#Conquest of Seville

[rabbitcruiser]

The Conquest of Seville by Christian troops under King Ferdinand III of Castile: the city capitulated on 23 November 1248.  

[dlyarchitecture]

[readyforevolution]

WHEN BLACK-MEN RULED THE WORLD

Some Things You Did Not Know About the Moors of Spain

1. The Spanish occupation by the Moors began in 711 AD when an African army, under their leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from northern Africa and invaded the Iberian peninsula ‘Andalus’.

2. A European scholar sympathetic to the Spaniards remembered the conquest in this way:

a. The reins of the Moors horses were as fire, their faces black as pitch, their eyes shone like burning candles, their horses were swift as leopards and the riders fiercer than a wolf in a sheepfold at night . . . The noble Goths [the German rulers of Spain to whom Roderick belonged] were broken in an hour, quicker than tongue can tell. Oh luckless Spain!

Quoted in Edward Scobie, The Moors and Portugal’s Global Expansion, in Golden Age of the Moor, ed Ivan Van Sertima, US, Transaction Publishers, 1992, p.336

3. The Moors, who ruled Spain for 800 years, introduced new scientific techniques to Europe, such as an astrolabe, a device for measuring the position of the stars and planets. Scientific progress in Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Geography and Philosophy flourished in Moorish Spain.

4. Basil Davidson, one of the most noted historians recognized and declared that there were no lands at that time (the eighth century) “more admired by its neighbours, or more comfortable to live in, than a rich African civilization which took shape in Spain”

5. At its height, Córdova, the heart of Moorish territory in Spain, was the most modern city in Europe and the world. The streets were well-paved, with raised sidewalks for pedestrians. During the night, ten miles of streets were well illuminated by lamps. This was hundreds of years before there was a paved street in Paris or a street lamp in London. Cordova had 900 public baths – we are told that a poor Moor would go without bread rather than soap while the then

Queen of England never had a bath!

6. The Great Mosque of Córdoba (La Mezquita) is still one of the architectural wonders of the world in spite of later Spanish disfigurements. Its low scarlet and gold roof, supported by 1,000 columns of marble, jasper and and porphyry, was lit by thousands of brass and silver lamps which burned perfumed oil.

7. Education was universal in Moorish Spain, available to all, while in Christian Europe more than ninety-nine percent of the population were illiterate, and even kings could neither read nor write. At that time, Europe had only two universities copied from Spain, the Moors had seventeen great Universities! These were located in Almeria, Cordova, Granada, Juen, Malaga, Seville, and Toledo in which the majority of the lecturers were women.

8. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, public libraries in Europe were non-existent, while Moorish Spain could boast of more than seventy, of which the one in Cordova housed six hundred thousand manuscripts.

9. Over 4,000 Arabic words and Arabic-derived phrases have been absorbed into the Spanish language. Words beginning with “al,” for example, are derived from Arabic. Arabic words such as algebra, alcohol, chemistry, nadir, alkaline, and cipher entered the language. Even words such as checkmate, influenza, typhoon, orange, and cable can be traced back to Arabic origins.

10. The most significant Moorish musician was known as Ziryab, the Blackbird who arrived in Spain in 822. The Moors introduced earliest versions of several instruments, including the Lute or el oud, the guitar or kithara and the Lyre. Ziryab changed the style of eating by breaking meals into separate courses beginning with soup and ending with desserts.

11. The Moors introduced paper to Europe and Arabic numerals, which replaced the clumsy Roman system.

12. The Moors introduced many new crops including the orange, lemon, peach, apricot, fig, sugar cane, dates, ginger and pomegranate as well as saffron, sugar cane, cotton, silk and rice which remain some of Spain’s main products today.

13. The Moorish rulers lived in sumptuous palaces, while the monarchs of Germany, France, and England dwelt in big barns, with no windows and no chimneys, and with only a hole in the roof for the exit of smoke. One such Moorish palace ‘Alhambra’ (literally “the red one”) in Granada is one of Spain’s architectural masterpieces. Alhambra was the seat of Muslim rulers from the 13th century to the end of the 15th century. The Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

14. It was through Africa that the new knowledge of China, India, and Arabia reached Europe. The Moors brought the Compass from China into Europe.

15. The Moors ruled and occupied Lisbon in Portugal (named “Lashbuna” by the Moors) and the rest of the country until well into the twelfth century. They were finally defeated and driven out by the forces of King Alfonso Henriques. The scene of this battle was the ‘Castle of St. George.’

Beginning in the 12th century and continuing for hundreds of years, the Inquisition was infamous for the severity of its tortures and its persecution of Jews and Muslims. Its worst manifestation was in Spain, where the Spanish Inquisition was a dominant force for more than 200 years, resulting in some 32,000 executions.

[glassprism]

Could you plz explain the origin of the names Elissa, Star Princess, and Aminta? TY!

If you want to go solely by the musical, the names "Elissa" and "Aminta" come from the libretto:

We have reached the great choral scene in which Hannibal and his army return to save Carthage from the Roman invasion under Scipio. HANNIBAL is UBALDO PIANGI; ELISSA, Queen of Carthage (his mistress) is CARLOTTA GUIDICELLI. Laughing, DON JUAN puts on PASSARINO's clothes and goes into the curtained alcove where the bed awaits. Although we do not know it yet, the Punjab Lasso has done it's work and SIGNOR PIANGI is no more. When next we see DON JUAN, it will be the PHANTOM. Meanwhile we hear AMINTA (CHRISTINE) singing happily from the distance.

There are also historical reasons for the names; ALW and co. did not just pull those names out of a hat. Elissa is one of the names of Dido, the founder of Carthage, well known if you're into Roman mythology and the works of Virgil. It does make the premise of Phantom's Hannibal rather inaccurate, as Hannibal (also a historical figure) was not around when Elissa/Dido was, but you know, it's opera.

Aminta, meanwhile, is derived from one of the many adaptations based around the figure known as Don Giovanni or Don Juan. ALW's Don Juan Triumphant seems to take it's plot inspiration from Mozart's Don Giovanni, but the name Aminta comes from an earlier adaptation, The Trickster of Seville, where Aminta is one of several of Don Juan's conquests.

The "Star Princess" is a different matter, since it's name does not appear in the libretto or in Maria Bjornson's original design, and in Leroux's novel Christine wears something totally different. (There are very likely people who wore something like Christine did in historical costume balls but I'm not looking up the names of those.) It seems that the name is a backstage one that made it's way into the fandom, and there are likely other names for the dress too that just aren't as popular ("the Masquerade dress", "the sunset dress", etc.).

[horizon-verizon]

I am Palestinian and there is absolutely no characteristic of Palestinian culture in Dorne or the Martells. Their stans only use racial stereotypes about us & orientalist characterization to justify it and prove that the Dornish are “POC” in order to make them seem oppressed, and are pushing even more racism and orientalism towards MENA populations.

According to them, the Dornish are simultaneously Arab, Desi, Amazigh, Iranians, Turkish, and sometimes, Latinos. North African, West Asian, and South Asian countries are lump together as one monolithic “brown people” entity. 30+ countries with multiple, unique, and diverse cultures and religions, very distinct from each other. The Martells simultaneously celebrate Diwali and goes to Hajj. Why would the Dornish follow Hinduism or Islam ?? They largely follow the Faith of the Seven, the Westerosi Catholic Church.

For their edits, they use pictures of the Alcazar of Seville or the Alhambra, castles located in SPAIN, and fancast drop-dead gorgeous INDIANS actresses like Deepika Padukone, Freida Pinto, Aishwarya Rai as Elia (“a kitchen drab”....) or adult Rhaenys. Or Dev Patel as Young Griff. They keep using the screenshot of GRRM listing Palestine as one of his inspiration for Dorne to justify their headcanons, so why do they keep insisting on using Bollywood movies, Indian actors, Indian monuments, saris, etc ?? The only common points between the Alcazar of Seville/Alhambra and the Taj Mahal are the Islamic architecture and the engraving of Quranic verses.

Disclaimer: EDITED, Long, and Repetitive bc of attempt at clarity and Reminding Readers

Maybe coming from this post (I've gone back and edited it with corrections)?

I think it's because people really want to see PoC representation in their high fantasy literature, which is completely valid. However, yeah, the Dornish aren't Palestinian-coded nor Arab/SouthAsian/etc.-coded...I mean, they mainly worship the Seven, too, the Westerosi polytheistic version of Catholicism. So they can't necessarily be 1-1 like Palestine in terms of culture & ethnicity, even though the ME does have Judaism & Christian peoples. Again, Dorne--as far as was told & shown--mainly worship the Seven. (look to section "B", point #1)

The Point: A singular major, past, centuries-old event of intermarriage before the Targs arrived is not a continuous event. The Dornish are nor and have never been subjected to become a state under the Westerosi crown for there to even be a commencement of racialization as by the would-be conquerors of said situation.

The Rhoynar marrying pre-Rhoynar Dornish peoples happened in a few isolated incidents. Afterward, the people became what they now are and after many decades & centuries,

THEREFORE,

they do not have that "two people" identity anymore. They are just "Dornish".

Their ancestry is always brought up mainly because of their custom of noblewomen being equally as able and seen as worthy to rule as their men, esp the Martells. To compare them to Westerosi farther up.

A)

Doylistically, on the one hand, people could claim that the Dornish could claim PoC-ness or be easily adapted into being played by PoC actors in the real modern sense by who they are descended from -> an Essosi people who had darker skin. Yet the Valyrians and Andals--who themselves come from Essos originally!--are "white" by the 1st being "proto-English with a Catholic religious analog and the 2nd being an ancient Rome-analog"?!

The Dornish are not Rhoynish either just because they are descended from the Rhoynar who--a very long time ago (centuries, before the conquest)--intermarried with Andal-descended lords and presumably smallfolk. Ethnically, they are something else entirely (maybe Andal-Rhoynar but that seems insufficient) their own thing from their unique history.

So, we have "Moor" descendants marrying "white" Christian Spaniards. So, like Spaniards and Italians, they seem the "lesser whites" which still makes N.Euro descent and N.Euro look at Italians, Spaniards, or those in Central EU as "lesser whites". Meaning that they have both Andal and Rhoynish roots with the Rhoynish equal primogeniture and opener-sexuality and little-to-no bastard stigma really defining its difference from those Westerosi further north. Dorne is a state with various skin-colored but seemingly non-racialized people (internally, not how the Andal-FM nor Daeron I characterize Dorne) and the Dornish people are a unique ethnic group.

And because race has always been about power and not culture. And the Dornish have always maintained their independence before Daeron II when they voluntarily--for the most part--finally became a vassal state under the feudal royal crown of Westeros.

B)

Before I get into it, "olive" skin is supposed to mean:

moderate or lighter tan or brownish skin, and it is often described as having tan, brown, cream, greenish, yellowish, or golden undertones

Therefore, anyone of any race can have an "olive" tone to their skin:

I was one of those who watched the show before I read the book, and I thought the Martells were PoC and I did some research. Apparently, Oberyn looks like this to one semi-canon source:

🎨 Credit: Magali Villeneuve

And his description:

has the features of a salty Dornishman [more below in section C, but: "These Dornishmen are lithe and dark, with smooth olive skin and long black hair, having been most strongly influenced by the Rhoynar"]. He is a tall, slender, graceful, and fit man, and has a lined and saturnine face with thin eyebrows, black "viper" eyes and a sharp nose. His hair is lustrous and black, with only a few silver streaks, and recedes from his brow in a widow's peak.

Arianne looks something like this in one source:

🎨: tiziano baracchi

Darker than "olive" Her description:

is buxom and beautiful, with olive skin, large dark eyes and long, thick black hair that falls in ringlets to the middle of her back. She has full lips, a husky voice, and round ripe breasts with huge dark nipples. Favoring her mother Mellario, Arianne is short, standing at five foot two.

Mellario was from the Essosi "Free City" city of Norvos but their skin color is not really described.

Oberyn's daughters all have different complexions and mothers of different origins, Westerosi and Essosi (all descriptions from the official wiki):

Obara -- "big-boned woman near to thirty, long-legged, with close-set eyes and with the same rat-brown hair of her mother which she sometimes ties in a knot. She strides quickly and angrily. Obara has callused hands and can have a mannish look." -- mother: unnamed Oldtown prostitute

Nymeria -- "slim and slender as a willow, with straight black hair worn in a long braid which pulls back from a widow's peak. She has dark eyes which are large and lustrous. Her full lips are wine red and curve in a silken smile, and she has high cheekbones. Areo Hotah describes Nym as having pale white skin in A Feast for Crows but mentions her olive skin in A Dance with Dragons." -- unnamed noble Volantene, specifically of the "Old Blood" - Volantis, another Free City in Essos

Tyene -- "is fair, with golden hair and deep blue eyes. Dimples bloom in her cheeks, and she has a gentle, sweet voice" -- mother: a septa from the Reach

Sarella -- "light brown skin" -- mother: the Summer Islander captain of The Feathered Kissed ship

Elia -- black hair/"her black braid flying behind her" (The Winds of Winter, Arianne I) -- mother: Ellaria Sand

Obella, Dorea, and Loreza -- no description as of Nov 5, 2023 -- mother: Ellaria Sand

Ellaria Sand is supposed to look like this:

🎨: amok

Her description:

Although not accounted as a beautiful woman, Ellaria is regarded as attractive and eye-catching, with an exotic, sensuous flair. She has black hair.

AND

"black-haired paramour" &  "She is not truly beautiful, she [Sansa] thought, but something about her draws the eye." (A Storm of Swords; Sansa IV)

And Doran Martell (currently reigning as the Prince of Dorne) has no canonical physical description aside from "His body is soft and shapeless, and the gout has swollen and reddened the joints of his knees, toes, and hands." However, since he is Oberyn's brother we can assume that he most likely has similar "salty Dornish" coloring.

C)

The anon of the first linked post all the way up above: "GRRM himself has said that the closest equivalent of Dorne to the real world is the Moorish influences of Spain, and mentions PALESTINE and Wales as being two other influences. Literally his own words. Even in Game of Thrones, they filmed the Water Garden scenes in the Alcazar of Seville, a beautiful Moorish castle in Spain. That castle was literally built by Muslims and incorporates verses from the Quran and countless traditional Arabic and Islamic architectural elements".

You: "there is absolutely no characteristic of Palestinian culture in Dorne or the Martells. Their stans only use racial stereotypes about us & orientalist characterization to justify it and prove that the Dornish are “POC” in order to make them seem oppressed, and are pushing even more racism and orientalism towards MENA populations" AND "North African, West Asian, and South Asian countries are lump together as one monolithic “brown people” entity." AND "They keep using the screenshot of GRRM listing Palestine as one of his inspiration for Dorne to justify their headcanons, so why do they keep insisting on using Bollywood movies, Indian actors, Indian monuments, saris, etc ?? The only common points between the Alcazar of Seville/Alhambra and the Taj Mahal are the Islamic architecture and the engraving of Quranic verses."

1.

If we are talking about race vs ethnicity & the rise of racism from religious or ethnic differences and a desire for colonial domination...

Dornish people mainly live in their own principality or a kind of state controlled by a "prince" or "princess" that is actually unlike the Rhoynar cities because there were multiple "city-states" under several Rhoynar princes and princesses who, while sharing a language, also likely had different laws and sub-styles of the dress and think of themselves as culturally/ethnically different from each other.

Thus in terms of Dornish people being oppressed or experiencing racial oppression alone (bc with race comes the oppression you cannot separate these twon phenomena since race as a constuct was specifically created for several human right violations and power hierarchies), we cannot compare Dornish people nor the Dornish state to Palestinian refugees and Palestinians living under an apartheid. They are not the same, they are not living under the same conditions of racial or ethnic terror. And yes, a lot of Palestinian people out of this region of the Middle East draw a large part of their Palestinian identity from their memories and terms with the Nakba and the effects of said event that exist today and have been for more than 50 years. What I'd say is similar is that many Dornish may also draw some of their identity from their continued resistance to conquest...but the Dornish are not resisting ethnic cleansing, genocide, or racial extinction. The first Targaryen attempts at conquest were decidedly non-ethnic-cleansing so much as just your average kind of "conquest" that Andal, nonDornish Westerosi have performed against each other before the Daenys and her father ever settled at Dragonstone. Yes, Westerosi can be xenophobic towards Dornishmen but that includes the "stone", fair-skinned Dornishmen as we see from the continuous marcher vs Dornish conflicts over land & grudges/vendettas over past conflicts/deaths.

What are some traits of Palestinians or Palestinian culture that another anon was trying to say the Dornish currently have?

"Game of Thrones"--"filmed the Water Garden scenes in the Alcazar of Seville, a beautiful Moorish"

"the Quran and countless traditional Arabic and Islamic architectural elements"

"Moorish", as Medieval and early-mod period EUs used, referred to Muslim Arab-speakers. Aside from North Africans, Arabs, and Amazigh did include Muslim Europeans, because Islam itself was the defining basis for their difference from those Christian Europeans and the regions where people who adopted Islam or Islamic states dominated where those N.Africans, Arabs, and Amazigh lived. In a medieval context, DOUBLY SO.

Once again, Dorne does not worship any Rhoynish god & their official religion is decidedly of the Faith of the Seven (aside from those of the Greenblood, but these are not a large part, a dominant, nor very influential part of the Dornish population).

Nowhere did GRRM say that the Welsh inspiration only applied to the stony Dornish. Why do people think this? Perhaps because these are the ones closest to the Marches and thus fighting often with Reach/Stormland marchers, they'd be the most Welsh/Irish-like. The Welsh/Irish/Scottish inspiration, however, is the fight for separation from a conquering centralizing entity--societal/governmental separation from the rest of Westeros--& having a separate identity from that almost like Northmen seeing themselves as different culturally and ethnically from "southorn" Andal people and vice versa bc of their different customs regarding the allowed genders to rule that come from Rhoynar customs.

While there will be Rhoynish elements to fashion, architecture, metalworking, and inflection of the Common Tongue (accent)...it does not stop the Dornish from, again:

recognizing that their state language is the Common Tongue [the Red Princes & some of their descendants of the Martells tried to eradicate the use of the Rhoynish language from the Red Princes] even though many of the Dornish's accents are very influenced by the Rhoynar to the current day

worshipping the Seven and not Rhoynish gods

having some elements of Andal fashion and architecture along with Andal ones, even if the "stony" Dornish have more Andal influence in dress, etc. [think of Spain and its Arab or Islamic architecture...Spain is a European country]

having a class system similar to Andal-FM Westeros: aristocracy, or the "ruling class" vs everyone else [less about the culture here, more about hierarchy structure which is not the same as a culture]

No matter how far down south or into the desert we go. Of course, dress will change in different Dornish regions' climates but also by class and/or wealth.

2.

And this is said screenshot of GRRM talking about the influences that made Dorne what it is ("So Spake Martin", 2000):

"flavor given the culture [previous Andal Dorne preNymeria] by the great Rhoynar influx"

"South of the wall a hot, dry country more like Spain or Palestine [not just Palestine, and this was referring to climate in the first place, not culture]"

"Moorish influence [not dominant power or overlord] in parts of Spain [not an African, Asian, etc. region, again, emphasis on it being like Spain with an "outsider" "influence"]"

"Dorne is Wales mixed with Spain and Palestine with some entirely imaginary influences mixed in" [emphasis on Dorne being claimed as an amalgamation with just one PoC real-world state with PoC populations]

People need to see GRRM's "mixing and matching", and no "non-for-one transplants" regarding PoC influences. Westeros, though obviously an England/Anglo-Saxon "transplant", is still not exactly historically like England in that Dorne is similar but not equal to Wales or Spain or Turkey/Palestine yet not itself equal to a Caliphate due to religion and language.

However, aside from the Dornish not really even being a part of a racialized state under a dominant power racialized as superior, this is what GRRM says about the Dornish and Martells (his blog, 2013):

This is about what GRRM said in terms of JUST physical appearance -> "As for the Dornishmen, well, though by and large I reject one to one analogies, I've always pictured the "salty Dornish" as being more Mediterranean than African in appearance; Greek, Spanish, Italian, Portugese, etc. Dark hair and eyes, olive skin. Pedro Pascal is Chilean. (Check out Amok's version of the Red Viper, that's how I saw him. Or Magali Villenueve's beautiful and sexy portrait of Princess Arianne)."

And this was one of the responses:

Most relevant piece bc it mirrors the anon's definitions of race: "If Alessandro de'Medici was the Duke of Florence, why not a brown man as the Prince of Dorne? Even now, with your description of Dorne as "Mediterranean," I immediately think of the vastness of the region, which saw so much North African and Middle Eastern influence."

This entire exchange on GRRM's website reveals that originally the Martells/most Dornish were inspired by EU Mediterranean people, like the Portuguese or Spaniards, Greeks and Italians.

a.

While it's certainly possible bc of the proximity of geographical locations within the Mediterranean regions and the population makeup of various Italian states including "Moor" and darker-skinned folks, we don't know for absolutely certain if Alessandro de Medici truly had a slave-servant mother or otherwise an Arab/African mother--he was one man whom many in those upper circles wanted gone for their own rise to power.

Unfortunately, while there shouldn't be anything wrong with being of a woman with a different ethnicity or religion, claiming that he was from a "Moor" mother would be a way for other people to try to diminish his reputation and likeness-peerage with those in court as Alicent and the greens trying to claim Rhaenyra was unfaithful to Laenor and that her kids with him are actually bastards to ruin her reputation. It wouldn't be about the "truth" so much as swaying public opinion with certain details of appearance. A political strategy.

At the same time, who knows, perhaps they used the fact of him looking darker than a lot of EUs around them...but the EUs themselves have married N.Africans and also came in several "shades"...so yeah.

If we are only talking Watsoniansly/in-world/in-text vs modern ethnic (not racial) identities, your mother being a "Moor" or Muslim did not make you yourself a Muslim, Moor, or racially "Black" or Arab, and "biracial"/"mixed race"--as a racial term or category of Blackness or whiteness--wasn't a thing for these Italians.

b.

One man/a few people in higher circles or in power doesn't make the entire family or state PoC when most of them appear pale, speak a specific Italian dialect, AND live under European customs forever after and before.

His presence did not recreate the entire Medici or anyone descended from them into Africans/Arabs ethnically nor racially. "Racially", he would have been seen as "more" "noble Italian Christian" than anything, even with some using his skin to liken him to the socially suspected, racialized "Moors". And just because there were absolutely NA. and M.E. influences in many non-EU and EU music, literature, architecture, etc., doesn't make every Mediterranean person PoC. (We find out that the idea of courtly love partially was influenced by an Islamic mystical conception of love itself as being "a delightful disease, as demanding of faithful service" [coming from Crusade contact]. It doesn't suddenly mean that "Italy" [one of the first regions to pass down such things through Petrarch] became/was/is a PoC region. Still doesn't make Italians PoC.)

RACE - Mediterranean/Italian/Spaniard/Portuguese/Southern Europeans have BOTH been racialized as "lesser" whites in early modern period European AND have the closest proximity to the "best" whiteness that always becomes THE definition of "white" under pre-WWII phrenology and eugenic scientific racism. "Best" becomes "true", never leaving its own hierarchy but always able to retreat back into its own "absolute naturality" to justify that created hierarchy. These two things came hand in hand and justified each other because both sought to "prove" that "biological and behavioral characteristics were fixed and unchangeable, and placed individuals, populations and nations inside of that hierarchy" through skull measurements...which itself comes from that medieval idea of one's "nobility" or lack thereof being indicative in appearance.

As I said above, even today, some white people of Protestant-N.European backgrounds sometimes look at Italians/Italian-descent people through their stereotypes of being "hotblooded", and hypersexual "white" people. This is most definitely an element of racialization. These "other" whites are those descended from the NorthWestern regions of Europe (England, France, Germany, and Scandinavia/Nordic people).

c. HOWEVER!!!!! [now we're talking TV adaptations]

The user in the pics above who wished for more PoC representation in the TV and book series through the Martells makes a good point that "Mediterranean" doesn't have to be limited to the European Med regions and peoples. Because N.African, ME, etc. peoples (those not racially classified as "white") are also directly connected to the Mediterranean Sea: Turkey, Egypt, Palestine, Libya, Algeria, etc...it's weird how race makes us consider these people not Mediterranean, but that's race for you, it denies culture and ethnicity for the sake of "white" supremacy

GRRM does conflate the general Mediterranean with EU Med, and that's because the racial category "Mediterranean" defines "Mediterranean" as "white people from Spain, Italy, etc"

While there weren't "black", "PoC", "brown" racial categorizations in any Arthurian legends nor the societies that these came from, there were racializations (as in descriptions and sense of the person that made them different by look by some "degree" even if not toally by "kind") of characters that were told to be of different/non-EU origins.

they were expressing the racial problems with GRRM's original intent for the Martells and some Dornish to be imagined as those who'd be categorized as PoC or brown in the modern world, telling us that there is room for PoC in-world leaders and nobles as there were in Arthurian legends and other medieval romances

They were right to point out the overall, serious difference in how most PoC-confirmed or imagined or similar people were more "supporting characters" to specific "white" characters and that there was a transmedia need for more diversity where the PoC-acted/played characters in adaptations since the original works AND adaptations are made for racialized audiences of the modern world.

d.

Like with Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre--where Rochester's first, "mad" wife, Jamaica-born, Creole-heritage Bertha Mason, aka Bertha Antoinetta Rochester--we see a lot of debate over characters' racial identities between white and PoC readers in multiple EU pieces of literature. This is a thing descended from that academic conflict that is sociopolitically motivated.

The documented hot refusal from many white historians and "lay" white readers to even contemplate the possibilities of a PoC-featured-character (positively or not) under certain circumstances comes from the enduring acceptance and expectation that most mainstream media will have whiteness at the center and default of the story. That the media is created and will be created and should be created for white audiences. which is exactly what we should be breaking.

3.

So, I believe that the reason we have people saying the Martells are PoCs is because they saw the definite potential of modern racialization from the precursors of true racial categories happening in ASoIaF that can become like those in real modern societies; they wanted to see themselves or their experiences in the fiction they engage with, just like that user above. Just like that commentator. So they use South East Asian clothes and other things to fan cast/re-cast/reimagine even after what GRRM has made bc before then they have already built that picture for years since they read the main series and before the show aired.

When English/NW Europeans and pre-1800s writers say things like "swarthy" or "tall, dark, and handsome", they were not usually saying this person was as dark as a Western African but they may sometimes use racial/color ideology to characterize a EU white person as "too passionate", "blustering", "angry", and "lacking enough proper restraint". GRRM is the same, as he tells us in the picture above from his blog!

And since we can't always detect a person's race or lineage just by looking at them, it also still means that they may have African or Middle Eastern ancestry. Then we got to ask ourselves when and where do some of our (mostly the U.S. I refer to, but other countries' racial categories are still very different) definitions of race need to overshadow the text/past racial categorizations and racializations? It's even stranger when you realize that even caring about something like this comes from a very specific history series of particular events of people performing racialization.

But even though the now-Dornish are a people who have been forever changed by pre-Rhoynar Dornish men's intermarriages with Rhoynar women, their kids (and not the nonDornish Westerosi) were the ones to determine what Dorne would look like.

Though they seem to match the definition of a "mixed race" and therefore are equal to persons racialized as "PoC" today, in many societies like the U.S. (one-drop and grandfather clause), that simply doesn't exist for Dorne because there was no nonDornish oppressive power that defined legal racial definitions that affected their infrastructure or made them second-class citizens for them to then develop their own ethnicity like Black people in the U.S, which is its own race-ethnicity developed from legal and economic atrocities and racialization.

Most of the oppression common-born Dornish face is from Dornish aristocracy! Class-based rather than race or religion-based.

Yeah, there's a possibility that some people felt a sort of having two different identities as the kids and even grandkids of Nymeria's women and the pre-Rhoynar Dornish men, but without that element of another group enforcing a new racialization to further divide the Dornish (as Daeron I foreshadows or clues us in?!) all there is that shared history and Martell overlordship, and the Martells are one of those with the most Rhoynish/not-Andal-FM influence. Of course, most of Dorne will follow suit. There are no laws in place to determine who is "PoC", "Coloured", or "white" or any ASoIaF-fantasy version. They have a past/centuries-old and successful intermarrying between (mainly male) Martells and Nymeria's (mostly female) people WHILE having the same language and religion as the rest of Westeros, as well as other customs.

With the way GRRM made them, they are both "white" and not "white" (according to NorthWestern Europeans of the 1800s onwards) because "whiteness" as an actual race is not a thing in Westeros. And for the sake of readers looking for people to claim to have PoCness, whiteness itself has undergone several definitions according to the immediate political needs of those holding the higher positions of power or influence in the state or groups within states seeking political privileges from being racialized by that dominant society's legal and social systems.

This means they can be as "dark" as GoT Oberyn and even have what some modern people see as Arabic physical features (which kinda makes little sense bc Arabs share a lot of features with some "Med" Europeans, especially Turkish ones and Palestinian Arabs themselves have a spectrum of color, face shape, etc.) but we also see how they can be quite diverse in the canon with paler "stony" (not a true ethnicity, this is a racial category that Dornsih people do not see to acknowledge and therefore is not an ethnicity) people and Oberyn's paler daughter Tyene.

Refrain: The Summer Islanders, though, ARE DEFINITELY the "Black" people of Westeros. As GRRM says in the pic I showed.

D)

Again, "race" existed AND continues to exist to differentiate the "inferior" people from the "superior" "white" race of paler-skinned, loose/flat-haired, North-Western-then-South European peoples whose ancestors they could trace or identify with most were Christians. Whether in Brazil, all EU countries, the U.S., etc. Yes, European people/countires can be and continue to be extremely discriminatory and racist, esp against Africans and Romans. Individually and legally.

In the modern world, race is categorized differently across today's world, as evidenced by what "black" means in Brazil vs the U.S.; the South African Coloured group vs "black" vs "white" vs "Indian" (apartheid race categories, and "Coloured" still is relevant and a sort of racial category in S.Africa today); "mestizos" vs "peninsulares" vs "mulattos" of various colonizations-slavery era-to-today S.American, Mesoamerican, Caribbean countries. All because "race" is a socially constructed category, made by culturally-ethnically external persons of power over another group. Ethnicity, however, is and has always been a factually independent phenomenon.

"PoCs" as a term in itself a racial term that means "anyone who is not pale skinned AND of long, consistently 'uninterrupted'/'impure'/ European descent". It is not an ethnic term or a name for an ethnic group.

Ethnicities are social groupings purely based on shared cultural heritage, descent (from specific other ethnicities), culture, religion, and/or language.

In this way, there are 3 main ethnicities in the whole of "Westeros", which are those of FM, Andal, and Rhoynish descent and we could even argue that there may be more unknown smaller groups. And none of these are racial groups! Two of the three also share the exact same religion and language and most customs barring sexuality and primogeniture (except those of the Greenblood, who still speak Rhoynish): those of Andal and those of Rhoynish descent. First Men-descent peoples of the North worship the old gods of pre-human Westeros.

Intermarriages between certain ethnic groups were not systematically and socially outlawed or discouraged to maintain the visible and legal distinctions between racialized groups in either Dorne nor not-Dorne. No ethnic or religious groups are banned from taking certain jobs or entering guilds; no particular groups were banned from living in certain areas or even traveling and using certain items and ways of travel. (We're talking about the humans, not the TWStSotE or the giants, bc we are doing ethnic groups, not totally different species.)

How do groups get racialized and prepped for legalized racialization? Governments--monarchies and aristocracies, here--attempting to better organize their control over populations and consolidate power after past and very recent conflicts with "foreigner-conquerors" like the Muslim conquest of Hispania by the Umayyad Caliphate, to whom the anon before referred (Limpieza de sangre).

Why are they "foreign", besides coming from a literally other region and culture? Medieval people's primary identity marker besides class was religion, and Muslims were considered actual enemies of Christian societies in Europe. People saw religion as the means by which people were "inherently" different:

Especially in a period like the Middle Ages, when religion meant membership of a community much more than adherence to a set of principles or beliefs, there was a sense in which one was born a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew, just as one was born English or Persian. ("Medieval and Modern Concepts of Race and Ethnicity"--Robert Bartlett)

This is also why in medieval literature, Jewish people were referred to as "black" and "dark-skinned" pseudo-metaphorically, as Christians had the "true" faith and therefore were spiritually "bright" or closer to God's "light". And humoral theory, with Jewish people being conceived of as a people with a more melancholic constitution (black bile = melancholy -> night, evil, malice, envy):

The Isagogue, an Arabic introduction to Galenic medicine translated into Latin in the eleventh century, similarly explains that dark skin identifies black bile as the body's ruling humor. (8) The linking of black or dark skin with melancholy continues in European texts of the twelfth and thirteenth century. Short poems delineating humoral types circulate widely in the period; the "Melancholicus" is described as "envious and sad, greedy and close-fisted / not without deceit, fearful, and of mud color [lutei]. ("The Jewish body in black and white in medieval and early modern England"--M. Lindsay Kaplan)

Thus Jewish people were named "black" for their nonChristian-ness and thereby untrustworthy or "grasping" natures.

Then there is the separate history of the idea that "nobility" (as in "bravery", "virtue", and overall "good and attractive 'quality'") could be seen outwardly and obviously through physical features that curiously never actually get a consistent list or picture until the 1200s-1300s (it's always been at least grey eyes and/or blonde hair). We have to remember that the ancient Greeks and Romans were used as the medieval Europeans' inspirations for medicine, morality, philosophy, beauty standards, etc., and they themselves did not give highly detailed portraits of what makes a person "beautiful" or even in just describing women in other than vague, noncomparable terms or singular traits: Athena had "grey-eyes" and that's it...Aphrodite's hair was "long", Briseais was "tall", Chiseas was "not tall", and Hera had "nice arms". Their main concern was what men looked like and if their bodies looked "strong".

It wasn't until poets and bards of the 1200-1300s began to make lists of more features that made women attractive that we get more detailed portraits of "good-looking" people and men vs women attractiveness. (For women, the "best" became to have small and high breasts, grey eyes, blonde hair, pale skin, white teeth, a mouth like a rosebud in size and shape, wider hips, a plump butt, and finally a round and pudgy belly. Basically a "pear-shaped" body). And this turned into the literary device of the "blazon", which the medieval poets (Petrarch popularized it) and later early-modern period poets, dramatists, and other writers, as PoetryFoundation says:

A literary blazon (or blason) catalogues the physical attributes of a subject, usually female. The device was made popular by Petrarch and used extensively by Elizabethan poets.

describing and making the body as a list of individual parts instead of its own whole thing, so that parts of the body can be compared to other things and thus give a certain characterization to the subject that way. The subject themselves becomes less themselves and more the perspective and "dream" of the writer/audience.

And "racial and racist stereotypes—even ostensibly positive ones (such as “Asians are good at math”)—by definition, conflate and confuse biology and culture" ("Were Medieval People Racist?").

Combined -> the setup(s) for early modern-to-current racializations.

E)

We do see some of this sort of attempt or precursor of solid racial categorization from the nonDornish towards Dornish people regardless of class: "salty", "sandy", "stony", and less known, those people who still speak Rhoynish and live by the Greenblood:

The "salty" vs "sandy" vs "stony" things are all exonymic proto-racial categorizations (like the term "Moor") that still don't present different real racial consequences among those Dornish.

Exonymic? Meaning that they are not categorizations made by the native people--noble or not.

It's not like Daeron I would have out-of-the-blue been able to create these categories without there already existing a socialized link between Rhoynish culture and "negative", not-patriarchal-enough nobility. Rhoynish influence/culture directly defines these categories. (But he didn't impose nor did an entire other group of people impose infrastructural change to Dornish society for the sake of their own created racial supremacy...ever.)

There are/were several battles and skirmishes between Stormlanders, Dornish, people of the Dornish Marches, and Reachmen Dornish. AWoIaF relates, "hot-bloodedness and sexual licentiousness, and are still viewed with some mistrust and rivalry by the people of the neighboring Dornish Marches and the Reach". Dorne's equal primogeniture (i.e., far less intense and critical misogyny) and freer sexuality are those things that are made more definitive of the Dornish's political difference and separation from the non-Dornish aristocrats at least at the time of Daeron II's court and marriage [zaldrizer-sovesi] AND "race" as a concept does not track equal to what we consider "race" and those racial experiences PoCs have in modern societies despite these definitions WHILE still indicating ethnic discrimination.

It's funny, because rather than the Jewish "melancholia" described above, the Dornish, by their nonDornish association, would be considered a "sanguine-choleric" people for their "hotbloodeness" and "sexual licentiousness" that really comes from:

a long history of skirmishes with other Andal peoples, then the first 3 Targs and still surviving as their own state, then those eternal ones for revenge and small pieces of resources between houses along the borders of Dorne to the north...leading to the fierce Dornish independent identity

comparatively freer sexualities and fewer sexual restrictions on gender roles (men and women, as men having sex with other men is very taboo and emasculating in the ND, "100%" Andal-FM culture)

and not treating women leaders as an anathema (equal primogeniture)

Yes, there is no racial Dornish diaspora like there is a Jewish or Black diaspora ("the dispersion or spread of a people from their original homeland" usually due to wars, violence, displacement, etc.). With Dorne and Dornish people being politically and culturally independent--both in idea and practically since before Daeron II's marriage to Myriah Martell--there were definitely Dornish people moving in and out of nonDornish Westeros and some would inevitably live in ND Westeros, these people are migrants-dual-subjects of a state that is still in all the ways it matters, independent. unlike Black people in the U.S. or Coloureds in S. Africa, whose governments historically and currently gave/enforced these categories developed from European-to-settler/colonist racialization. And unlike anti-Semitic/Islamophobic laws & anti-blackness and other real-world measures, there is no evidence of any oppressive laws or daily discrimination against Dornish communities (I'll say the Sylvenna Sand of Dance fame is an indication of Westerosi patriarchy looking at Dornish less-intense patriarchy as a lesser-"dangerous" identity maker).

Their "racial?" identities also do (yet, if it will go exactly like real life) not have the oppressive or racial context that enables people to argue that Rhaegar left Elia, didn't love her, or valued her and her position as his wife because he felt racially superior to her--esp with how we have no literary (symbols, metaphors, parallels in-text) nor direct evidence of Rhaegar seeing Elia through a racial bias as his father does with Rhaenys their daughter when she was presented (which is what this entire thing came from, as Elia/Martells stans claimed and what drives that argument in this post/reblog HERE).

It is that the Dornish will be considered the lesser "race" if there ever came a time when they were ever truly conquered and imperialized by ND peoples from Westeros. For now, it is far more accurate to say that there is ethnic bias against the Dornish or the Martells that could slide into racism.

GRRM created a world and fantasy series that is trying to simulate a medieval racialization of people WHILE also inevitably showing the roots of modern civilization, which are two different forms of racialization that are nevertheless connected. In other words, GRRM hasn't successfully made 1-1 analogs concerning race.

But does "origin"="being"? How and why?

Therefore, we do see a race or race existing in Westerosi ideologies, but it is BOTH not as prominent as how they regard how women should be treated AND comparatively more fluid to modern-day race and even changeable.

Refrain: The Summer Islanders, though, ARE DEFINITELY the "Black" people of Westeros. As GRRM says in the pic I showed. I have to repeat this because I can see people trying to take advantage of it.

In All...

A people of the first few "mixed" Rhoynar and "100%" Andal Dornish children from intermarriages that are no longer just "mixed" individuals. To claim that they are anything else is to begin the process of racialization, as such a phenomenon (intermarriages between previously separated ethnic groups to become a new distinct one) actually happens more often than not, and to make it unique to just the Dornish is to Other it for racial categorization, as NonDornish aristocrats probably would do. Fans refer to the state of "Westeros" as a "nation", it was not a nation but a territory of several states and smaller fiefs owned by nobles who collected taxes from local peasantry and probably gave a portion of that to the King/Monarch, keeping the "King's peace" (feudalism). The reason why there is a divide between "NonDornish" and Dornish people is the measure of how much Andal vs. Rhoynish culture makes the infrastructures and political practices in the respective regions, and there just so happens to be much more Andal-influenced regions and more people than Rhoynish-influenced without Andal culture becoming either true or "official" overlords over Dornish people in any unique or oppressive way different from how the Monarch is the "overlord" over a Stark, Karstark, Tarly, Hightower, Lannister, etc.

I think anon from that ask is saying that GRRM intended for the (arbitrary number) 80% of Dorne (therefore "Dorne") to be PoC and thereby make it a PoC state/people through choosing to mix several ME, SE, and N. African cultures's properties into a new fictional "Rhoynar" people. To them, this mix-match defines the Dornish as PoC because they see the Dornish people as being a "mixed-race" group of individuals like biracial children of modern interracial couples, and they continue to be biracial exactly as conceived until the current time of ASoIaF.

However, the modern "mixed-race" depends on the already existing races created by the world one lives in and only can be active and politically real races within a society with such definitions and dynamics of race built into its legal & education systems.

Still, though PoCs are historically and currently oppressed groups (aside from EU Jews, who were/are white and were continually oppressed) in places where European imperialism and colonialism reshaped previous societies, it's not correct nor wise to say that all or most PoCs draw their very being/humanity from discriminatory violence alone instead of the racialization oppressive groups performed because identity itself is not as simple or absolute and enduring as race and oppressive regimes try/tried to make. Or their ethnicity, like Black Americans. It's just that:

racial identity is political identity, not inherent or made "true" by those oppressive forces, that is exactly what those oppressors want (proving "might" = "right")

Elia would never have experienced anything equal to even what a richer PoC person does in the U.S. in terms of race

the Dornish are not PoCs!

Refrain: The Summer Islanders, though, ARE DEFINITELY the "Black" people of Westeros. As GRRM says in the pic I showed.

[don-giovannis]

leporello headcannons

He was born into a family of beggars and thieves Leporello was the youngest of three siblings named Nan Bertha and Tom When Leporellos father died he took his place as king of the court of miracles ( the vagabond hideout in the slums of Seville) Before he worked for The Don Leporello and Don Giovanni were friends Giovanni would sneak a crust of bread or a morsal of oatmeal to Leporello without the court of miracles finding out When Leporello was 18 he decided to abandon his post as king of the beggars and look for a job Giovanni hired Leporello because they were friends Leporello thought that Giovanni would treat him with kindness because they were friends He was wrong After Giovanni’s death Leporello becomes Donna Anna and Don Ottavios servant He is no longer mistreated and eats all the fine food he wants He keeps The List ( a looooooooong list of Giovanni’s conquests ) as a personal record of all the ladies his master has wooed and not because he wants to be like Giovanni At first The List was not on Leporellos mind when asked to make it but over time he has grown fond of The List Lep Has always used The List against Giovanni to get out of working for him but stays when Giovanni offers him money ( this happens on a daily basis) After Giovanni’s death Leporello keeps The List as a reminder of his life of suffering with The Don Also after Giovanni’s death Leporello made a makeshift grave just to honor Giovanni and visits it daily but still he doesn’t forgive him for the cruelty he had to endure ( no sleep little food)

[mightyflamethrower]

Click for Detail

Detail of a tapestry depicting the conquest of Tunis in the Tapestry Room of the Alcázar Palace in Seville

[escadaman]

The Moors Ruled Spain and Portugal 754 Years Before The Collapse of The Mali Empire

Here are some facts about the Moors in Europe:

1. The Moors Introduced Numerous New Fruits and Vegetables to Europe

The Moors introduced a variety of fruits and vegetables that were previously unknown in both Spain and Europe, and thus deemed exotic novelties. These items included peaches, lemons, oranges, saffron, cotton, rice, silk, sugar cane, apricots, figs, dates, pomegranates and many others. Although commonplace today, during the Middle Ages these items were almost alien to the Spanish. Today, centuries later, they have become staples of Spanish production and diet.

2. The Moors Were Several Steps Ahead of Medieval Europe

At the time of their conquest of the Iberian Peninsula , the advanced civilization of the Arabs was renowned for its architecture, science, mathematics and exploration. Upon their arrival in Spain, the Moors introduced architectural techniques that amazed European stonemasons. One of the most impressive examples of Moorish architecture is the Alhambra, a palace complex and fortress located in Granada, Spain. Construction began in 1238, and it surpassed any similar palace in grandeur and beauty. Today, it remains one of the best-preserved palaces of the Islamic world.

3. Chess Spread Throughout Europe Thanks to the Moors

Even though chess is over 1,500 years old, it was first introduced to Europe in its current form by the Moors. Chess spread from India to the Arabic world and was introduced to Spain by the Moors. It quickly became popular and swept across Europe's courts and society. In medieval Spain, chess was a popular game of strategy and patience. The first written mention of chess in Spain dates back to 1010 AD, in the Catalonian Testament.

4. The Moors Were Very Strict About Their Hygiene

The Moors were known for their love of cleanliness, with a popular saying claiming that a Moor "would rather go without bread than without soap.” Due to their traditions and the rigors of their religion, the Moors were fond of looking spic and span, and encouraged frequent bathing; In the Moorish town of Cordoba, there were around 900 public baths . This allowed for proper hygiene during a time when plumbing and running water were not yet widely available. Some sources also claim that the Moors brought some form of soap to Europe, introducing a new era of cleanliness.

5. Education Was Very Important to the Moors

Education was of utmost importance to the Moors, who ensured that it was universally available to all within their realm. This stood in stark contrast to medieval Europe, where 90% of the population remained illiterate, and education was reserved for only the wealthiest nobles and clergy. In fact, there were even some European Kings who could not read or write. The Moors established 17 great universities in Spain, located in cities such as Cordoba, Malaga, Granada, Seville, Toledo and Almeria, among others.

6. Numerous Moorish Words Found Their Way into Modern Spanish and English

After their arrival in Europe, the Moors brought with them new concepts and words that quickly became a standard part of everyday language. Spanish has up to 4,000 words of Arabic origin, including algebra, checkmate, and influenza. Other examples are cipher, alcohol, chemistry, typhoon, orange, alkaline, cable and nadir.

7. The Moors Were Very Industrious

Upon their arrival in Iberia, the Moors saw the potential in the old Roman irrigation systems they found and quickly adopted, enhanced and revived them. This led to a surge in agricultural productivity and a boost in the economy. They were also able to cultivate new crops they brought with them such as lemons, oranges, figs, dates, and apricots. Soon, Spain became one of the largest producers of crops in Europe, all thanks to the Moors' innovative irrigation techniques.

8. The Moors Greatly Transformed Spanish Cuisine

Spices were a rare commodity for Europeans, and their food was often considered bland. The Moors changed that by bringing over hundreds of unique spices, new recipes and innovative methods of preparing food. This culinary revolution gave rise to many wondrous dishes that we still enjoy today. The Moorish spice markets were famous for their variety, offering choice for cooks of all styles. The colors and smells of these medieval markets must have been truly incredible.

[ejesgistnews]

The Truth About Christopher Columbus: DNA Evidence Sheds Light on His Origins.   Spanish scientists have unveiled new findings suggesting that Christopher Columbus, the renowned 15th-century explorer, was likely a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe. This conclusion comes after an extensive 22-year investigation, employing DNA analysis to resolve longstanding debates surrounding Columbus’s origins.   Columbus, whose expeditions led to the European conquest of the Americas, has been claimed by various countries, with theories of his birthplace ranging from Genoa, Italy, to Portugal, Spain, Greece, and even Britain. However, many historians have questioned the traditional belief that he hailed from Genoa. DNA Evidence Sheds Light on the Origins of Christopher Columbus Led by forensic expert Miguel Lorente, the research team analyzed remains thought to belong to Columbus, which are housed in Seville Cathedral. The team compared Columbus's DNA with that of known relatives, including his son Hernando Colón. The results, announced in a documentary titled *Columbus DNA: The True Origin* on Spain’s national broadcaster TVE, reveal genetic markers consistent with Jewish ancestry.   “We have DNA from Christopher Columbus, very partial, but sufficient,” Lorente stated. The team discovered evidence from both the Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA—traits passed down through male and maternal lines—indicating Sephardic Jewish origins.   Sephardic Jews were a significant population in Spain before the Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand ordered their expulsion or forced conversion in 1492. The term "Sephardic" refers to Jews from Sefarad, the Hebrew word for Spain.   While the research narrows down Columbus’s birthplace to Western Europe, Lorente acknowledged the complexity of identifying his precise nationality. Nonetheless, he described the DNA evidence as “almost absolutely reliable,” confirming that Columbus’s remains indeed rest in Seville, resolving another contentious point about his final resting place.   Columbus, who died in 1506 in Valladolid, Spain, initially wished to be buried on the island of Hispaniola. His remains were later moved from Hispaniola to Cuba and eventually returned to Seville in 1898. The DNA findings now provide a clearer picture of the explorer’s enigmatic background.   As the world continues to reexamine the legacy of Columbus, this revelation adds another layer to the story of the man credited with opening the New World to European exploration. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="768"] People visit the mausoleum of Christopher Columbus in the cathedral of Seville, Spain, on October 11, 2024[/caption]

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.8 (before 1860)

70 – After the capture of Herod's Palace the previous day, a Roman army under Titus secures and plunders the city of Jerusalem. 617 – Battle of Huoyi: Li Yuan defeats a Sui dynasty army, opening the path to his capture of the imperial capital Chang'an and the eventual establishment of the Tang dynasty. 1100 – Election of Antipope Theodoric. 1198 – Philip of Swabia, Prince of Hohenstaufen, is crowned King of Germany (King of the Romans) 1253 – Pope Innocent IV canonises Stanislaus of Szczepanów, killed by King Bolesław II. 1264 – The Statute of Kalisz, guaranteeing Jews safety and personal liberties and giving battei din jurisdiction over Jewish matters, is promulgated by Bolesław the Pious, Duke of Greater Poland. 1276 – Pope John XXI is elected Pope. 1331 – Stefan Dušan declares himself king of Serbia. 1334 – The Battle of Adramyttion begins in which a Christian naval league defeats a Turkish fleet in several encounters. 1380 – Battle of Kulikovo: Russian forces defeat a mixed army of Tatars and Mongols, stopping their advance. 1504 – Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Piazza della Signoria in Florence. 1514 – Battle of Orsha: In one of the biggest battles of the century, Lithuanians and Poles defeat the Russian army. 1522 – Magellan–Elcano circumnavigation: Victoria arrives at Seville, completing the first circumnavigation. 1565 – St. Augustine, Florida is founded by Spanish admiral and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. 1655 – Warsaw falls without resistance to a small force under the command of Charles X Gustav of Sweden during The Deluge, making it the first time the city is captured by a foreign army. 1727 – A barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell in Cambridgeshire, England kills 78 people, many of whom are children. 1755 – French and Indian War: Battle of Lake George. 1756 – French and Indian War: Kittanning Expedition. 1760 – French and Indian War: French surrender Montreal to the British, completing the latter's conquest of New France. 1761 – Marriage of King George III of the United Kingdom to Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. 1775 – The unsuccessful Rising of the Priests in Malta. 1781 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Eutaw Springs in South Carolina, the war's last significant battle in the Southern theater, ends in a narrow British tactical victory. 1793 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Hondschoote. 1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Bassano: French forces defeat Austrian troops at Bassano del Grappa. 1810 – The Tonquin sets sail from New York Harbor with 33 employees of John Jacob Astor's newly created Pacific Fur Company on board. 1813 – At the final stage of the Peninsular War, British-Portuguese troops capture the town of Donostia (now San Sebastián), resulting in a rampage and eventual destruction of the town. 1819 – 1819 Balloon riot occurred at Vauxhall Garden in Philadelphia, PA and resulted in the destruction of the amusement park. 1831 – William IV and Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 1831 – November uprising: The Battle of Warsaw effectively ends the Polish insurrection. 1855 – Crimean War: The French assault the tower of Malakoff, leading to the capture of Sevastopol.

[sgokie2024]

Just over 5 centuries ago, the natives in Mexico stopped feeling pride, their children and their children's children never knew that their grandparents had built an impressive civilization...

Today, more than 500 years after the arrival of those men who possessed a strange way of seeing the world, Mexicans begin to discover things that for decades were sorely omitted in textbooks.

Today it is known that the Olmecs discovered the process of vulcanization 3500 years before Charles Goodyear, that Teotihuacan was larger than Imperial Rome, that Texcoco was a cultural capital of the Nahua world, a city similar to Athens for the Greeks, it is known that Tenochtitlan had 700 thousand inhabitants, that is, was 16 times larger than Seville at that time, it is also known that education among the nahuas began from childhood and that was obligatory, public and universal, unlike the Europeans, who only educated children of nobility, we know the today that the Mayans built observatories and that designed the only Venus calendar in antiquity and that in the city of Ek Balam founded the most important painting schools of their culture, it is known that the wixarika and the raramuri learned to connect their heart and his thinking with the earth and his essence thanks to plants and avoiding physical diseases healing the mind first.

There were so many wars to impose religion and its customs or simply conquest of our territory. Here there were already scientific advances but history imposes it and is written by the conqueror, it's time to really know who we were before we were invaded.

We know so much that today it is possible to leave behind that belief that Europeans discovered a continent and that in addition civilized it, because as you could appreciate, civilization here already existed.”— Carmelo Morales...

#ctto

[rabbitcruiser]

The Conquest of Seville by Christian troops under King Ferdinand III of Castile: the city capitulated on 23 November 1248.  

[xtruss]

Rare 400-Year-Old Chocolate Book Heads To Auction In Portugal

Deemed the Oldest Book Dedicated Entirely to Chocolate, "Un Discurso del Chocolate" is Going Under the Hammer in Portugal at a Starting Price of €2000.

— By Theo Farrant | April 04, 2024

A rare 400-year-old book titled "Un Discurso del Chocolate", regarded as the oldest known book solely dedicated to chocolate, is hitting the auction block in Portugal.

This prized artefact, printed in Seville in 1624, is one of just three surviving copies of this work, written by Santiago de Valverde Turices, a Spanish doctor and academic.

Until now, only two other copies of the work were known to exist, one housed in the national library in Madrid and the other at the University of San Diego in California, according to Francisco Brito, a consultant at the Anno auction house, as reported by Portugal’s Publico newspaper.

"Un Discurso del Chocolate" contains a fusion of scientific inquiry, practical advice, recipes and cultural commentary. Divided into five parts, the book offers insights into the multifaceted nature of chocolate and its effects on the human body.

Notably, Turices cautions against the potential of chocolate to incite choleric tendencies in its consumers. Drawing from the medieval and early modern concept of bodily humors, he warns of chocolate's "hot, humid, and greasy" nature, which he believes can lead to irritability and anger.

Choco-Lore: A Bitter-Sweet History of The Confectionary

Native Americans roasting and grinding the beans, and mixing the chocolate in a jug with a whisk. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The domestication of cocoa beans traces back at least 5,300 years to the region now known as southeast Ecuador's Zamora-Chinchipe Province, where the Mayo-Chinchipe culture first cultivated them. The practice was then introduced to Mesoamerica.

The indigenous peoples of Central America, particularly the Olmecs, Maya, and Aztecs, considered the cacao tree to be sacred, and its beans were used to create a bitter, frothy beverage called "xocolātl", which means "bitter water" in Nahuatl.

Legend has it that when Spanish explorers, led by conquistador Hernán Cortés, arrived in the Americas in the early 16th century in search of gold and riches, they discovered the smooth beverage.

Following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, xocolātl found its way to Europe. The Spanish soon adapted the indigenous recipe by adding sugar or honey to sweeten the bitter drink, as well as other spices like cinnamon and vanilla.

At first, it was consumed primarily as a drink, but eventually, chocolate houses began to emerge across Europe, particularly in Spain, Italy, and France in the 17th century.

A page from "Un discurso del chocolate" by Santiago de Valverde Turices. Credit: University of California

The recipes contained within Turices book, sourced from experts both in Spain and the "new world," provide a glimpse into the historical preparation and consumption of chocolate.

Turices advocates for the inclusion of annatto seeds, known as achiote, to enhance the taste, colour, and flavour of chocolate, particularly for people with choleric and sanguine temperaments.

The book, priced at €2,000, is among nine pieces being auctioned from the collection of José Augusto Correia de Campos, a Portuguese military officer, author, and archaeologist who passed away in 1977.

[dsandrvk]

Saturday, March 23 - Cordoba

We got our bus tickets for tomorrow first thing, and then headed for the Mezquita. It is a remarkable space. It was originally built as the Visigoth Basilica of San Vincente in the mid-6th century, a little before the Hagia Sophia was built in what was then Constantinople. After the Moors arrived In 711, it was soon after turned into a mosque, and was gradually expanded. With the conquest of Cordoba (as it is known here) in 1236, it was consecrated again as a Catholic church. As a result, the building is at best a hybrid place of worship. The Catholic church exists somewhat uneasily in the middle of this incredible sea of columns and arches, and even with all the private chapels around the perimeter, there is still a lot of space that is just underutilized.

That said, it is magnificent and awe-inspiring, with rows upon rows of columns with arches, most set on Roman capitals. It is unlike any church I have ever been in, although it certainly has all the trappings. Along the walls are Islamic screens and strained glass windows with geometric patterns, rather than saints, and although the ceiling is high, there is none of the soaring feeling of true Gothic cathedrals. The restoration work is quite impressive, and in one place it is easy to see that the red and white banding is not just paint but reflects the underlying materials - white stone alternating with red brick or tile. It is really stunningly beautiful.

We had hoped to wander for quite a while, since we had gotten tickets for the earliest possible time. It turns out, however, that there was a Eucharist planned because of the Holy Week festivities and we were shooed out after only an hour. We saw lots, but didn't really spend any time in the church part. Maybe tomorrow afternoon when we get back to town.

We did spend the rest of the day wandering around, exploring the older sections of town, including the old Jewish quarter. Here there is one of only three surviving Synagogues in Spain. After the Jews were expelled in 1492, it passed through many hands, but was eventually declared a national monument in 1885, and restoration was started. Today it is a simple space, but nicely restored and well-visited.

There is still quite a bit left of the old city wall, and we saw several of the gates, which are now mostly restaurants. Inside, the streets are still a maze, and occasionally open up into courtyards or plazas. They have a "patio" festival here when all the flowers are in bloom, but it is too early for that just yet.

We passed by a shop selling materials for the season - this little poster for Semana Santa (Holy Week) was a little too close to KKK imagery for my taste, although I know the Spanish don't see it that way. And the last photo goes in my ugliest building file - the balconies, especially the glass one , are truly hideous. But there are beautiful buildings, too, every where we looked.

We were able to visit the Caliph Baths, which have been recently excavated. Based mostly on the Roman model, there were baths just for royalty, as well as public baths, and included cold rooms, warm baths and hot baths. The Moors adopted the tradition, which was also passed on to the Catholic kings, although it doesn't appear to have been as popular then.

Cordoba is crowded, especially in the areas surrounding the Mezquita, but is definitely calmer than Seville, and once we were away from the tourist shops, we were able to stroll easily along the narrow, winding streets. I have a feeling that it is only going to get crazier next week.

Tomorrow we have a bus out to an archaeological site just outside of town with well-preserved Islamic style building edifaces, if not entire buildings. We will know more tomorrow, but a lot of information said it was well worth the time. It will be another warm day (low 80's), so I'm glad we're going early. After tomorrow our weather is supposed to change to cold and wet, so we will enjoy the warmer days while we can.

[paramedicabroad]

Cathedral, Alcazar & Archivo de Indias in Seville

Embark with me on a digital voyage to Seville, Spain, where the UNESCO World Heritage Site embraces the iconic Cathedral, the majestic Alcazar, and the historic Archivo de Indias. This triumvirate forms a cultural kaleidoscope that spans centuries, blending Gothic grandeur, Moorish opulence, and the archival legacy of the Age of Discovery.

Seville's Cathedral, Alcazar, and Archivo de Indias earned UNESCO recognition in 1987, underscoring their cultural, historical, and architectural significance. The inscription highlights their role in shaping the urban fabric of Seville and their collective impact on global history.

Stand in awe of the Seville Cathedral, a Gothic masterpiece that rises from the heart of the city. As the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, it houses treasures like the Tomb of Christopher Columbus and the stunning Giralda tower, offering panoramic views of Seville.

Escape to the Patio de los Naranjos within the Cathedral, where fragrant orange trees provide a tranquil oasis. This courtyard, once part of the Great Mosque, reflects the architectural evolution of Seville and the enduring beauty of Islamic-inspired design.

Wander through the Alcazar, a palace complex that embodies the epitome of Mudejar and Renaissance architecture. The intricately decorated halls, lush gardens, and the enchanting Patio de las Doncellas showcase the fusion of Christian and Moorish influences.

Embark on interactive virtual tours that transport you into the heart of Seville's cultural heritage. Explore the intricate details of the Cathedral, stroll through the Alcazar's lush gardens, and delve into the historical archives of the Archivo de Indias from the comfort of your screen.

Explore the Archivo de Indias, a repository of historical documents that chronicle the Age of Discovery. This UNESCO-listed building safeguards valuable records from the Spanish colonies, offering a glimpse into the voyages, conquests, and exchanges that shaped the course of history.

Immerse yourself in Seville's vibrant culture with the passionate rhythms of Flamenco and the delectable flavors of tapas. The city's lively streets and intimate venues offer an authentic experience that complements the grandeur of its heritage sites.

In conclusion, Seville's triumvirate of the Cathedral, Alcazar, and Archivo de Indias invites us to traverse the corridors of time, where the echoes of exploration, cultural exchange, and architectural brilliance resonate. When you're ready for a digital exploration of heritage and history, Seville promises to captivate and inspire. 🏰⛪📜

[horizon-verizon]

You are incredibly racist, GRRM himself has said that the closest equivalent of Dorne to the real world is the Moorish influences of Spain, and mentions PALESTINE and Wales as being two other influences. Literally his own words. Even in Game of Thrones, they filmed the Water Garden scenes in the Alcazar of Seville, a beautiful Moorish castle in Spain. That castle was literally built by Muslims and incorporates verses from the Quran and countless traditional Arabic and Islamic architectural elements. Fun fact: Alcázar comes from the Arabic word (al-qasr), meaning fort/castle/palace.

Dorne’s conquest by Nymeria parallels Spain’s conquest by the Moors. Nymeria Martell most obviously can be paralleled with Tariq Ibn Ziyyad, the Muslim Amazigh general hailing from Morocco that led the Muslim conquest of Spain on behalf of the Umayyad Caliphate, by crossing the Mediterranean sea and landing in Gibraltar. According to legend, Tariq Ibn Ziyyad burned his fleet before the Battle of Guadalete to prevent any of his troops from retreating back home. Who else burned their fleets to show commitment to their new conquest ? Nymeria Martell.

GRRM credits the “hot, dry” climate to being similar to that of Spain or Palestine’s, and that the mountains where the stony Dornishmen dwell being the equivalent to Wales. The Sandy Dornishmen are described to dwell in the deserts and along rivers, which is a descriptor that describes so many parts of West Asia (incorrectly called the “Middle East”) and North Africa. GRRM mentions Palestine, which has many streams and a very important river, the River of Jordan, as well as the Naqab region, a desert region of Palestine, therefore drawing parallels from the Sandy Dornishmen to the Palestinians is correct since Palestine is sandy, dusty, and dry. Finally, there’s a Stony Dornishmen, which GRRM equates to Wales.



*EDITED POST* (4/14/24)

I assume that this is the post you are responding to.

We must remember that the rules determining what racial group you are a part of is solely determined by the legal definitions of the created designations of "white", "mestizo", "Black", or whatever said society has created in their past and present. which is why when you travel, you sorta change race or have it "tweaked" to mean something else. In Westeros, there is not such legal, social, etc. concept of race that matches the modern U.S.A or any European definition. If you said Corlys was "Black", it would mean nothing to a Stark.

Race is also different from ethnicity or nationality: you can be Paelstinian Arab but or a Black American but be white passing enough to "become" white. You can be of East Asian descent and have monolids to be racialized as "Asian", but were born and partially raised in Germany (nationality) with the ethnicity of Uyghur. 

Definitions of racism:

(Google) prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another (Merriam Webster) a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race

This is from GRRM about "race" in ASoIaF and the Dornish:

Did GRRM ever actually say the words, "stony Dornish men are a completely different ethnic group from sandy or salty" or that "stony vs salty vs sandy Dornish people--apart from the nonDornish peoples' ways of categorizing them--are peoples with very different and maybe opposing customs the reflect in certain "laws" in Dorne"?

For the Martells and Dornishpeople to be PoCs exactly like the PoCs today in real life, there kinda has to be a history of a) the Dornish having been assimilated into Westerosi society/infrastructures and made subordinate to the "white" Westerosi b) actual systematic oppression against the Dornish from the nonDornish, and Dorne has been able to maintain its independence from Westeros pretty much since Westeros' inception. Even after Daeron II married Myriah Martell, the Martells and the Dornish still worked as their own principality rather than a region totally under the control of the Westerosi monarchy. There was no colonization or successful imperialist campaigns on Dorne. Like the Targs, Dorne is "queer" not for skin color nor religion so much as the Rhoynish traditions towards gender equity--at least regarding succession and leadership--and sexuality

I argued for how the Westerosi see the Dornish, which is not like how medieval EUs saw non-Christian Africans or Arabic-speaking Muslims. It is how Anglo Saxon Normans would have seen Spanish/Eu Mediterraneans. Watsonianly. This is a question of who are the people categorizing "race", and how is "race" categorized by those people.

There is tension b/t Stormlanders/Reachmen and the Dornish people (mostly Stony Dornishmen of the north) but it's hardly equivalent to what is known as "race". Not yet. Daeron I's categorization is a beginning, A PRECURSOR. With how Daeron II's subjects rebelled with a strong anti-Dornish sentiment (not enough misogyny [succession rules] & and a persistent sense of having court & office positions "taken" from the "local" nobles) the Otherness indicates a xenophobia but here is no concept of "white" or "PoC" anywhere.

I have also already addressed the whole stony vs salty vs sandy thing HERE and HERE. In both of those posts, I acknowledge that there are Islamic and Arabic inspirations for the creation of Dorne and I still recognize them there. And the Rhoynish (mot the Martells or any Dornish people) are definitely PoC. It's pretty obvious. But Dornish people--including the Martells--while descended from the Rhoynish and Rhoynisheness definitely determine how nonDornish perceive and identify Dornish people, are not racialized as today's PoCs are. They are closer to how Jewish, Spaniards, Mediterranean Europeans, and Southern European Europeans are racialized by Northwestern Europeans.

Those monikers Daeron I gave distinguished them based on appearance alone, hence the beginning of skin-color-race in terms of how much Rhoynish culture and blood mixed with the previous Andal-only people's, more of the Rhoynish cultural influence the more you go south and less when you go north. If you called a Wyl (example of a Dornish house of the north) anything something other than Dornish and just called them a "stony" Dornishman, I think they'd take offense.

Once again, when we see how the concept of race developed from religion to skin color, in Spain, you see that religion was the first way for medieval people to differentiate themselves into "races"--and when they used the word "race", they meant just "people from that region/religion/history", not necessarily people with such looks--more than skin color (though color was sometimes mentioned alongside, to identify, so as to say that this African was "safer").

Then there is the fact that there were intermarriages between Arabic-speaking, Muslims, Africans to be called "Moors" (a word from Christian Europeans of the pale variety, not those peoples) and with Catholic Spaniards. Today, Spain is considered a white European country even with its numerous ethnicities and history of conquest by the Umayyad Caliphate. Dorne, in autonomy and a unit of territory, is like both Wales and Spain. Today, European regions that are considered, racially, white.

Doylistically, while the narrative gets its inspiration from real life PoCs architecture and figures, the fact that Dorne, wherever you go even with the different levels of Rhoynish influence, is an amalgamation of Andal and Rhoynish that still has that Andal Seven/Catholic religion, and the Common tongue (Rhoynish is not spoken by most people in Dorne except the Green blood bc the Red Princes outlawed it) set up universally despite equal primogeniture and tolerance of homosexuality/extramarital sex means that those things that precede race-by-face/skin and then set up the basis for race-of-skin/face (religion, language, customs) does exactly not resemble what happened for the same as real life (again, Spain is not a PoC country in spite of the Umayyad conquest and influence).

Again, to me it felt like they are socially Othered how Jewish and Welsh, Scot, Irish, etc. people are Othered in Europe...not in modern times but in the context of various medieval English regions temporally and geographically. Again, Watsonianly. But there's strong argument for the other. While they are definitely Othered and have PoC inspiration and but they aren't Othered in their world like PoCs are Othered.

Either way, I don't think GRRM is conveying that Rhaegar left Elia specifically because he thought she was racially inferior to himself or wasn't owed respect due to her Dornishness. Which I already argued was untrue in the linked post above for the history that Tags and Martells have. And which was the point of me even bringing up race and Elia, since that was the argument Elia-supporters-Rhaegar-bashers have.