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Moorish Spain - help!
Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree by Tariq Ali. I've not read it, but I have read and enjoyed The Book of Saladin by him.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard nI chasront
'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'
Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal
www.elizabethchadwick.com
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard nI chasront
'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'
Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal
www.elizabethchadwick.com
[quote=""sweetpotatoboy""]I agree the Kay book is interesting, though not directly relevant.
[/quote]
I don't know about that. If you've read both Irving's Tales of the Alhambra and Kay's Lions of Al-Rassan you'll find yourself nodding your head saying things such as, "Ah... so that's what inspired that plot strand and that's why Kay set it up that way..." Of course, this period in Spain's history is a goldmine for inspiring historicals. There's so much to cover, and it's a tangled web.
[/quote]
I don't know about that. If you've read both Irving's Tales of the Alhambra and Kay's Lions of Al-Rassan you'll find yourself nodding your head saying things such as, "Ah... so that's what inspired that plot strand and that's why Kay set it up that way..." Of course, this period in Spain's history is a goldmine for inspiring historicals. There's so much to cover, and it's a tangled web.
[quote=""laurtosky""]My sister and I have been searching for books on Moorish Spain, with no luck! I'd love to start with books set in the later periods at its cultural height. I'm hoping to find something set in or around Alhambra palace (something on Ferdinand and Isabel's lives there would interest me, also). I am also interested in the early Muslim caliphates, but I don't know if I'll be able to find fiction on that subject. Any suggestions? I can't believe how hard it's been to find anything!
Thank you in advance!![/quote]
Since you asked about Ferdinand and Isabella as well, there are a couple by Laurence Schoonover that you'll really enjoy.
The Queen's Cross- Very good telling of Ferdinand and Isabella and their triumphs and tradegies, professional and personal
The Prisoner of Tordesillas- the tragic story of their daughter and her descent into dementia after she loses her husbands
Key of Gold-a broader story that begins in Spain under Torquemada, then ranges out.
Thank you in advance!![/quote]
Since you asked about Ferdinand and Isabella as well, there are a couple by Laurence Schoonover that you'll really enjoy.
The Queen's Cross- Very good telling of Ferdinand and Isabella and their triumphs and tradegies, professional and personal
The Prisoner of Tordesillas- the tragic story of their daughter and her descent into dementia after she loses her husbands
Key of Gold-a broader story that begins in Spain under Torquemada, then ranges out.
- sweetpotatoboy
- Bibliophile
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- Location: London, UK
[quote=""Jack""]Why avoid the L'Amour?[/quote]
Oh, I just found it ridiculously far-fetched, heavy-handed and with two-dimensional characterisations. Plus, he originally planned further books in the series but never wrote them. But a lot of people love it and it has a certain appeal as an OTT swashbuckler story, I suppose.
Oh, I just found it ridiculously far-fetched, heavy-handed and with two-dimensional characterisations. Plus, he originally planned further books in the series but never wrote them. But a lot of people love it and it has a certain appeal as an OTT swashbuckler story, I suppose.
- cw gortner
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In Spanish, these are some I can recommend:
Jesus Sanchez Adalid: El Mozarabe
Jesus Sancez Adalid: El Cautivo
Isabel Sebastian: La Vizigoda
Jesus Sanchez Adalid: El Mozarabe
Jesus Sancez Adalid: El Cautivo
Isabel Sebastian: La Vizigoda
THE QUEEN'S VOW available on June 12, 2012!
THE TUDOR SECRET, Book I in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles
THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI
THE LAST QUEEN
www.cwgortner.com
THE TUDOR SECRET, Book I in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles
THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI
THE LAST QUEEN
www.cwgortner.com
- Margaret
- Bibliomaniac
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- Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
- Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
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Geraldine Brooks' People of the Book traces the history of a Jewish prayer book back to its origin in medieval Seville. Jews were protected under medieval Muslim rule, including in Moorish Spain, and were driven out along with the Moors by Ferdinand and Isabella. People of the Book is about the interchanges between European Jews and Muslims through history from the Middle Ages into the present. It's very well written. I've reviewed it at http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/People ... -Book.html.
Last edited by Margaret on Fri January 9th, 2009, 5:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info
- sweetpotatoboy
- Bibliophile
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- MLE (Emily Cotton)
- Bibliomaniac
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- Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
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[quote=""Margaret""]Geraldine Brooks' People of the Book traces the history of a Jewish prayer book back to its origin in medieval Seville. Jews were protected under medieval Muslim rule, including in Moorish Spain, and were driven out along with the Moors by Ferdinand and Isabella. People of the Book is about the interchanges between European Jews and Muslims through history from the Middle Ages into the present. It's very well written. I've reviewed it at http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/People ... -Book.html.[/quote]
Must correct a general misconception here -- The Moors were not expelled when the Jews were. The treaty for the surrender of Granada allowed them to keep their religion. That was changed later by Cardinal Cisneros in the city itself, but not in the treaty area of the Alpujarra, granted to the defeated monach Boabdil (Abu Abdullah XII). The expulsion came sixty years later, towards the end of the reign of Charles V, after the last major revolt by the Mudejars.
Must correct a general misconception here -- The Moors were not expelled when the Jews were. The treaty for the surrender of Granada allowed them to keep their religion. That was changed later by Cardinal Cisneros in the city itself, but not in the treaty area of the Alpujarra, granted to the defeated monach Boabdil (Abu Abdullah XII). The expulsion came sixty years later, towards the end of the reign of Charles V, after the last major revolt by the Mudejars.
- MLE (Emily Cotton)
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 3566
- Joined: August 2008
- Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
- Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
- Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
- Location: California Bay Area
Oops, I was a little early on the date, but the brain is turning into pudding. The final expulsion was under Philip III in 1609. Although religious toleration ended with the aforementioned revolt, which actually happened under Charles V's son Philip II in 1568.
this Wikipedia article has the particulars.
Please note that Wiki is what it is, by which I mean not always correct. I bet if you go to the Ferdinand and Isabella page, it could very well say that they expelled the Muslims -- which is how these inaccuracies get perpetuated. I know of one article that had a vociferous opponent of the Spanish Inquisition (Queen Isabella's confessor Hernando Talavera) listed as one of the supporters. Guilt by association, I suppose.
this Wikipedia article has the particulars.
Please note that Wiki is what it is, by which I mean not always correct. I bet if you go to the Ferdinand and Isabella page, it could very well say that they expelled the Muslims -- which is how these inaccuracies get perpetuated. I know of one article that had a vociferous opponent of the Spanish Inquisition (Queen Isabella's confessor Hernando Talavera) listed as one of the supporters. Guilt by association, I suppose.