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The border of Granada (''frontera de Granada'' in Spanish) was a border region that existed between the
Nasrid kingdom of Granada
)
, common_languages = Official language:Classical ArabicOther languages: Andalusi Arabic, Mozarabic, Berber, Ladino
, capital = Granada
, religion = Majority religion:Sunni IslamMinority religions:Roman C ...
and the kingdoms of
Murcia
Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...
,
Jaén,
Córdoba and
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
following the integration of those former Muslim territories within the
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accessi ...
in the mid-13th century. The delineation of this border region underwent several changes subsequently, but on the death of
Alfonso XI
Alfonso XI (13 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes en ...
in 1350, the Granadine border was fixed geographically, in general terms, until the beginning of the
Granada War
The Granada War ( es, Guerra de Granada) was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1491 during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada. It e ...
in the late 15th century.
[García Fernández: ''op.ref.'', p.70] This territory was also referred to as '' La Banda Morisca'' (The Moorish Strip).
Toponymy
Several modern place names survive that relate to the frontier between Granada and Christian Andalusia and the communities established on the Castilian side of the border. Thus, in the province of Cadiz there are the municipalities of
Arcos de la Frontera
Arcos de la Frontera () is a town and municipality in the Sierra de Cádiz comarca, province of Cádiz, in Andalusia, Spain. It is located on the northern, western and southern banks of the Guadalete river, which flows around three sides of the c ...
,
Castellar de la Frontera
Castellar de la Frontera is a town and municipality located in the province of Cádiz, in Andalusia, Spain. It is a medieval town within a castle.
Description
Castellar de la Frontera is a village within a castle surrounded by the walls of a wel ...
,
Chiclana de la Frontera
Chiclana de la Frontera () is a town and municipality in southwestern Spain, in the province of Cádiz, Andalucía, near the Gulf of Cádiz. It belongs to the association of municipalities of the Bay of Cádiz (Bahía de Cádiz), the provincial c ...
,
Conil de la Frontera
Conil de la Frontera is one of the White Towns of Andalusia in the province of Cadiz (region of Andalusia), located on the Atlantic coast in the southern part of Spain, with around 22,000 inhabitants. In summer its population exceeds 90,000 inhabi ...
,
Jerez de la Frontera
Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the ...
,
Jimena de la Frontera
Jimena de la Frontera is a historic town and municipality located in the province of Cádiz, Spain. According to estimates made by the National Statistics Institute of Spain (INE), the municipality has a population of 6,707 inhabitants as of 202 ...
and
Vejer de la Frontera
Vejer de la Frontera is a Spanish hilltop town and municipality in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, on the right bank of the river Barbate. The town of Vejer de la Frontera occupies a low hill overlooking the Straits of Gibraltar and surrounded ...
; in the
province of Malaga,
Cortes de la Frontera
Cortes de la Frontera is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. The municipality is situated approximately 40 kilometres from Ronda
Ronda () is a town in the Spani ...
; in the
province of Cordoba,
Aguilar de la Frontera
Aguilar, or in full Aguilar de la Frontera, is a municipality and town in the province of Córdoba, Andalusia, southern Spain, near the small river Cabra, from the provincial capital, Córdoba, on the Córdoba-Málaga railway. As Ancient Ipag ...
and in the
province of Sevilla,
Morón de la Frontera
Morón de la Frontera () is a Spanish town in Province of Seville, Seville province, Andalusia, South-East of Seville. Situated in the south of the province, it is the center of the region that bears the same name and is the head of one of the 85 ...
.
There are other municipalities in the
Huelva province
Huelva () is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by Portugal, the provinces of Badajoz, Seville, and Cádiz
Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is ...
, which include ''"de la Frontera''" in their names. However, these do not refer to the Border of Granada border, but to the border with
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. This is the case with
Rosal de la Frontera and
Palos de la Frontera
Palos de la Frontera () is a town and municipality located in the southwestern Spanish province of Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is situated some from the provincial capital, Huelva. According to the 2015 census, the city ...
.
Delineation
The first frontier was defined by the Pact of Jaén in 1246 between
Muhammad I "ibn al-Ahmar", first king of Granada, and King Fernando III 'El Santo', following extensive conquests by the latter in the valley of the Guadalquivir. The border then went through modifications during the reigns of
Sancho IV,
Fernando IV and
Alfonso XI
Alfonso XI (13 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes en ...
. However, following the death of Alfonso XI in 1350, the border of Granada underwent a process of stabilization and delineation, which lasted until the War of Granada at the end of the 15th century.
The line of the border ran from a point on the
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...
, between the mouths of the
Rio Palmones
The Río Palmones is a river of the Province of Cádiz in Southeastern coastal Spain. Its source is in Lomas del Castaño, Sierra Blanquilla, and it flows for some into the Bay of Gibraltar, North of the city of Algeciras
Algeciras ( , ) i ...
and the
Rio Guadarranque climbing northwards through the Sierra de Montecoche until it arrived at the
Guadalete River. At that point, it veered eastwards, running parallel to the northern foothills of the
Serranía de Ronda
The Serranía de Ronda is a comarca in the western part of the province of Málaga, Andalusia, Spain. As is currently (as of 2009) the norm in Andalusia, it has no formal status. The 2007 Statute of Autonomy of Andalusia, unlike its 1981 predecess ...
. From the Guadalteba and Yeguas rivers, the border took a north-west direction, with some variations, running through the mountains south of
Benameji,
Rute
Rute is a municipality in the province of Córdoba, Spain. It lies between Iznájar to the South East, and Lucena to the North West. Its primary economy centres on the extensive production of foodstuffs including dozens of different makes of ...
,
Priego de Cordoba
Priego is a municipality located in the Cuenca Province, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. According to the census 2004 (INE
INE, Ine or ine may refer to:
Institutions
* Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center
* Institut ...
and
Alcala la Real. It continued along the valley of the Guadalbullon River up to the heights of the
Sierra Magina. Continuing northeast, it skirted the foothills of
Sierra de Cazorla
Sierra de Cazorla is a mountain range of the Prebaetic System in the Jaén Province in Spain. It is named after the town of Cazorla. Its highest point is the 1,847 m high Gilillo peak.
Geography
This mountain range is located between the Sierr ...
and
Sierra de Segura
Sierra de Segura is a mountain range of the Prebaetic System in the Jaén Province in Spain. It is named after the ancient town of Segura de la Sierra and it gives its name to the Segura River. Its highest point is the 1,993 m high Las Banderil ...
, entering
Murcian territory,
[García Fernández: ''op.ref.'', p.71] where, in the districts of
Caravaca and
Lorca, a thick forest acted as a
buffer zone
A buffer zone is a neutral zonal area that lies between two or more bodies of land, usually pertaining to countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them.
Common types of buffer zones are demil ...
. All the territory of
Alicante
Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...
and
Orihuela
Orihuela (; ca-valencia, Oriola ) is a city and municipality located at the feet of the Sierra de Orihuela mountains in the province of Alicante, Spain. The city of Orihuela had a population of 33,943 inhabitants at the beginning of 2013. The mu ...
, including the southern portion of the
Kingdom of Valencia
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
, from
Alcoy
Alcoy ( ca-valencia, Alcoi) is an industrial and university city, region and municipality located in the Valencian Community, Spain. The Serpis river crosses the municipal boundary of Alcoy. The local authority reported a population of 61,135 res ...
and
Cocentaina
Cocentaina (, ) is a locality and municipality in the comarca of Comtat, in the province of Alicante, Spain. The village is located between the mountainous Serra de Mariola national park and the Serpis river. Cocentaina is ideally situated for ...
to the
sea
The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
, formed a border area as well.
Implications
During its existence, the border had a great territorial, political, economical, religious and cultural importance.
Beyond being a border like so many others, it was for more than two centuries the European boundary between
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
and
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. It was, therefore, a place of strong exchange that allowed for legal and illegal economic activities, like trade with Oriental products or military raids aimed at the mere pursuit of plunder, and taking of hostages to support the slave trade, or simply to negotiate the release of the captives. In this respect, religious orders took sides.
The characteristics of this area caused kings to grant many rights and privileges to border towns in order to improve the attractiveness of life in those places, for even in times of peace there was a permanent risk of being caught or dying due to Grenadines frequent raids. The society of the frontier populations was characterized by isolation from other regions, derived from a position adjacent to the enemy and therefore by fundamental characteristics based on military activity, which explained the concerns of councils counting on those with the economic capacity to maintain horses and weapons, in addition the infantry formed the majority of the army, and also opportunists who arrived to smuggle goods across the other side of the border, and even those convicted of violent crimes who sought to redeem themselves and avoid punishment by serving the mighty. The settlements were established through a number of fortified cores, close together, with limited extension and a scarce density of population, and with only military functions that were above all else defensive.
The primary economic activity was ranching, due to the lack of population and, therefore, a scarcity of farmhands, in addition to the insecurity of the entire terrain. Therefore, the basic economic wealth of the frontier populations was through the activity of ranching, as livestock, especially sheep and goats that could be transported and secured behind the walls of fortresses and cities in case of a Moorish attack.
Among the main involvements, the creation of the military appointment of
Adelantado Mayor de la Frontera (Major Governor of the Border) stands out, which kept the spirit of Christian
crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
and Islamic
Jihad
Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...
alive in both territories, as well as the chivalrous ideal, already anachronistic in other European territories, with a true irredentism growing from the 15th century which had as its final objective, the finalisation of the
Reconquista
The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...
and the recuperation of the territory which used to constitute the
Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo.
Border romances
In the artistic and cultural field, the border
romances, moniker from
Ramón Menéndez Pidal
Ramón Menéndez Pidal (; 13 March 1869 – 14 November 1968) was a Spanish philologist and historian."Ramon Menendez Pidal", ''Almanac of Famous People'' (2011) ''Biography in Context'', Gale, Detroit He worked extensively on the history of t ...
, may be one of the most brilliant aspects produced by this contact between civilizations. Those ballads poeticize some historical events, like the capture of significant cities of the kingdom (
Antequera
Antequera () is a city and municipality in the Comarca de Antequera, province of Málaga, part of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is known as "the heart of Andalusia" (''el corazón de Andalucía'') because of its central locat ...
,
Álora
Álora is a town and municipality in southern Spain in the province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Located c. 40 km from Málaga, on the right bank of the river Guadalhorce and on the Córdoba-Málaga railway, withi ...
,
Alhama, etc.) which constitute the prelude to the Capture of Granada. At the same time, the frontier ballads tell of other armed events that produced the frontier, like the flight and sorrows of the knights. Its origin seems to be found in the medieval chanson de geste, popularized since the 14th century by minstrels, who helped its spreading in the cities and villages of Spain.
[Martínez Iniesta: ''op.ref.'': Introducción] That way, the frontier was a key element in the formation of the vision of Islam in all of Spain.
The border after the Reconquista
After its conquest, the Kingdom of Granada kept its specificity, even in financial matters. For instance, the customs of the tax and partial tax on the old frontier with Andalucia and with Murcia were maintained, at least in that they took the Granadan silk.
See also
*
Kingdom of Granada
)
, common_languages = Official language:Classical ArabicOther languages: Andalusi Arabic, Mozarabic, Berber, Ladino
, capital = Granada
, religion = Majority religion:Sunni IslamMinority religions:Roman C ...
*
Reconquista
The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...
*
Almogavars
Almogavars ( es, almogávares, an, almugávares, ca, almogàvers and pt, almogávares ar, Al-Mugavari) is the name of a class of light infantry soldier originated in the Crown of Aragon used in the later phases of the Reconquista, during th ...
*
Ballestero de monte
The Ballestero de Monte (mountain crossbowman) or Fiel de rastro (marksman of the trail), was a member of a body which provided vigilance in the mountains of Murcia Province, Murcia, Lorca, Spain, Lorca, Cartagena, Spain, Cartagena and Orihuela as ...
*
Granada War
The Granada War ( es, Guerra de Granada) was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1491 during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada. It e ...
*
Andalusia
Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...
References
{{reflist
Bibliography
* Castillo Cáceres, Fernando (1999). «La funcionalidad de un espacio: la frontera granadina en el siglo XV». ''Espacio, tiempo y forma. Serie III, Historia medieval'' 12: pp. 47–64.
ISSN 0214-9745.
* García Fernández, Manuel (1987). «La frontera de Granada a mediados del siglo XIV». ''Revista de Estudios Andaluces'' 9: pp. 69–86.
* Martínez Iniesta, Bautista (2003). «Los romances fronterizos: Crónica poética de la Reconquista Granadina y Antología del Romancero fronterizo».
* Mata de Carriazo, Juan (1971). ''En la frontera de Granada''. Universidad de Sevilla. pp. 671
Emirate of Granada
Kingdom of Castile
Borders