQC|title=The Quest for El Cid|author=Fletcher, Richard A.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1989|isbn=978-0195069556|location=Oxford, UK|pages=166–168, 198}}</ref>

===French emulation===

In 1558, the armies of King [[Henry II of France]] managed to conquer the city of [[Calais]], which had been under English rule for centuries. Queen [[Mary I of England]] considered the loss of Calais as the greatest disaster of her reign.<ref>Holinshed, Raphael (1808) [1586] ''Holinshed's chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland'', Vol. 4 (England), Ellis, Sir H. (ed.), London : J. Johnson ''et al.'', 952 p.</ref> The region around Calais, then-known as the ''[[Calaisis]]'', was renamed the ''Pays Reconquis'' ("Reconquered Country") in commemoration of its recovery by the French.<ref name="TurpynBritain)1846">{{Cite book |last=Turpyn |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1v0UAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR24 |title=The chronicle of Calais: in the reigns of Henry VII. and Henry VIII. to the year 1540 |publisher=British Library, Printed for the Camden Society by J.B. Nichols |year=1846 |page=24 |access-date=5 February 2012}}</ref> The French were certainly aware of the Spanish Reconquista, and since at the time [[Philip II of Spain]] was Queen Mary's consort, use of this term might have been intended as a deliberate snub to him.<ref name="Larousse(Firm)1960">{{Cite book |last=Larousse |first=Pierre |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ft9MAQAAIAAJ |title=Grand Larousse encyclopédique |publisher=Librarire Larousse |year=1960 |page=59}}</ref>

===Festivals in modern Spain and Portugal===
[[File:Filà mora Al-Hagamba-Muza Moros i Cristians Pego.jpg|thumb|''Moros y Cristianos'' festival in [[Pego, Alicante]], 2016]]
Currently, festivals called ''[[moros y cristianos]]'' (Spanish), ''moros i cristians'' ([[Catalan language|Catalan]]), ''mouros e cristãos'' (Portuguese) and ''mouros e cristiáns'' (Galician), which all mean "Moors and Christians", recreate the fights as colorful parades with elaborate garments and many fireworks, especially on the central and southern towns of the [[Land of Valencia]], like [[Alcoi]], [[Ontinyent]] or [[Villena]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

=== Persistent effects ===
A 2016 study found that the "rate of Reconquest"—how rapidly the Christian frontier was expanded—has persistent effects on the Spanish economy to this day. After an initial phase of military conquest, Christians states incorporated the conquered land. When large frontier regions were incorporated at once, the land was mostly given to the nobility and the military orders, with negative effects on long-term development. The incorporation of small regions, on the other hand, generally allowed for the participation of individual settlers and was more likely to fall under the auspices of the crown. This led to a more equitable distribution of land and greater social equality, with positive effects on long-term development.<ref name="Oto-Peralías2016">{{Cite journal|last1=Oto-Peralías|first1=Daniel|last2=Romero-Ávila|first2=Diego|s2cid=156897045|date=13 May 2016|title=The economic consequences of the Spanish Reconquest: the long-term effects of Medieval conquest and colonization|journal=Journal of Economic Growth|language=en|volume=21|issue=4|pages=409–464|doi=10.1007/s10887-016-9132-9|issn=1381-4338|hdl=10023/10769|url=https://riuma.uma.es/xmlui/bitstream/10630/11092/1/OtoPeralias-Malaga.pdf|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

===Reverberations===
[[File:Assault-on-Asilah.JPG|thumb|right|The Portuguese forces, personally commanded by King [[Afonso V of Portugal|Afonso V]], in the [[conquest of Asilah]], Morocco, 1471, from the ''[[Pastrana Tapestries]]''.]]
As the Christian kingdoms completed their conquest of territory on the Iberian Peninsula, they shifted their impetus elsewhere, even to the [[Maghreb]], which is  located across the Strait of Gibraltar. A Castilian Crown-sanctioned punitive expedition against Tetouan, a corsair stronghold, was launched as early as 1399–1400.{{Sfn|Bunes Ibarra|1995|p=18}} The [[conquest of Ceuta]] in 1415 marked the beginning of Portuguese expansion in Africa. Thereby, it allowed Portugal to exert control over Castilian and Aragonese trade through the Strait, and it also allowed Portugal to establish a powerbase for the launching of raid expeditions in Muslim-ruled lands.{{Sfn|Bunes Ibarra|1995|pp=19–20}} Some 15th-century political writers promoted the idea of a "Gothic Monarchy", an heir to [[Ancient Rome|Rome]], that included territory across the Strait.{{Sfn|Bunes Ibarra|1995|pp=16–17}} 

The African enterprise which was undertaken during the rule of the [[Catholic Monarchs]] was nominally endorsed by papal bulls and it was also financed with donations which were used to pay the crusade tax, even if it was viewed with some suspicion by the Papacy.{{Sfn|Bunes Ibarra|1995|p=17}} Conquest efforts in Africa on the part of the Catholic Monarchy by and large stalled following the death of Ferdinand II of Aragon.{{Sfn|Bunes Ibarra|1995|p=14}} The model of conquest and repopulation by Christian powers in the Peninsula was however never reproduced in Northern Africa, and with the conquered territory—a fortified mark with very few fortresses scattered along an extensive coastline—merely adopting a defensive role, it allowed for Ottoman expansion in the region.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=La presencia española en el Norte de África: las diversas justificaciones de las conquistas en el Magreb|first=Miguel Ángel de|last=Bunes Ibarra|journal=Aldaba|url=http://e-spacio.uned.es/fez/eserv/bibliuned:Aldaba-1995-25-2020/Documento.pdf|pages=15, 23–25|issn=0213-7925|issue=25|year=1995}}</ref>

The Portuguese [[Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts|warred with the Ottoman Caliphate]] in the [[Portuguese expedition to Otranto|Mediterranean]],<ref>proficiscitur Hydruntum classis quam ex Portugallia accersivimus. … Speramus illam magno usui Hydruntine expugnationi futuram. …</ref> [[Ottoman naval expeditions in the Indian Ocean|Indian Ocean]]<ref name="soucek">{{Citation   | first = Svat   | last = Soucek   | editor-last = Vagnon   | editor-first = Emmanuelle   | editor2-last = Hofmann   | editor2-first = Catherine   | contribution = Piri Reis. His uniqueness among cartographers and hydrographers of the Renaissance   | contribution-url = http://www.lecfc.fr/new/articles/216-article-11.pdf   | date = June 2013   | pages = 135–144   | publisher = CFC   | title = Cartes marines : d'une technique à une culture. Actes du colloque du 3 décembre 2012.   | url = http://production-scientifique.bnf.fr/Biblio/cartes-marines-dune-technique-une-culture-actes-du-colloque-du-3-decembre-2012   | access-date = 12 December 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180627202943/http://production-scientifique.bnf.fr/Biblio/cartes-marines-dune-technique-une-culture-actes-du-colloque-du-3-decembre-2012   | archive-date = 27 June 2018 | url-status = dead   }}</ref> and [[Ottoman expedition to Aceh|Southeast Asia]] as the Portuguese conquered the Ottomans' allies: the [[Adal Sultanate|Sultanate of Adal]] in East Africa, the [[Sultanate of Delhi]] in South Asia and the [[Sultanate of Malacca]] in Southeast Asia.<ref>João Paulo de Oliveira e Costa, Vítor Luís Gaspar Rodrigues (2012) [https://books.google.com/books?id=n2ziSAAACAAJ ''Campanhas de Afonso de Albuquerque: Conquista de Malaca, 1511'' p. 13] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618230212/https://books.google.pt/books?id=n2ziSAAACAAJ |date=18 June 2018 }}</ref>

[[Christopher Columbus]]'s initial 1492 [[Voyages of Christopher Columbus|voyage to the Americas]] was predicated on the completion of the Granada War, with the Spanish monarchy only able to assent to his overseas journeys once it had completed the process of defeating the Moors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Years In Spain: Columbus Finds a Sponsor {{!}} Religious Studies Center |url=https://rsc.byu.edu/christopher-columbus-latter-day-saint-perspective/years-spain-columbus-finds-sponsor |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=rsc.byu.edu}}</ref> Columbus's views of the New World and the Christian convictions that shaped his actions there were influenced by historical European anti-Muslim ideas that had underpinned the Reconquista itself;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mikhail |first=Alan |date=2020-12-17 |title=How the Specter of Islam Fueled European Colonization in the Americas |url=https://lithub.com/how-the-specter-of-islam-fueled-european-colonization-in-the-americas/ |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Literary Hub |language=en-US}}</ref> he believed that by his voyaging, he would be able to reach the [[Grand Khan]] of Asia and create a coalition that could attack the Middle East from both sides and thus bring Jerusalem back under Christian rule.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hamdani |first=Abbas |date=1979 |title=Columbus and the Recovery of Jerusalem |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/598947 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=99 |issue=1 |pages=39–48 |doi=10.2307/598947 |jstor=598947 |issn=0003-0279}}</ref>

=== Far-right motif ===
[[File:Día de la Toma (no a la Toma).jpg|thumb|An army parade in Granada attended by [[History of the far-right in Spain|far-right]] sympathizers who are waving the [[Symbols of Francoism|Francoist flags]] (2 January 2016)]]
Along with the rhetoric of the [[crusades]], the rhetoric of the 'Reconquista' serves as a rallying point in the political discourse of the contemporary [[Far-right politics|far-right]] in Spain, Portugal and, more broadly, it also serves as a rallying point in the political discourse of the [[Radical right (Europe)|far-right]] in Europe.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter=The Reconquista revisited: mobilising medieval Iberian history in Spain, Portugal and beyond|first=Tiago João Queimada e |last=Silva|title=The Crusades in the Modern World|editor-first=Mike|editor-last=Horswell|editor-first2=Akil N.|editor-last2=Awan|year=2020|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-138-06607-6|pages=57–65}}</ref> Frequently, references to the Reconquista and the crusades are allegorically played as [[internet meme]] by 21st-century online far-right groups which seek to convey [[Islamophobia|anti-Muslim sentiments]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bogerts |first1=Lisa |last2=Fielitz |first2=Maik |chapter='Do You Want Meme War?': Understanding the Visual Memes of the German Far Right |title=Post-Digital Cultures of the Far Right: Online Actions and Offline Consequences in Europe and the US |editor1-last=Fielitz |editor1-first=Maik |editor2-last=Thurston |editor2-first=Nick |publisher=transcript Verlag |date=2019 |page=145 |chapter-url=https://mediarep.org/bitstream/handle/doc/13289/Post_Digital_Cultures_137-153_Bogerts_Fielitz_Understanding_Visual_Memes_German_Far_Right_.pdf?sequence=5 |doi=10.14361/9783839446706-010 |isbn=978-3-8394-4670-6 |s2cid=158818388 }}</ref> The theme has also been used as a major rallying point by [[Identitarian movement|identitarian]] groups in France and Italy.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter=From Identity Politics to the Identitarian Movement. The Europeanisation of Cultural Stereotypes?|title=National Stereotyping, Identity Politics, European Crises|first=Karel|last=Šima|pages=75–94|doi=10.1163/9789004436107_006|year=2021|publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-43610-7 |s2cid=236580880}}</ref>

The annual commemoration of the surrender of Sultan Boabdil in Granada on 2 January acquired a markedly nationalistic undertone during the early years of the [[Francoist regime]] and, since the death of the dictator [[Francisco Franco]] in 1975, it has served as glue for extreme right groups by facilitating their open-air physical gatherings and providing them with an occasion which they can use to explicitly state their political demands.<ref name="garciasanjuan" /> A [[Spanish Legion]] unit usually parades and sings ''El novio de la muerte'' ("Boyfriend of death").<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 January 2020 |title=Así sonó 'El novio de la muerte' cantado por la Legión este 2 de enero en Granada |url=https://www.ideal.es/granada/toma-granada-legion-sono-novio-muerte-20200102144112-nt.html |access-date=9 March 2022 |website=Ideal |language=es}}</ref> The [[far right]] has also waged a [[culture war]] by claiming dates in the history of the Reconquista, such as the aforementioned 2 January or 2 February, regional festivities for the related [[autonomous communities]] ([[Andalusia]] and [[Region of Murcia|Murcia]]).<ref name="garciasanjuan">{{Cite web|url=https://www.eldiario.es/andalucia/en-abierto/manipulacion-pasado-ultraderecha-reaccion-academica_132_7374060.html|website=[[eldiario.es]]|first=Alejandro|last=García Sanjuan|date=3 April 2021|title=La manipulación del pasado por la ultraderecha y la reacción académica}}</ref>