To reinforce what has been said earlier these Moors, as the early writers chronicled, were a black or dark people, some being very black(Africans). After the invasion of 711 came waves of Moors even darker.It was this occupation of Portugal which accounts for the fact that even noble families had absorbed the blood of the Moors. Racial mixing under the Moors in Europe became widespread. The Moors ruled and occupied Lisbon 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, who was aided by the English and Flemish Crusaders. The scene of this battle was at the Castelo de Sao Jorge or, in English, The Castle of St. George. Today, it still stands, overlooking the city of Lashbuna - as the Moors named Lisbon. From that time onwards, racial mixing in Portugal, as in Spain, and elsewhere in Europe which came under the influence of the Moors , took place on a large scale. That is why historians claim that Portugal is in reality a Negroid land, and that when Napoleon explained that Africa begins in Pyrenees, he meant every word that he uttered. Even the world-famed shrine in Portugal, Fatima, where Catholic pilgrims from all over the world for in search of miracle cures for their afflictions, owes its origin to the Moors. The story goes that a Portuguese nobleman was so saddened by the death of his wife, a young Moorish beauty whom he had married after her conversion to the Christian faith, that he gave up his title and fortune and entered a monastery. His wife was buried on a high plateau called Sierra de Aire. It is from there that the named Fatima is derived. A much deeper examination of Portugal within the Portugal, as with Spain the Moorish invasion and occupation reveals a constant intermingling of the races in Portugal, had much to do with the later high civilization reached by the Moors. The African element was more predominant in Portugal than it was in Spain, some historians contend. The noble families in Portugal and in Spain, too, who had absorbed the blood of the Moors were innumerable. Even some of the knights who, in the wars of conquest distinguished themselves, had such blood. Of the count of Coimbra, Don Sesnado, the chronicles tell us that he was of mixed blood, of Christian and Moor extract, and that he was a vizier among the Saracens. Another of mixed blood, Dom Fifes Serrasim, became a member of the Christian nobility by marrying a Mendes de Braganza. Many European historians who constantly project biased scholarship in their writings of Africa and Africans, persist in denying the tremendous influence, both culturally and genetically, that the Moors (Africans) had on the countries of the Iberian Peninsula, particularly Portugal and Spain. One scholar, Gandia, stated bluntly: As to the mixture of the Moors and the other inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula it is useless to deny its occurrence. Without going into the social life of the Christians and Moslems, it may be mentioned in passing that the son of Musa married the widow of King Roderick and that the royal family of Witza united the Moors of the Purest stock. The Moors not only colonized and civilized Spain the also civilized Portugal.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 21:57:45 +0000
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