The departure of Boabdil’s Family from the Alhambra (1492). It marked a crucial encounter in a centuries-old clash between two great religions and cultures and symbolised the epoch-changing transition of the kingdom of Granada from Islamic state to Christian territory. This moment of surrender has captured the imagination of writers and artists up to the present day – initially as one of supreme conquest and later because of the extreme poignancy of that ceremony of transition and loss. I and those inside it are yours.” Struggle and diplomacy Sir, these are the keys of this paradise.
At this official, public surrender of Granada to the Christian enemy, Boabdil handed the keys of his city to Ferdinand, and was recorded as saying in Arabic: “God loves you greatly. That desire finally became a reality in 1609, when all Moriscos or converted Muslims were expelled from Spain.īoabdil rode out to meet them, departing from the Gate of Seven Floors at the Alhambra, down steep slopes offering magnificent views of the city he was about to leave forever. It was a gesture that epitomised the aggressively hostile ethos of the Reconquest, which manifested itself in a latent desire to usurp and eliminate that culture and religion. In reality, it was more an act of insolent appropriation and absorption of what was Moorish by the enemy. The Christian rulers had approached Granada accompanied by the cardinal of Spain, Francisco Cisneros, and a brilliant retinue of courtiers and noblemen, among whom was Christopher Colombus.Īll the Christian royalty and knighthood wore Moorish dress, brocade and silk tunics and the waist sash or marlota, in a gesture of apparent respect, a visual statement to placate, reassure and suggest commonality.
On JanuAbdallah Muhammad bin Ali, or Muhammad XII, known as Boabdil, the last Moorish sultan of Granada and head of the Nasrid dynasty, surrendered his city and handed over the keys of the Alhambra to the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile.
It was the moment which set Spain on a course to become the greatest power in early modern Europe.
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