Asturias

About a month or so ago, I told you a little bit about your Catalan side, now I need to show you a bit of your Astur side as well. Between the two, you have some of the best Spanish blood (Galician blood is great too Mari and Juani, if you are listening). Asking for indulgences from my children who have heard about this a thousand times, I continue. Asturias is known as the Cuna de Espana, the cradle of Spain. This is from where the last Visigoth king Pelayo, began the reconquest of Spain from the islamic arab invaders (moors) that had taken over the entire Iberian peninsula and would have taken all of Europe if it hadn’t been for these Germanic tribes and their bravery. The name Linde originates from these early Spaniards. Pelayo and about a hundred of his men defeated many thousands of moors who had hoped to finish off these nordic tribes that were being a nuisance to them with their hit and run tactics. The Visigoths hid in a cave at Covadonga The name means deep cave) and waited for the moor attack. The Visigoths were Catholic and so the Virgin Mary appeared to Pelayo and assured him of victory. The cross in the Asturian flag is a visigoth cross, their battle standard. The Asturian mountains did not agree with the moors one bit. In an instance, thousands of arrows flew towards the Visigoths; however, they bounced off the rocks and came raining down back towards the moors. The day turned to night as the arrows darkened the skies. Almost at once, the Sella river, which flowed and cascaded down the Covadonga cliffs, increased its water volume a hundred fold, drowning the decimated moors. Although many moors met their fate after that event, they still outnumbered the Vigoths almost twenty to one. Pelayo and his men now convinced that God was on their side, attacked and finished off the remaining moors. With that, the push southward began in earnest lasting a few centuries. The moors were defeated along the way, Christian kingdoms were formed with the passage of time. The Visigoths were assimilated into these kingdoms until their identity became Spanish instead of Visigoda. Finally other Spanish heroes emerged (El Cid among them). Kigdoms united and a country was formed. A country that became a world power for many centuries afterwards with its mighty Armada. Its power was not always used in a benevolent manner, it had spent too many years conquering and fighting and could not stop its true nature on a dime. Today, Spain is one of the European Union’s biggest economic dynamos as it continues to surge forward towards a great future. The western world owes a great deal to these early Visigoths. If it had not been for them, we might all be speaking Arabic today, praising Allah. In the Arab world today, their scholars readily admit that this was the greatest defeat the muslim world ever suffered and a definite turning point in their history. By the way some of you may have seen the medal that I wear around my neck. It is the medal of the Virgin of Covadonga. I brought it back home from our visit there in the summer of 2005. And so it goes.

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