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FOC: I have taken this from various sources to give an overview of the event(s) to which this memory may refer.  I will add to this as I find more, or we get a definitive interpretation.  If you don't like the lack of definitive interpreation, I simply ask you, do YOU have family oral tradtions this ancient??????

Muslim Spain.



Muslim disunity

The Moors who conquered Spain were themselves a mixture of Arabs and Berbers, who often fell out with each other and fought out their quarrels in Spain. The struggles between the Umayyad and the Abbasid dynasties also led to disruption, and soon the early anarchy of the Visigothic days returned. Although the Umayyads were overthrown as rulers of the Arab Empire in 750, they established themselves as emirs of Córdoba from 756. Shortly after this, in 777, the emir of Zaragoza requested the help of the Frankish king, Charlemagne, in his struggle with the emir of Córdoba. Charlemagne led an army across the Pyrenees in 778, but was later forced to turn back. It was during this retreat that Roland died in a rearguard action at Roncesvalles.


778 Charlemagne attempts to conquer Spain. He penetrates as far as Zaragoza when he is called back to France (not by his mother). On the return trip, his rear guard (including his great captain, Roland) is attacked and killed by Basque troops. Popular legend and countless toubadours (who probably had a lot to do with the popular legends) have blamed the Muslims, who seem to have been more interested in fighting with each other at this time than in attacking Charlemagne's rear guard at Roncesvalles....

800 Charlemagne takes Barcelona. He is granted the title of "Holy Roman Emperor" by Pope Leo III in order to guarantee his protection of Rome from the invading Lombards.

811  Charlemagne gains control of all of Cataluña, which is designated, "The Spanish Mark" or "March" until 874.

Expulsion of the Moors

The "RECONQUISTA""Ta'ifas"

Economic problems and costly wars split the Corboban Caliphate into 23 smaller, petty kingdoms. This division was called the "Ta'ifas." It was to occur 3 times, each accompanied by an invasion of African Muslims. The first invasion occurred in 1090. Five years earlier, Alfonso the VI defeated Muslim forces and captured Toledo and its valuable library. The Muslims summoned the Almoravids, a Berber Dynasty from Morocco. They defeated the Christians and returned to Africa only to return in 1090 and sieze control. While he was in exile from Castille, El Cid with a force of Christians and Muslims, had conquered and ruled the province of Valencia. In 1099, upon the death of "El Cid"*, the Moors captured Valencia. It was abandoned by his followers and fell to the Almoravids. The African Muslims now occupied the Peninsula as far as Saragosa. They had also conquered Morocco.

Edited version of original map located:

In 1144 another Berber dynasty, the ALMOHADS defeated the Almoravids and took control of all territories. They had conquered Morocco in 1146 and in 1195 defeated the Castilians in battle at Alacros. But in 1212, Alfonso VIII defeated the Muslims in the battle of "Navas de Tolosa". The Christian forces now controlled the pass through the mountains allowing them to reach southern Spain and Muslim strongholds. The Almohads were exiled from Spain in 1212 .The third African invasion occurred in 1224.

Spainish Christians continually fought the invading forces throughout the almost 800 year domination. A battle in which the Visgothic king, Pelayo, defeated the Muslim army in 722 became the symbol of Christian Reconquest, "The Reconquista." Uprisings and revolts of Christians and Jews in Cordoba, 805, 817 and Toledo, 814 and 837 were all surpressed. It was the defeat and capture of Toledo from the Moors by Alfonso VI in 1085 that led to the summoning of Almoravids, a fundamentalist sect, from Africa. Alfonso sought the aid of El Cid and continued the Reconquest.

In 1236 Ferdinand III captured Cordoba and in 1248, Sevilla. His planned invasion of Africa was cut short by his death. From 1252 to1284 the Reconquest continued under Alfonso X, The Wise. He was a historian, lawyer and codifier who drafted "Las Siete Partidas. a set of laws which were to later effect the lives of African slaves in the Western Hemisphere. Alfonso XI began the fight for Granada in 1312. It was to last for 25 years. He defeated Spanish and Moroccan Muslims in the battle for Rio Salado and ended the African threat. It was to be the most significant battle of the Reconquest. The War of Reconquest saw the rise of three military orders; Santiago, Alcantara and Calatrava which strengthened Christian forces. In 1410 Ferdinand won a major battle at Antequera resulting in his being crowned King of Argon in 1412. By the end of the century Castilla and Aragon were Spain's most powerful states.

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