-
- After the decisive
defeat of the Moors at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, the roads
to Andalusia, heartland of Al-Andalus, are open to the Christians.
One after another the rich Andalusian cities fall to the Christians:
CÛrdoba in 1236; Jaén in 1246; Seville in 1248...
Thanks to the personal ability of Ibn al-Ahmar (Abenámar),
the kingdom of Granada is spared from Christian wrath. Granada
will go on, living on borrowed time, for another 250 years. Despite
its political isolation, Granada flourishes magnificently, both
artistically and culturally, attracting moslems from all over
the world. But at the end of the XV century, Christian Spain
sets out the final assault. The War of Granada begins. Aided
by infighting between different Moorish factions, treacherous
double-dealing and internal decadence, the war progresses rapidly.
By the end of 1491 the armies of Ferdinand and Isabella are atthe
gates of Granada itself, and by January of the next year, Boabdil
hands over the city to the Christians in return for his safe
passage out of the peninsula. After 800 years, Islamic Spain,
Al-Andalus, is no more.
|
