Julian, count of Ceuta
Encyclopedia
Julian, Count of Ceuta was a legend
ary Christian local ruler or subordinate ruler in North Africa
who had a role in the Umayyad conquest of Hispania
— a key event in the history of Islam, in which al-Andalus
was to have a major role, and the subsequent history of what were to become Spain and Portugal.
Pillar of Hercules
for Christendom
". There are many conflicting theories as to his precise function and authority. The reasons and circumstances for what is widely reckoned as his act of treachery to the Visigothic Kingdom and to Christianity are the subject of continued controversy, considering the far-reaching results. The fact of his being depicted as the archetypal traitor by many centuries of Spanish historiography has made more difficult the task of distinguishing fact from myth where he is concerned.
Luis Garcia de Valdeavellano writes that, during the Umayyad conquest of North Africa
, in "their struggle against the Byzantines
and the Berbers
, the Arab
chieftains had greatly extended their African dominions, and as early as the year 682 Uqba
had reached the shores of the Atlantic
, but he was unable to occupy Tangier
, for he was forced to turn back toward the Atlas Mountains
by a mysterious person" who became known to history and legend as Count Julian. Muslim
historians have referred to him as Ilyan or Ulyan, "though his real name was probably Julian, the gothic Uldoin or perhaps Urban or Ulbán or Bulian."
Julian is generally regarded as having been a vassal
of Roderic
, king of the Visigoth
s in Hispania
(modern Portugal
and Spain
). But Valdeavellano notes other possibilities.
ian historian
Ibn Abd-el-Hakem
, writing a century and a half after the events, Julian sent one of his daughters to Roderic's court at Toledo
for education (and as a gauge of Julian's loyalty) and Roderic subsequently made her pregnant. Later ballads and chronicles inflated this tale, Muslims making her out an innocent virgin who was ravished, Christians making her a seductress. In Spanish she came to be known as la Cava Rumía
. When Julian learned of the affair he removed his daughter from Roderic's court and, out of vengeance, sold out Hispania to the Muslim invaders, thus making possible the Umayyad conquest of Hispania
.
But this is only a legend. Personal power politics were more likely at play, as better historical evidence points to a civil war among the Visigothic aristocracy. Roderic had been appointed to the throne by the bishop
s of the Visigothic Catholic
church—this appointment snubbing the sons of the previous king, Wittiza
, who died or was killed in 710. So Wittiza's relatives and partisans fled Iberia
for Julian's protection at Ceuta
(Septem), the Pillar of Hercules in North Africa on the northern shore of the Maghreb
. There they gathered with Arians
and Jews fleeing forced conversions at the church's hands.
At that time the surrounding area of the Maghreb had recently been conquered by Musa ibn Nusair, who established his governor, Tariq ibn Ziyad, at Tangier with a Moorish
army of 1,700 men. So Julian approached Musa to negotiate the latter's assistance in an effort to topple Roderic.
What is unclear is whether Julian hoped to place a son of Wittiza on the throne and gain power and preference thereby or whether he was really opening up Iberia to foreign conquest. The latter, though unlikely, isn't inconceivable, given that Julian may have long been on good terms with the Muslims of North Africa and found them to be more tolerant overlords than the Catholic Visigoths. Moreover, if Julian was the Greek commander of the last Byzantine outpost in Africa, he would only have had an alliance with the Kingdom of the Visigoths rather than been part of it.
Perhaps, then, in exchange for lands in al-Andalus
(the Arab name for the area the Visigoths still called by its Roman
name, Hispania), or perhaps to topple a king and his religious allies, Julian provided military intelligence, troops, and ships.
to lead a probe of the Iberian
coast. Legend says that Julian participated as a guide and emissary, arranging for Tarif to be hospitably received by supportive Christians—perhaps Julian's kinsmen, friends, and supporters—who agreed to become allies in the contemplated battle for the Visigothic throne.
The next summer Julian provided the ships to carry Muslim troops across to Europe
. Julian also briefed Tariq, their general. Then the latter left Julian behind among the merchants and crossed the Strait of Hercules
with a force of some 1,700 men. He landed at Gibraltar
(Jebel Tariq in Arabic) on April 30, 711, and thus began the Umayyad conquest of Hispania
.
on July 19, Roderic's army of around 25,000 men was defeated by Tariq's force of approximately 7,000, largely due to a reversal of fortune when the wings commanded by Roderic's relatives Sisbert and Osbert deserted or switched sides—which legend would later attribute to a deliberate plan developed by Julian.
Afterwards Julian was apparently granted the lands he was promised by the Muslims but, as the story goes, lived on friendless and full of guilt for having become a traitor to his kingdom.
writes:
The Jacobean playwright William Rowley recounts Julian's story in his play All's Lost by Lust
(c. 1619).
The British writers Sir Walter Scott
, Walter Savage Landor
, and Robert Southey
handle the legends associated with these events poetically: Scott in "The Vision of Don Roderick" (1811), Landor in his tragedy Count Julian (1812), and Southey in Roderick, the Last of the Goths (1814).
The American writer Washington Irving
retells the legends in his 1835 Legends of the Conquest of Spain, mostly written while living in that country. These consist of "Legend of Don Roderick," "Legend of the Subjugation of Spain," and "Legend of Count Julian and His Family."
Expatriate Spanish novelist Juan Goytisolo
takes up the legends in Count Julian (1970, 1971, 1974), a book in which he, in his own words, imagines "the destruction of Spanish mythology, its Catholicism and nationalism, in a literary attack on traditional Spain." He identifies himself "with the great traitor who opened the door to Arab invasion." The narrator in this novel, an exile in North Africa, rages against his beloved Spain, forming an obsessive identification with the fabled Count Julian, dreaming that, in a future invasion, the ethos and myths central to Hispanic identity will be totally destroyed.
In 2000, Julian's story became a West End musical, La Cava
.
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
ary Christian local ruler or subordinate ruler in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
who had a role in the Umayyad conquest of Hispania
Umayyad conquest of Hispania
The Umayyad conquest of Hispania is the initial Islamic Ummayad Caliphate's conquest, between 711 and 718, of the Christian Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania, centered in the Iberian Peninsula, which was known to them under the Arabic name al-Andalus....
— a key event in the history of Islam, in which al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
was to have a major role, and the subsequent history of what were to become Spain and Portugal.
Identification
It is in fact not certain that the man's name was truly "Julian", or that his function was indeed "Count of Ceuta", though he is commonly mentioned in Christian sources by that name and title, and as having been charged with "holding the AfricanNorth Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
Pillar of Hercules
Pillars of Hercules
The Pillars of Hercules was the phrase that was applied in Antiquity to the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. The northern Pillar is the Rock of Gibraltar in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar...
for Christendom
Christendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
". There are many conflicting theories as to his precise function and authority. The reasons and circumstances for what is widely reckoned as his act of treachery to the Visigothic Kingdom and to Christianity are the subject of continued controversy, considering the far-reaching results. The fact of his being depicted as the archetypal traitor by many centuries of Spanish historiography has made more difficult the task of distinguishing fact from myth where he is concerned.
Luis Garcia de Valdeavellano writes that, during the Umayyad conquest of North Africa
Umayyad conquest of North Africa
The Umayyad conquest of North Africa continued the century of rapid Arab Muslim expansion following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE. By 640 the Arabs controlled Mesopotamia, had invaded Armenia, and were concluding their conquest of Byzantine Syria. Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad caliphate....
, in "their struggle against the Byzantines
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and the Berbers
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
, the Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
chieftains had greatly extended their African dominions, and as early as the year 682 Uqba
Uqba ibn Nafi
Uqba ibn Nafi was an Arab hero and general who was serving the Umayyad dynasty, in Amir Muavia and Yazid periods, who began the Islamic conquest of the Maghreb, including present-day Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Morocco in North Africa. He was the nephew of 'Amr ibn al-'As. Uqba is often surnamed...
had reached the shores of the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, but he was unable to occupy Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
, for he was forced to turn back toward the Atlas Mountains
Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains is a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert...
by a mysterious person" who became known to history and legend as Count Julian. Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
historians have referred to him as Ilyan or Ulyan, "though his real name was probably Julian, the gothic Uldoin or perhaps Urban or Ulbán or Bulian."
Julian is generally regarded as having been a vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
of Roderic
Roderic
Ruderic was the Visigothic King of Hispania for a brief period between 710 and 712. He is famous in legend as "the last king of the Goths"...
, king of the Visigoth
Visigoth
The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germans who spread through the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period...
s in Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
(modern Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
). But Valdeavellano notes other possibilities.
Rift with Roderic
According to the EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Ibn Abd-el-Hakem
Ibn Abd-el-Hakem
Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam was an Egyptian chronicler who wrote the History of the Conquest of Egypt and North Africa and Spain.His work is invaluable as the earliest Arab account of the Islamic conquests of those countries. This work was written about 150-200 years after the events it describes, and...
, writing a century and a half after the events, Julian sent one of his daughters to Roderic's court at Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
for education (and as a gauge of Julian's loyalty) and Roderic subsequently made her pregnant. Later ballads and chronicles inflated this tale, Muslims making her out an innocent virgin who was ravished, Christians making her a seductress. In Spanish she came to be known as la Cava Rumía
Rûm
Rûm, also Roum or Rhum , an indefinite term used at different times in the Muslim world to refer to the Balkans and Anatolia generally, and for the Byzantine Empire in particular, for the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm in Asia Minor, and referring to Greeks living outside of Greece or non-muslims...
. When Julian learned of the affair he removed his daughter from Roderic's court and, out of vengeance, sold out Hispania to the Muslim invaders, thus making possible the Umayyad conquest of Hispania
Umayyad conquest of Hispania
The Umayyad conquest of Hispania is the initial Islamic Ummayad Caliphate's conquest, between 711 and 718, of the Christian Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania, centered in the Iberian Peninsula, which was known to them under the Arabic name al-Andalus....
.
But this is only a legend. Personal power politics were more likely at play, as better historical evidence points to a civil war among the Visigothic aristocracy. Roderic had been appointed to the throne by the bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s of the Visigothic Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
church—this appointment snubbing the sons of the previous king, Wittiza
Wittiza
Wittiza was the Visigothic King of Hispania from 694 until his death, co-ruling with his father, Ergica, until 702 or 703.-Joint rule:...
, who died or was killed in 710. So Wittiza's relatives and partisans fled Iberia
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
for Julian's protection at Ceuta
Ceuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
(Septem), the Pillar of Hercules in North Africa on the northern shore of the Maghreb
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
. There they gathered with Arians
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
and Jews fleeing forced conversions at the church's hands.
At that time the surrounding area of the Maghreb had recently been conquered by Musa ibn Nusair, who established his governor, Tariq ibn Ziyad, at Tangier with a Moorish
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
army of 1,700 men. So Julian approached Musa to negotiate the latter's assistance in an effort to topple Roderic.
What is unclear is whether Julian hoped to place a son of Wittiza on the throne and gain power and preference thereby or whether he was really opening up Iberia to foreign conquest. The latter, though unlikely, isn't inconceivable, given that Julian may have long been on good terms with the Muslims of North Africa and found them to be more tolerant overlords than the Catholic Visigoths. Moreover, if Julian was the Greek commander of the last Byzantine outpost in Africa, he would only have had an alliance with the Kingdom of the Visigoths rather than been part of it.
Perhaps, then, in exchange for lands in al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
(the Arab name for the area the Visigoths still called by its Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
name, Hispania), or perhaps to topple a king and his religious allies, Julian provided military intelligence, troops, and ships.
Umayyad reconnaissance
But Musa was initially unsure of Julian's project and so in July 710 directed Tarif ibn MallukTarif ibn Malluk
Tarif ibn Malluk was a Berber commander under Tariq ibn Ziyad, the Berber Muslim and Umayyad general who led the conquest of Visigothic Hispania in 711. In July of 710 CE, Tariq sent Tarif on a raid to test the southern coastline of the Iberian peninsula...
to lead a probe of the Iberian
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
coast. Legend says that Julian participated as a guide and emissary, arranging for Tarif to be hospitably received by supportive Christians—perhaps Julian's kinsmen, friends, and supporters—who agreed to become allies in the contemplated battle for the Visigothic throne.
The next summer Julian provided the ships to carry Muslim troops across to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Julian also briefed Tariq, their general. Then the latter left Julian behind among the merchants and crossed the Strait of Hercules
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa. The name comes from Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic Jebel Tariq , albeit the Arab name for the Strait is Bab el-Zakat or...
with a force of some 1,700 men. He landed at Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
(Jebel Tariq in Arabic) on April 30, 711, and thus began the Umayyad conquest of Hispania
Umayyad conquest of Hispania
The Umayyad conquest of Hispania is the initial Islamic Ummayad Caliphate's conquest, between 711 and 718, of the Christian Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania, centered in the Iberian Peninsula, which was known to them under the Arabic name al-Andalus....
.
Battle of Guadalete and aftermath
Later, in the Battle of GuadaleteBattle of Guadalete
The Battle of Guadalete was fought in 711 or 712 at an unidentified location between the Christian Visigoths of Hispania under their king, Roderic, and an invading force of Muslim Arabs and Berbers under Ṭāriq ibn Ziyad. The battle was significant as the culmination of a series of Arab-Berber...
on July 19, Roderic's army of around 25,000 men was defeated by Tariq's force of approximately 7,000, largely due to a reversal of fortune when the wings commanded by Roderic's relatives Sisbert and Osbert deserted or switched sides—which legend would later attribute to a deliberate plan developed by Julian.
Afterwards Julian was apparently granted the lands he was promised by the Muslims but, as the story goes, lived on friendless and full of guilt for having become a traitor to his kingdom.
Literary treatments
In Part I, Chapter 41, of Don Quixote (1605), Miguel de CervantesMiguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written...
writes:
- Meanwhile, the wind having changed we were compelled to head for the land, and ply our oars to avoid being driven on shore; but it was our good fortune to reach a creek that lies on one side of a small promontory or cape, called by the Moors that of the "Cava rumia," which in our language means "the wicked Christian woman;" for it is a tradition among them that La Cava, through whom Spain was lost, lies buried at that spot; "cava" in their language meaning "wicked woman," and "rumia" "Christian;" moreover, they count it unlucky to anchor there when necessity compels them, and they never do so otherwise. (Spanish text.)
The Jacobean playwright William Rowley recounts Julian's story in his play All's Lost by Lust
All's Lost by Lust
All's Lost by Lust is a Jacobean tragedy by William Rowley. A "tragedy of remarkable frankness and effectiveness," "crude and fierce," it was written between 1618 and 1620.-Publication:...
(c. 1619).
The British writers Sir Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
, Walter Savage Landor
Walter Savage Landor
Walter Savage Landor was an English writer and poet. His best known works were the prose Imaginary Conversations, and the poem Rose Aylmer, but the critical acclaim he received from contemporary poets and reviewers was not matched by public popularity...
, and Robert Southey
Robert Southey
Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843...
handle the legends associated with these events poetically: Scott in "The Vision of Don Roderick" (1811), Landor in his tragedy Count Julian (1812), and Southey in Roderick, the Last of the Goths (1814).
The American writer Washington Irving
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
retells the legends in his 1835 Legends of the Conquest of Spain, mostly written while living in that country. These consist of "Legend of Don Roderick," "Legend of the Subjugation of Spain," and "Legend of Count Julian and His Family."
Expatriate Spanish novelist Juan Goytisolo
Juan Goytisolo
Juan Goytisolo is a Spanish poet, essayist, and novelist. He currently lives in a voluntary self-exile in Marrakech.-Background:Juan Goytisolo was born to an aristocratic family...
takes up the legends in Count Julian (1970, 1971, 1974), a book in which he, in his own words, imagines "the destruction of Spanish mythology, its Catholicism and nationalism, in a literary attack on traditional Spain." He identifies himself "with the great traitor who opened the door to Arab invasion." The narrator in this novel, an exile in North Africa, rages against his beloved Spain, forming an obsessive identification with the fabled Count Julian, dreaming that, in a future invasion, the ethos and myths central to Hispanic identity will be totally destroyed.
In 2000, Julian's story became a West End musical, La Cava
La Cava
La Cava is a musical with a book by Dana Broccoli, lyrics by John Claflin and Laurence O'Keefe, additional lyrics by Shaun McKenna and music by O'Keefe and Stephen Keeling....
.
External links
- Ibn Abd-el-Hakem, Medieval Sourcebook: The Islamic Conquest of Spain
- Spanish-language traditional versions of the romanceRomance (genre)As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as...
of the seduction of La Cava. - Leyenda y nacionalismo: alegorías de la derrota en La Malinche y Florinda "La Cava", Spanish-language article by Juan F. Maura comparing La Cava and Mexican Malinche.