Antonio Banderas says he's tired of Hollywood, where he has lived since 1992, and wants to return to his Spanish homeland to develop his career as a director. The 48-year-old, whose triumph in Hollywood as a Latin lover/villain figure paved the way for Spanish successors like Javier Bardem, says he now wants to create the sort of movies suffocated by Hollywood. His latest project may be a case in point. Mr Banderas, with his film star wife Melanie Griffith by his side, is travelling the Arab world raising money for his forthcoming movie "Sultan", which he has written and hopes to direct and star in. It tells the story of Boabdil, the last Moorish king of Spain, who was forced to surrender his beloved Granada to the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, a historic turning point that marked the birth of modern Spain. The ageing Malaga-born screen star wants to tell the story from a pro-Arab viewpoint, and has been busy in recent days gathering funds from several Arab countries, tapping into their nostalgia for the legacy of 800 years of Arab rule in Andalusia.
Antonio Banderas says he's tired of Hollywood, where he has lived since 1992, and wants to return to his Spanish homeland to develop his career as a director.
The 48-year-old, whose triumph in Hollywood as a Latin lover/villain figure paved the way for Spanish successors like Javier Bardem, says he now wants to create the sort of movies suffocated by Hollywood.
His latest project may be a case in point. Mr Banderas, with his film star wife Melanie Griffith by his side, is travelling the Arab world raising money for his forthcoming movie "Sultan", which he has written and hopes to direct and star in. It tells the story of Boabdil, the last Moorish king of Spain, who was forced to surrender his beloved Granada to the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, a historic turning point that marked the birth of modern Spain.
The ageing Malaga-born screen star wants to tell the story from a pro-Arab viewpoint, and has been busy in recent days gathering funds from several Arab countries, tapping into their nostalgia for the legacy of 800 years of Arab rule in Andalusia.
The expulsion of moors and jews had gone on for generations when Torqumada and the Catholic Monarchs decided it was time for The Inquisition - who ever expects one?
It brought great stories such as: The Jews had been welcomed to Turkey since Mehmet II took Constantinople in 1453 who, having been welcomed by a hitherto repressed jewish community there offered them to "... to ascend the site of the Imperial Throne, to dwell in the best of the land, each beneath his Dine (vine?) and his fig tree, with silver and with gold, with wealth and with cattle...". (4)
There is a whole theory based upon eu kings getting in debt to their Jewish communities, who had loaned them money for their wars. (At the time, they were the only group not prohibited from loaning money at a profit.) Then they kicked them out when the debts got to high and they had no one to extortborrow 750 billion dollars from.
In 1470, Jews expelled from Bavaria by Ludwig X found refuge in the Ottoman Empire, and this would happen many other times.
Shortly after the Alhambra Decree, Sultan Bayazid II in Constantinople, is quoted as saying "the Catholic monarch Ferdinand was wrongly considered as wise, since he impoverished Spain by the expulsion of the Jews, and enriched Turkey." Of course, he said it in Turkish, so there are several iterations of the translation.
(Above taken from several sites: The History of the Turkish Jews The Lost Jews of Greece Turkish Jews - Brief History ) Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
I can't imagine though that it was nice being a moor anytime after 1450, as many cities which had been strongholds had succumbed in the previous 100 years, and the Catholics had this thing about getting people to convert or die without the loving embrace of their savior. So, while there was a treaty after Granada fell, it was never kept to by F&I. If what F&I were made to agree to in the treaty is an indicator, the Moors must have had a hard time before. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
There was no advance of the reconquista for about 200 years (it was all bot over after the 1212 batte of Las Navas de Tolosa, the following 40 years or so were a slow mopping up leading to a vassal kingdom of Granada which lasted 200 years), not "100 years before 1450" and there really is no reason to believe that the Muslims or Jews had a particularly hard time until about 1500 - consider that the Castille was immersed in dynastic disputes for the better part of the 15th century. Religious purity only came on the agenda when the more important stuff had been dealt with. A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith
I just finished "The Spanish Armada" by Martin and Parker and was going to reach for something 100 years earlier...maybe I'll go earlier than that. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
eu kings
I didn't know the EU existed then... "Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
Or, perhaps I was alluding to the incestuous nature of all the kings and queens and princes and cesses, from the Medicis blood in the Tudor family and Spanish throne, and the Spanish and French blood in England's and etc, etc. But, I don't know enough about it, so I couldn't have meant that.
Yet, I'm certain every one of them would have liked to call Lord Paulson and say "Give me a 750 billion sovereign bailout"~! Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
