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I'm familiar with English history of that time, but my knowledge of history on the continent has a lot of holes in it. It's one of those things I keep meaning to get to, but instead I find myself learning bits & pieces as issues get raised. Someone (you?) brought up the 30 year war & I confused it with the Kalmar war, even though they were very different wars.

I know Mel Brooks movies have their audience, but they seem to put me to sleep. Popular American knowledge passes me by, but a lot of the stuff I'm interested in causes people's eyes to glaze over if I try to talk about it.

Back to the issue at hand, kinda. I heard that the tradition of serving ham on Easter began during the Spanish Inquisition. Hanging hams by doorways & serving pork became a way of proving conversion to Christianity.

See, you deal in dates & big events, while I deal in minutia. lol

I kinda knew Charlemagne was in power around the earlier date you mentioned & I also knew he has been credited with upholding & spreading Western Christianity, so I wanted to find out what part, if any he played into it all. I find him making an alliance with an Islamic ruler against Christian Spain? Then again, he was German & he ruled France... :::snicker:::

Thank you for sharing your interesting knowledge.

BTW, I looked back at your list of victories for Roman Catholic Spain & somewhere in the back of my mind I find myself reaching for an Italian name... Catherine de' Medici & all of the intrigue that swirled around her & her family. Didn't assassinations & brokered deals have a lot to do with France finally settling down to be a Roman Catholic nation?

I heard that the tradition of serving ham on Easter began during the Spanish Inquisition. Hanging hams by doorways & serving pork became a way of proving conversion to Christianity. See, you deal in dates & big events, while I deal in minutia. lol

There is a Portuguese dish, carne de porco com ameijoas (pork and clams) that served the same purpose. However, since Muslims could eat neither pork nor shellfish, it was a double whammy. :-)

I find myself reaching for an Italian name... Catherine de' Medici & all of the intrigue that swirled around her & her family.

Catherine de Medici was Queen of France, ruled as Regent for he second son, Charles IX, and continued to dominate him even after he reached his majority. She played a balance of power game between the Huguenots and the Roman Catholics led by the house of Guise.

As I recall, the Pope once asked his Papal Ambassador to France what Catherine's true beliefs were, Catholic or Protestant. The Ambassador replied, "Your Holiness, the Queen does not believe in God."

Didn't assassinations & brokered deals have a lot to do with France finally settling down to be a Roman Catholic nation?

When the Protestant Henry of Navarre was foiled in his attempt to capture Paris by force of arms by Spanish intervention in 1590, he decided to renounce Protestantism and convert to Catholicism. He was then accepted and crowned as King Henry IV of France in 1594.

His comment was, "Paris vaut bien une messe (Paris was worth a Mass)."