Posted on 04/28/2015 6:26:17 AM PDT by marshmallow
Our story begins in 711 AD — Dark Ages Spain, when Muslims from North Africa have invaded the entire Iberian Peninsula.
No one can withstand their terrible onslaught, with the exception of a few hundred Christian men, women and children in this lonely mountain valley, where they make their desperate last stand.
Blessed be the Queen of our mountain, whose throne is the cradle of Spain… She is Mother and is Queen! Come, pilgrims, before Her we inhale loves divine. And in Her is the soul of the Spanish people.
With the inspiring words of this popular song, dedicated to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Covadonga, sung with all solemnity at the beautiful Sanctuary of her tender advocacy for the people of Asturias, we begin our adventure into the events which led to the epic, Catholic Reconquista of the Iberian peninsula.
Legends tell us of Pelayo (Latin ‘Pelagius’) a Visigoth warrior who fought alongside the doomed King Roderigo at the Battle of Guadalete. Pelayo was captured by the victorious Moors, who brought him to their newly-chosen capital, Cordoba.
On the way, his captors taunted him with the news that his beloved sister had been forced into a Muslim harem. Determined and desperate, Pelayo escaped and made his way through the Cantabrian mountains to his home in the land of the Asturs— what the Romans had called Lucus Asturum.
There, in an ancient city called Cangas de Onís, the princely Pelayo was chosen to be king of the Christians, in 718.
The Christians were considered “rebellious” by the Moorish governor , as they refused to pay the tax imposed. The Moors then began their disciplinary action against these rebellious subjects.
Persecuted as they were, ill-equipped and disorganized, the Christians could not be expected to.....
(Excerpt) Read more at reginamag.com ...
Thank you for that history lesson. It is inspirational.
Those Christians didn’t turn the other cheek.
Interesting article, thanks for posting it.
Great story. Thanks for sharing.
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