WELCOME to the latest edition of This Week in Spanish History, written by Michael Coy.
16 SEPTEMBER 1492 – Columbus discovers the Sargasso Sea
There is only one sea on earth which has no shores – the Sargasso Sea, a 600-mile-wide feature of the Atlantic Ocean, just east of the Bahamas.
Four different currents surround it, and keep it almost motionless.
It gets its name from the seaweed which thrives there – sargassum.
When Columbus discovered it on his way to the Americas in 1492, he was alarmed – two things which men in sailing-ships dreaded were calm water, and seaweed.
No wind means the ship can’t move, and the vessel’s steering equipment could get tangled up in marine plants.
Luckily, Columbus avoided these snags.
16 SEPTEMBER 1498 – The death of Torquemada
To us, Tomas de Torquemada seems like the very embodiment of bigoted cruelty.
However, he saw his work as mundane, logical and even necessary.
Torquemada was the founder and leader of the Spanish Inquisition. Originally from Valladolid, he trained as a Dominican monk – and the Dominicans were put in charge of flushing-out conversos.
The fear at the time was that ‘enemies’ of Christianity – Jews and Muslims – were pretending to change over to Catholicism, but were secretly working against the Church.
Torquemada saw nothing wrong with torturing and killing suspects, all in the name of faith.
18 SEPTEMBER 53AD – The emperor Trajan is born
Marcus Ulpius Traianus first saw the light of day on the outskirts of what is now Sevilla, about a century after the death of Julius Caesar.
Most of the early emperors had short reigns and ended up murdered, but Trajan is regarded as a ‘good’ emperor.
He ruled from 98 to 117AD, died of natural causes and was peacefully succeeded by Hadrian.
The empire grew rapidly during his time in office, and by the time of his demise it had reached its maximum-ever dimensions.
After his death the Senate voted him ‘best emperor’ and declared him a god.
19 SEPTEMBER 1580 – Cervantes freed from slavery
British people tend to hold Waterloo and D-Day in their subconscious, as battles which shaped our history. For the Latin races, ‘Lepanto’ (1571) is even more significant.
It was a naval engagement in which Spain and Venice stopped the advance of the Turks into Europe.
Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quijote, participated in the Battle of Lepanto –in fact, he was seriously wounded.
His chest took years to heal, and his left arm was permanently paralyzed.
Four years later, Tunisian pirates captured him and he was forced to live and work as a slave, finally being ransomed in 1580.
20 SEPTEMBER 1917 – Fernando Rey is born
Best-known to British film fans as the villain in The French Connection, Fernando Rey was a highly accomplished
film, stage and TV actor who is celebrated in Spain for his satirical work with Luis Buñuel.
They made four impressive films together.
Rey, real name Fernando Casado Arambillet, from Galicia, died in 1994.
21 SEPTEMBER 1958 – The first-ever Sevilla-Betis match
Who are the most passionate same-city rivals? Liverpool and Everton? Rangers and Celtic?
Your Spanish friends will point to Sevilla and Betis.
Betis, the ‘poor boys’, see themselves as the permanent underdogs.
When the two clubs clashed in 1918, in the Spanish version of the FA Cup, Sevilla won 22-0.
The fans had to wait another 40 years for the teams to meet in La Liga. When it finally happened, Betis took the honours, 4-2.
22 SEPTEMBER 1458 – The King orders Estepona destroyed
632 years ago, Estepona (then a Muslim city) was attacked and razed to the ground by the Christians.
Unlike Sevilla or Granada, the Costa del Sol town has not preserved any of its pre-Christian structures.
In fact, the only building from the era which has survived is the Christian Clock Tower. The little dome on top was added a couple of centuries later.
23 SEPTEMBER 1943 – Julio Iglesias is born
Julio Iglesias has sold 300 million records, crooning love songs in no fewer than 14 languages.
But he never intended to make music his life’s work.
He was a goalie! Julio was playing for Real Madrid’s second team when, aged 20, he was injured in a bad traffic accident.
A nurse gave him a guitar while he was recuperating in hospital: he started writing songs, and the rest is history!
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