[LMB] Chalion and the Reconquista: not to worry

[Pat Mathews]

I've been attending UNM's annual Medieval Studies lecture series, this time on Spain and the New World. Here's the deal with the Reconquista:

It began as a simple "take back our land" movement and *that's where Chalion is right now.*
It slowly morphed into a Christian vs Muslim war because the Moorish occupation was their only enemies and because the war had been ongoing for hundreds and hundreds of years. From then it ballooned into a desire to conquer all Moors everywhere in the world.  This is a very natural, if deplorable sequence. But Chalion isn't there yet.

The conquest of the New World was seen and felt as a natural extension of this, to the point that writing referred to the temples in Mexico as "mosques." Oh, the difference between the Mechica and the Moors were apparent, but by then Muslim references had become generic terms for "non-Christian" and everything was seen in that light. I repeat - the heads of the Conquistadores were in the 500 year war with the Moors and didn't get out of it for centuries.

Anyway: Chalion may have its Ferdinand and Isabella, but it's earlier in the game and the ongoing war looks to have been shortened considerably. 


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