Fredbargate

29/4/1587

Singeing the King of Spain's Beard is the name derisively given to the attack in April and May 1587 in the Bay of Cádiz, by the English privateer Francis Drake against the Spanish naval forces assembling at Cádiz.

Singeing the King of Spain's Beard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fredbargate

29/4/711

Moorish General Tariq ibn-Ziyad and his men arrived on April 29, 711AD and changed the course of Spanish and Portuguese history. Pleased with himself for a successful journey from Ceuta, ibn-Ziyad named the nearby Rock of Calpe “Jabal-i-Tariq” -- “Tariq’s mountain” -- giving the area its distinctive moniker. (“Gibraltar” is a mispronunciation of this.)

April 29 711 - Moorish General Tariq ibn-Ziyad Lands at Gibraltar - On this day in History

Dick Dasterdly

A mine of interesting info as usual Fred.

I reckon it would be nice if we had another Francis Drake to come down and give Rajoys beard a thoroughly good singeing, possibly with the full approval of the Spanish people though with a bit of luck he will soon be history.

wilsman77

I thought Franny Drake landed at Barca, I think there is a statue of him there?

jimenato

I've often wondered about the large sculpture of a hand and a bowling ball which is perched high above the straits between Tarifa and Algeciras.

Is it possible that it's a sneaky English tribute to Drake and his defeat of the Armada and the Spanish haven't realised?

Fredbargate

Well said jimenato an excellent theory

Dick Dasterdly

I imagine the Spanish reply to that theory could well be Cojones.

Fredbargate

Could very well be Dick but the skittles are on the Morrocan side

Fredbargate

Inter caetera was a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on 4 May 1493, which granted to Spain (the Crowns of Castile and Aragon) all lands to the "west and south" of a pole-to-pole line 100 leagues west and south of any of the islands of the Azores or the Cape Verde islands

Christopher Columbus, was he Portuguese?

Dick Dasterdly

Sounds like a right load of bull to me.

As for Columbus I followed some fairly serious research into his background a few years ago, which even included some DNA testing on the remains of his family, as his own had deteriorated too much to be of any use.

It proved fairly conclusively that he had not originated from a Genoan family as many claimed and what evidence was available strongly suggested he came from a particular area of Barcelona.

As the Catalans were at loggerheads with the Spanish at that time,(nothing new there ), it seems he was content to go along with the Genoa story in order not to lose favour with the Queen and be assisted with his new world expeditions.

Fredbargate

Definitely Dick

I had a link to a good article on my home PC but at the moment that is a long way away and I cannot locate it with Google, however here is a different link.

Inter caetera - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

P.S.I'm in favour of Columbus being Portugese

Fredbargate

First Barbary War

The First Barbary War (1801–1805), also known as the Tripolitanian War or the Barbary Coast War, was the first of two Barbary Wars between the United States and the four North African states known collectively as the Barbary States.Three of these were nominal provinces of the Ottoman Empire, but in practice autonomous: Tripoli, Algiers, and Tunis. The fourth was the independent Sultanate of Morocco.[2] The cause of the war was pirates from the Barbary states seizing American merchant ships and holding the crews for ransom, unless the U.S. paid tribute to the Barbary rulers. U.S. President Thomas Jefferson refused to pay tribute. It was the first military action in foreign lands and seas authorized by Congress.

First Barbary War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Has this war ended yet ?????

MikeJ

British Expeditionary Forces to South America

10th May 1807 saw the capitulation of Montevideo to an British expeditionary force under Admiral Charles Stirling and General Charles Auchmuty.

This followed a previous expedition in 1806 led by Commodore Popham and General Beresford which although it beat the Spanish forces was rejected by the local merchants fearful of the British proposal for free trade thereby losing their monopolies granted by the Spanish.

July 1807 saw the British attack Buenos Aires but it was repulsed by a well organised local militia.

However, the British attacks against the Spanish hegemony encouraged an increase in local dissent and eventually to the May 1810 revolution and in 1816 the Declaration of Argentine Independence in 1816.

So you think the Argentines would have a bit of historical regard for the Brits without whom they not have gained independence.