The History of Spain Podcast

The History of Spain Podcast


Reconquista starts! Pelayo and Covadonga

September 12, 2019

This is episode 22 called Reconquista starts! Pelayo and Covadonga and in this episode you will learn:

SHOW NOTES

- Why a Christian kingdom first emerged in Asturias and not in other regions
- A disucssion on the reliability of the Asturian Chronicles and the context in which they were written
- The Asturian origins of Pelayo
- Context of the Battle of Covadonga, the reasons for the revolt and the election of Pelayo
- The actual scale of the Battle of Covadonga
- Details of the Battle of Covadonga and its aftermath, with the rise of the caudillo Pelayo and the fragility of the newborn kingdom
- The importance of Pedro, the Duke of Cantabria
- The short reign of Favila of Asturias
- What is the Reconquista: as a historical period, ideology, and colonization
- What are the most common historiographic objections and challenges to the Reconquista
- My opinion on the accuracy of the idea of the Reconquista: why, not without some buts, I find the Reconquista as a valid idea
- Reflection about the use of exaggerations in historiography