El Cid and the Reconquista 1050–1492

El Cid and the Reconquista 1050–1492 PDF Author: David Nicolle
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9780850458404
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The very name El Cid sums up much of the special character of medieval Spanish warfare. It comes from the Arabic al sayyid, master or chieftain, and seems to have been given to Rodrigo de Vivar by his Muslim foes. But was it given in recognition of El Cid's victories against Islam in the 'Reconquista' – or because this Castilian nobleman was as content to serve beside the Muslims as to fight them? The story of the Christian conquest of the Iberian peninsula which gave rise to the legend of El Cid, is here examined by David Nicolle, who outlines the history, tactics, arms and armour of the period.

El Cid and the Reconquista 1050–1492

El Cid and the Reconquista 1050–1492 PDF Author: David Nicolle
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9780850458404
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The very name El Cid sums up much of the special character of medieval Spanish warfare. It comes from the Arabic al sayyid, master or chieftain, and seems to have been given to Rodrigo de Vivar by his Muslim foes. But was it given in recognition of El Cid's victories against Islam in the 'Reconquista' – or because this Castilian nobleman was as content to serve beside the Muslims as to fight them? The story of the Christian conquest of the Iberian peninsula which gave rise to the legend of El Cid, is here examined by David Nicolle, who outlines the history, tactics, arms and armour of the period.

EL Cid and the Reconquista

EL Cid and the Reconquista PDF Author: David Nicolle
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Spain
Languages : en
Pages : 47

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Book Description


Twenty Battles That Shaped Medieval Europe

Twenty Battles That Shaped Medieval Europe PDF Author: Georgios Theotokis
Publisher: The Crowood Press
ISBN: 0719828740
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
Warfare has been central to European history for millennia; Twenty Battles that Shaped Medieval Europe examines the strategy, military and equipment and battle-tactics of European armies in the Middle Ages. Its fundamental aim is to stimulate the reader's interest in the importance of pitched battles in war, and to explain the geo-political gravity of twenty of them from the Battle of Frigidus in AD394 to the Battle of Varna in 1444, taking in such key battles as Hastings in 1066 and Bouvines in 1214.

The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise

The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise PDF Author: Dario Fernandez-Morera
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1684516293
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
A finalist for World Magazine's Book of the Year! Scholars, journalists, and even politicians uphold Muslim-ruled medieval Spain—"al-Andalus"—as a multicultural paradise, a place where Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived in harmony. There is only one problem with this widely accepted account: it is a myth. In this groundbreaking book, Northwestern University scholar Darío Fernández-Morera tells the full story of Islamic Spain. The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise shines light on hidden history by drawing on an abundance of primary sources that scholars have ignored, as well as archaeological evidence only recently unearthed. This supposed beacon of peaceful coexistence began, of course, with the Islamic Caliphate's conquest of Spain. Far from a land of religious tolerance, Islamic Spain was marked by religious and therefore cultural repression in all areas of life and the marginalization of Christians and other groups—all this in the service of social control by autocratic rulers and a class of religious authorities. The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise provides a desperately needed reassessment of medieval Spain. As professors, politicians, and pundits continue to celebrate Islamic Spain for its "multiculturalism" and "diversity," Fernández-Morera sets the historical record straight—showing that a politically useful myth is a myth nonetheless.

El Cid, God's Own Champion

El Cid, God's Own Champion PDF Author: James Fitzhenry
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780979630101
Category : Castile (Spain)
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
This book is an inspiring biography about an extraordinary Catholic knight chosen by God to save his nation from Islamic aggression. Known by the honorary title of El Cid, Rodrigo Diaz is an epic hero who is relevant to our time. Exiled by his king, insulted and maligned by those who should have supported him, he selflessly fought against seemingly insurmountable odds to save Christian Spain. Commanding the respect even of his enemies, upon his death a Muslim historian acclaimed him a "miracle among the great miracles of the Almighty." The Cid is an example of what can be achieved through devotion to duty, prayer, and trust in God.

Field Artillery

Field Artillery PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Artillery
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
A professional bulletin for redlegs.

The world of El Cid

The world of El Cid PDF Author: Simon Barton
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526112639
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
Makes available, for the first time in English translation, four of the principal narrative sources for the history of the Spanish kingdom of León-Castile during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Three chronicles focus primarily upon the activities of the kings of León-Castile as leaders of the Reconquest of Spain from the forces of Islam, and especially upon Fernando I (1037-65), his son Alfonso VI (1065-1109) and the latter's grandson Alfonso VII (1126-57). The fourth chronicle is a biography of the hero Rodrigo Díaz, better remembered as El Cid, and is the main source of information about his extraordinary career as a mercenary soldier who fought for Christian and Muslim alike. Covers the fascinating interaction of the Muslim and Christian worlds, each at the height of their power. Each text is prefaced by its own introduction and accompanied by explanatory notes.

Frontier Memory: Cultural Conflict and Exchange in the Romancero fronterizo.

Frontier Memory: Cultural Conflict and Exchange in the Romancero fronterizo. PDF Author: Sizen Yiacoup
Publisher: MHRA
ISBN: 1907322914
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 170

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Book Description
Scholarship on the late medieval and early modern Castilian frontier ballad has tended to fall into two distinct categories: analyses which promote a view of the fronterizo corpus as an instrument of anti-Muslim, nationalist ideology in the service of the Christian Reconquest, or interpretations which favour the perception of the poems as idealizing and distinctly Islamophile in their representations of Granadan Muslims. In this study, Şizen Yiacoup offers readings of the romances fronterizos that take into consideration yet look beyond expressions of cross-cultural hostility or sympathy in order to assess the ways in which the poems recall a process of cultural exchange between Christians and Muslims. An understanding of the relationship between the ballads, their original social setting, and the setting in which they achieved their greatest popularity provides the framework for this interpretation of the poems’ shifting cultural connotations. Accordingly, Yiacoup traces the evolution of their historical and cultural significance as they moved from their origins in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when a Castilian frontier with Islamic Granada was still a reality, into the sixteenth, when this boundary vanished as part of the larger realignment of cultural, territorial and political frontiers of the new ‘Spanish’ empire.

Castle to Fortress

Castle to Fortress PDF Author: J. E. Kaufmann
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1526736888
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
The authors of Castrum to Castle trace the “evolution of defensive architecture at the turn of the late Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance.” —Old Barbed Wire Blog Across western Europe, the long tradition of castle-building took on its most sophisticated form in the later Medieval period and then, in response to the development of gunpowder weapons, it underwent a fundamental change—from castle to fortress. This, the second volume of a highly illustrated new study of medieval fortification, gives a fascinating insight into the last great age of castles and the centuries of violence and conflict they were part of. It traces the advances made between the twelfth and the fifteenth centuries, looking in particular at the form these fortifications took in contexts as different as Italy, Wales, France and the Iberian Peninsula. Many would regard this period in the history of castles as the classic age. It was followed by a phase of relative decline as the conditions of warfare changed and castles had to be adapted to cope with cannon. The conventional castle gave way to new styles of fortification. But, as the authors demonstrate, they were still essential factors in military calculations and campaigns—they were of direct strategic and tactical importance wherever there was an attempt to take or hold territory. “A fascinating treatise on the way such buildings were modified to provide protection from growing threats.” —Books Monthly

The Khazars

The Khazars PDF Author: Mikhail Zhirohov
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472830113
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 50

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Book Description
The Khazars were one of the most important Turkic peoples in European history, dominating vast areas of southeastern Europe and the western reaches of the Central Asian steppes from the 4th to the 11th centuries AD. They were also unique in that their aristocratic and military elites converted to Judaism, creating what would be territorially the largest Jewish-ruled state in world history. They became significant allies of the Byzantine Empire, blocking the advance of Islam north of the Caucasus Mountains for several hundred years. They also achieved a remarkable level of metal-working technology, and their military elite wore forms of iron plate armour that would not be seen in Western Europe until the 14th century. The Khazar state provided the foundations upon which medieval Russia and modern Ukraine were built. Fully illustrated with detailed colour plates, this is a fascinating study into the armies, organisation, armour, weapons and fortifications of the Khazars.