In 1482, Abu Abdallah Muhammad XI, known as Boabdil, became the twenty-third Muslim emir of Granada. He would be the last. His bitter defeat by Christian forces brought over seven centuries of Muslim rule in Spain to an end in a story of intrigue, treachery, bravery and tragedy. This talk is focused on a man demonized by history as a cowardly traitor yet seen in a different light in his time, as original historical documents and contemporary sources suggest. It aims to tell the story of the fall of Muslim Granada from his point of view, and to present him as a man who might be seen as a modern-day hero.
Starting with the origins and development of Islamic al-Andalus, the discussion moves to the thirteenth-century founding of the Nasrid dynasty and shows how the cultured and stable society it created was all but destroyed by family feuding by 1482, when Boabdil seized the throne. The new Sultan faced betrayals by his family and increasingly damaging onslaughts from the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella, monarchs of the newly united Catholic kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. By stratagem, diplomacy and courage Boabdil prolonged his reign for ten years, but his emirate never had much chance of survival. In 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella, magnificently attired in Moorish costume, entered Granada and took possession of the city, and Boabdil went into exile. It was a day that marked the transition of Granada from Islamic emirate to Christian kingdom, and the end of Islamic rule in western Europe.
Elizabeth Drayson is Emeritus Fellow in Spanish at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge. She specializes in medieval and early modern cultural history and is the author of books on the legend of King Roderick and La Cava, and the Lead Books of Granada, as well as The Moor’s Last Stand: How seven centuries of Muslim rule in Spain came to an end, which was one of The Times and Sunday Times best history books of 2017. Her latest book, Lost Paradise: the story of Granada, was published by Head of Zeus in 2021. She lives in Cambridge and Norfolk.
To join online (tea & coffee from 5pm - talk starts at 5.15pm UK time).
us06web.zoom.us/j/91075056246?pwd=VC9VVm1YU01ablMzcDdVOUVjdnVMUT09
All are welcome.