The Reconquest of Spain: As the Siege of Granada Begins That Will End 800 Years of Moorish Power, Ferdinand and Isabella Strengthen Their Control Over the Approach to That City

During this same campaign, as the Catholic Monarchs gained control, Christopher Columbus would finally earn his audience for his trip to the New World

 

"…the War of the Moors"

In 711, Muslim Moors crossed the Straight of Gibraltar and began their conquest of Southern Spain.  So began Islamic rule in Spain that would last 300 years in much of the Iberian Peninsula and nearly 800 years in Granada and the South in a group of Muslim states called Al-Andalus. 

On October 19, 1469, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille married, bringing together the two crowns and uniting Christian parts of Spain as they had not been previously.  At the time of their marriage, Muslim control over Spain had weakened.  The heart of its remaining power was in the Emirate of Granada, iconicized in the oft-visited Al-Hambra, an Emirate which centered on the city and expanded into a great portion of Southern Spain.  Among those towns outside Granada was Montefrio, then called Munt Farid.  This town was taken in 1486 and only populated by military personnel and others taking part in the “Guerra de los Moros”, or war against the Moors.  It was a gateway city to the stronghold of Granada and part of the effort of the Catholic Monarchs to chip away at Muslim control.  It is approximately 35 miles from Granada itself.

It was only by virtue of loans from Castile’s great benefactors that Ferdinand and Isabella waged the war to expel the Muslims from Spanish territory.  Foremost among these was Alonso de Aguilar, who had been involved in this decades-long Holy Warm, fought in many battles, and was considered a hero.  He was also a close friend and companion of explorer Ponce de Leon, who would discover Florida.  Washington Irving, in his “Chronicles of the Conquest of Granada,” extolled the virtues of Aguilar.  Ponce de Leon, he explained, had a faithful friend, “among the most distinguished of the Christian cavalry.  This was Don Alonso de Cordova…. He was one of the most hardy, valiant, and enterprising Spanish knights, and foremost in all service of a perilous and adventurous nature.”

In April of 1491, the Catholic Monarchs brought their forces into camp on the road to Granada, near Castro del Rio. From there they would proceed to Granada, and besiege the city. Castile’s bravest nobles formed the vanguard of the army of approximately 50,000 men.  Ferdinand and Isabella traveled with the army, with Ferdinand in an advanced position. With victory at Granada, the Catholic Monarchs sought to extend their control and solidify their power, expel the Moors, and begin to repopulate the occupied lands.  

Document signed by both King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, in old Castilian Spanish, Castro del Rio, April 14, 1491, as the siege of Granada became imminent, extending royal authority over Montefrio, on the edge of Arab-controlled land, and naming Aguilar governor of the town. It commences, “Whereas we have given our favor to Don Alonso Fernandez of Cordoba of the House of Aguilar, of the possession of the town and fortress of Montefrio… to hold as Governor,” and continues that in consideration of the money Aguilar “lent to us for expenses in the War of the Moors; Therefore for the present we give power and complete authority to the said Don Alonso so that that you or anyone under your power are able to dispense justice as well as civil and criminal jurisdiction in the said town of Montefrio and in its surroundings. And by our Seal we send to the Council and all good people of the said town of Montefrio, as well as those who live and stay in the town and those who will live and stay in the town, to fulfill your commandments and to obey your power as well as our laws, under penalties that you on our behalf can impart, for which we give you complete power…" At the bottom it reads, “So that Don Alonso can administer the justice in Montefrio according to the will of Your Authority.”  

The army of the Catholic Monarchs arrived before Granada on April 26, 1491, commencing the siege. The action that began in mid-April 1491 would prove to be the end of the 8-centuries long Reconquista, the reconquest of Spain from the Moors. Boabdil, Sultan of Granada, surrendered the city on January 2, 1492.

The Catholic Monarchs, now leading a unified Spain with no organized opposition, began a process of conversion and expulsion. The pressure on Muslims to convert to Christianity began in earnest, and on March 30, 1492, the Jews were expelled  from Spain. When, a few years later, Muslims were given the choice of conversion or exile, they revolted. Don Alonso famously stood against them and was one of those killed.  The scene of Aguilar’s heroism and death is movingly chronicled again by Washington Irving.  He notes that on his death, a ballad was written and sung by the people.

We discovered this important document untranslated. A search of public sale records going back 40 years fails to turn up even one other document signed by Ferdinand and Isabella relating to the reconquest of Spain in 1491 or 1492. Some years back we recall seeing one in private hands concerning the Jews, but never one concerning the Moors and the final siege of Granada.